Wow an entire thread about one of my players and noone tells me until now!

I am only playing Franco at second base because he can hit and he is making 10 million dollars. The only decent players I have on my team already play LF and 1B - the only two positions he can realistically play anymore (though I am trying to trade one or both of those guys for prospects in which case I would move Franco to field). Plus the guy can still hit - so I decided to sacrifice the defense and take his offense. but no, the guy should not be playing 2B - I am just trying to find a way to win games this year and keep my winning percentage over .400

After reading this thread, I realize I have very little knowledge on how to analyze defensive effectiveness. I don't understand Range Factor and I can't find an explanation of it. Can someone either give or point me to some info.

RF is how many outs a player produces per game. You can check league leaders to get a feel for where you players rank worldwide.

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Coop-3B with one game :

1	Patrick ViningBOI	3B	159	159	19	2	1397.1	142	427	14	40	.976	3.66
2	J.P. GuerreroSLC	3B	84	83	10	0	741.0	93	207	5	21	.984	3.64
3	Doyle HumeMTY	3B	84	84	12	0	746.0	77	225	7	19	.977	3.64
4	Rudy StonePAW	3B	124	88	1	4	880.2	113	237	12	27	.967	3.58
5	Lyle WynnBOS	3B	160	160	12	0	1415.0	171	380	11	41	.980	3.50
6	Bronson DorseySA	3B	86	86	17	0	766.2	84	214	4	15	.987	3.50
7	Aubrey PurcellNY2	3B	138	129	18	0	1006.0	103	287	9	23	.977	3.49
8	Andrew ColemanSXF	3B	88	86	5	0	745.0	84	203	7	19	.976	3.47
9	Peter PiattSCZ	3B	143	143	7	2	1275.0	140	351	29	37	.944	3.47
10	Andrew LombardELP	3B	135	126	9	0	1124.0	121	305	13	30	.970	3.41
11	Hawk KramerNOR	3B	134	134	6	0	1180.0	150	293	7	12	.984	3.38
12	Bill PierreSXF	3B	137	136	0	3	1195.1	138	310	10	25	.978	3.37
13	Alfredo SanchezMC	3B	161	160	18	0	1302.1	141	342	9	37	.982	3.34
14	Ben MichalakLAA	3B	156	156	1	4	1358.2	120	382	24	32	.954	3.33
15	Shawn JamisonSEA	3B	124	124	14	0	1094.2	104	294	6	28	.985	3.27
16	Tony AliceaAUG	3B	127	113	6	0	1043.2	98	281	7	27	.982	3.27
17	Tony AmaralNY1	3B	150	150	14	0	1354.0	145	344	17	32	.966	3.25
18	Stan HayesARI	3B	95	95	3	0	829.1	63	236	12	24	.961	3.24
19	Wilfredo RosadoLOU	3B	133	124	1	2	1093.1	112	279	10	34	.975	3.22
20	Nick LeCroySD	3B	113	108	17	1	992.1	88	266	10	29	.973	3.21
21	John UenoOAK	3B	143	143	1	8	1247.0	110	332	12	26	.974	3.19
22	Darren GonzalesSF	3B	143	141	12	0	1279.1	128	325	9	41	.981	3.19
23	Stewart MorrisDET	3B	141	107	13	0	1028.1	94	269	12	27	.968	3.18
24	Gregg PorzioTOL	3B	152	152	19	1	1341.0	152	316	8	24	.983	3.14
25	Raul MonteroTOR	3B	153	153	13	0	1345.0	115	348	15	31	.969	3.10

That's why I said an "average" 3B would have an RF of 3ish and a 3B with 2.26 was costing his team 119+ hits a season.

Plays not made by a certain position are not made by anyone. Therefore, they become hits.

So just because a guy has an above average RF compared to the rest of the league, doesn't necessarily mean he's a good fielder. You would really need to look at his RF and fielding % to get a more accurate idea. What about +/- plays? How do they factor into RF?

I'd find it difficult to believe that an entire world would have poor fielders at any given position. So, if a guy is in the top 15 or 20 in RF, I'd have to believe he's at least an adequate fielder. Subtract his ability based on errors and - plays but they don't affect his RF. Only a putout counts in RF.

+ plays, if they result in an out, increase RF. If they hold a player to a single rather than a double, they don't increase RF.

don't assists count as well?

They result in an out, so, yes. 1B, who'll have 9-10 RF, get most of their outs as a result of catching a throw.

I have been getting more and more into the camp that offense trumps defense in this game. I have been cheating my defense more and more each season for offense and it seems to be resulting in more wins. Just my 2 cents worth on defense.

It's a game of resources. What can you get and for how much?

check out seattle and vancouver in ruth league. both teams have historically struggled, but this year they're 50-39 and 53-36, respectively. they have 57 and 58 plus plays respectively, and 5 minus plays each.

mike's right, though: defense is a commodity just like everything else.

Quote: Originally posted by MikeT23 on 3/17/2010That's why I said an "average" 3B would have an RF of 3ish and a 3B with 2.26 was costing his team 119+ hits a season.Plays not made by a certain position are not made by anyone.  Therefore, they become hits.  

I think you're taking that stat a little too far. 100+ hits in a season? That's like 50 runs with the glove.

There's so many other variables, such as whether or not the ball even gets hit to that guy. To use an example from Season 14 No Quitters:

St. Louis had a superior pitching staff to Rochester. They struck out more batters and faced fewer total. Additionally, Rochester's staff had a far higher groundball tendency. These factors combined to contribute to the Rochester 3B getting far more chances. In detail:

The ball was put into play 4613 times against St. Louis and their staff had a 1.01 groundball tendency. Assuming 3B is involved in 20% of infield plays, that would mean that the St. Louis third basemen got somewhere around of 500 chances. Thus, you might expect a range factor in the neighborhood of 500/162 or 3.1.

The ball was put into play 4831 times against Rochester and their staff had a 1.43 groundball tendency. This would mean that Rochester third basemen got somewhere around 690 chances. Thus, you might expect a range factor in the neighborhood of 690/162 or 4.2.

And no surprise,

Sean Arnold had a range factor of 3.94 compared to

3.24 for Cliff Cohen
3.46 for Achilles Billingsley

Both of whom are vastly superior defenders (as expected by their ratings) to Arnold, as evidenced by 24 (+) and 0 (-) plays between the two of them, compared to 4 (+) and 3 (-) for Arnold, in addition to an inferior fielding percentage.

Just using range factor, Arnold appears to be .6*162 = 90 baserunners (meaning almost 50 runs!) better than Cohen or Billingsly, when in fact, Arnold was a below average defender who probably cost his team about 3 runs compared to Cohen or Billingsly, who probably saved about 11 runs between the two of them.

How so? The average 3B makes 3 plays per game. His LH 3B made 2.26.

Plays not made by player A aren't made by player B. They end up as something. What do you think it is?