I understand the general idea of what happens when playing people out of position, but I don't often do it. I'm in a situation where I think it might make sense. I'm curious what my fellow sim-league owners would do in this case.

I'm in a 2008 progressive, and the problem player is Milton Bradley. He's listed as a DH, but also plays D-/B (.940/2.36) in the outfield. Needing outfielders, that's where I put him, but through 18 games, his FLD% so far has been about .800. I've got a glut of good infielder bats that I'm needing to rotate at DH to keep them in the lineup, and Bradley's bat is good enough where I don't want to sit him either.

The other relevant players are:

Mark Teixeira: A/A (.997/10.67) at 1B
Jorge Cantu D+/D+ (.937/2.86) at 3B (primary) and B/D- (.993/4.70) at 1B (secondary)
Adrian Beltre B/B- (.964/3.14) at 3B

I've been playing Tex at 1B, Beltre at 3B, Cantu at DH, and Bradley in RF or LF, but I'm starting to wonder if I should throw Tex or Beltre in the OF and let Cantu cover one of those positions, letting Bradley be the primary DH. It feels weird not putting a gold glove caliber player at their natural position, but is that the way to go here? Is Bradley likely to remain sub .900 on FLD% if I leave him in the field? How much of an effect would Cantu's terrible range at 1B have if I played him there while putting Tex in the OF?

Assuming you want all four of these bats in the lineup, how would you use them in the field?

Definitely stick with Bradley in the outfield, Cantu would be a disaster at third or first, much worse than what Bradley is giving you, plus Bradley will give you some + range plays.

Posted by 06gsp on 11/8/2020 9:18:00 AM (view original):
Definitely stick with Bradley in the outfield, Cantu would be a disaster at third or first, much worse than what Bradley is giving you, plus Bradley will give you some + range plays.

I disagree with Cantu being a 'disaster' at 1B. I guess it depends on what you consider a disaster. He'll finish with maybe close to 20 negative plays (full season), but he'll still finish with a fielding% above .996.

I'd probably stick with Bradley in the OF as well, but I just don't agree that Cantu would be a 'disaster' at 1B.

Do you have a good fielding sub OF you could set to come in for Bradley to protect leads?

Posted by milest on 11/8/2020 12:28:00 PM (view original):

Posted by 06gsp on 11/8/2020 9:18:00 AM (view original):
Definitely stick with Bradley in the outfield, Cantu would be a disaster at third or first, much worse than what Bradley is giving you, plus Bradley will give you some + range plays.

I disagree with Cantu being a 'disaster' at 1B. I guess it depends on what you consider a disaster. He'll finish with maybe close to 20 negative plays (full season), but he'll still finish with a fielding% above .996.

I'd probably stick with Bradley in the OF as well, but I just don't agree that Cantu would be a 'disaster' at 1B.

I'd be thrilled if he only had 20 minus plays over a whole season. 4.7 range factor at first base is really, really bad. In his performance history that Cantu is averaging 9 minus plays in 43 games at first base, so that's 35 for a 162 game season.

Posted by fatguyrd on 11/8/2020 3:28:00 PM (view original):
Do you have a good fielding sub OF you could set to come in for Bradley to protect leads?

No, my whole OF is really pretty bad defensively. I spent all my draft picks lining up a top notch infield, now my OF is paying the price.

Posted by 06gsp on 11/8/2020 3:52:00 PM (view original):

Posted by milest on 11/8/2020 12:28:00 PM (view original):

Posted by 06gsp on 11/8/2020 9:18:00 AM (view original):
Definitely stick with Bradley in the outfield, Cantu would be a disaster at third or first, much worse than what Bradley is giving you, plus Bradley will give you some + range plays.

I disagree with Cantu being a 'disaster' at 1B. I guess it depends on what you consider a disaster. He'll finish with maybe close to 20 negative plays (full season), but he'll still finish with a fielding% above .996.

I'd probably stick with Bradley in the OF as well, but I just don't agree that Cantu would be a 'disaster' at 1B.

I'd be thrilled if he only had 20 minus plays over a whole season. 4.7 range factor at first base is really, really bad. In his performance history that Cantu is averaging 9 minus plays in 43 games at first base, so that's 35 for a 162 game season.

I hadn't realized just how bad Cantu's range is until recently. I normally don't think that much about it at 1B, but his range is less than half of Teixeira.

I suppose as bad as Bradly is in the field, a corner OF is going to get a lot fewer chances than a corner IF, so I think you all are probably right about keeping things the way they are.

If you are going to play someone out of position, do it at 1B. Usually an error or poor range play there costs you a base. When you look at dropped fly balls and ricochets in the OF, they are almost always 2 or 3 base errors. Yes, more volume at 1B vs. OF but you can pitch around a single easier than a double/triple which almost always amounts to a run.

Posted by The_Creeper on 11/11/2020 8:12:00 AM (view original):
If you are going to play someone out of position, do it at 1B. Usually an error or poor range play there costs you a base. When you look at dropped fly balls and ricochets in the OF, they are almost always 2 or 3 base errors. Yes, more volume at 1B vs. OF but you can pitch around a single easier than a double/triple which almost always amounts to a run.

How bad the errors are in the OF is one of the reasons I'm asking this question. The "in-position" guy is a D- fielder. I think an A fielding 1B would do better than that in the OF. The question is whether it's still a better option considering how bad the replacement 1B (Cantu) would be.

So far, split between RF/LF, Bradley has made 8 errors in 41 chances, with 4+ plays.

There's actual math on the penalties for OoP players... On fielding, they are first mapped to the new position, so look at the FLD/RRF for a player with similar grades from the same year, so, for Teixiera, that becomes roughly a .994/2.73. Then, it's a 2% penalty for moving OoP, then 4% per shift to the left on the spectrum. On range, it's a 10% OoP penalty, then a 15% hit for each shift to the left. So your 1B going to the OF is a (.994*.98*.96) for fielding and (2.7*.9*.85) for range, or .935/2.09, or roughly a D/C outfielder...

Bradely going to 1B would get mapped as roughly a .971 fielder and a 7.75 RRF.

Cantu at 1B would be what his secondary rating shows