Two questions:

What is the experience out there of using Howard Johnson 1989 at Short?

I see that his fielding rating at SS is excellent, even if his range is D- (which I gather means, he can't miss making the play as long as the ball is hit right to him). At 3B, until recently the only position I have had him play at, his fielding rating is much worse but there is some loss of efficacy for playing a secondary position as I understand it. 

But given the widespread use of Gary Carter '75 at Catcher, my guess is that it is not a big loss defensively to use HoJo at Short, especially since whatever the penalty is starts from an A level rating at the position. 

Second question: Has anyone ever used Kevin McReynolds 1989? I see that there is NO performance history whatever. Now since the perf. history is apparently since 2008, maybe some of you used him before that? Any experience for good or ill? So far he is not hitting much for a team I put him on, but since some of the 1989 numbers normalize pretty well, I was hoping he might turn out to be worthwhile, especially at 4.0M. 

Can't speak to Mcreynolds, but as for HoJo he is one of the current supercookies.

Thanks. I know HoJo is a cookie offensively. I am wondering though whether when you put him in at shortstop rather than 3B, his higher defensive rating at SS is what matters more, or the penalty for playing a secondary position. In other words, which is a better position to put him at all things considered: 3B which is his primary position but where he is in the D category defensively or SS where he is A but not at his primary position? 

I wouldn't play '89 HoJo anywhere other than SS. If the secondary position has a rating, thats already factoring in the penalty, so you're getting an A+/D- SS. He'll commit 0-2 errors (and only will commit them if he's fatigued), but he will put up 25-35 minus plays. Well worth the offensive output.

I can't remember ever using McReynolds in an OL/CL, but I have used him in a theme league before (unfortunately, I don't recall how he did and it's from one of the few leagues I'm missing data from).

Ho Jo will make about 30 minus plays but no Errors so it all balances out to an average glove at SS. no doubt he's popular because of his bat at a position where good hitters cost too much. I don't like HoJo except in themes where HR aren't supressed too much. there are several other good choices for secondary-rated Shportstops. for $2M less I like Mark Mclemore though he'll need backup.

Thanks both of you for the info. When I get a chance, I will also take a look at Mclemore.

McReynolds, whom I was kind of hoping might prove to be an undiscovered cookie (1989, Mets, rang a bell) has so far been a well below Mendoza line hitter. Wouldn't recommend him and may decide to WW him if he is holding back an otherwise decent team. 

I can't imagine McReynolds being anything other than a huge failure.   He has no power, can't steal, doesn't get on base and no real strength.


I'd use the 1997 Sheffield for a corner OF for 4 million.

or 1890 Rasty Wright....

Thanks. Before reading this Trentonjoe, I had just gotten '97 Sheffield (a player, who, like Moises Alou, I always like because he strikes out relatively rarely, hits for some average and power) for a theme league team. 

I gave up on McReynolds - failed experiment. Managed to shift Bip Roberts to OF from 2B (that was my fail-safe plan) and got Tony Fernandez to replace Roberts at 2B by WWing McReynolds. Both Roberts and Fernandez had a big game right afterward and the team won. So that's that. live and learn. But it seemed odd that there was no performance history for McReynolds so I gave it a whirl. 

rbow23 has the right idea.  01 McLemore is one helluva bargain at SS and is the SS for 90% of my teams.  For only $3mil, you'll get great production from him, including hitting for AVG, OBP, SBs, and triples. He only has 487 PAs, so I hit him 9th to negate his lack of PA's and to turnover the batting order. I usually take a guy like Wally Shannon (for less $300K) whose a decent enough hitter and fielder for an extra 100+ PAs to back him up.. So you'll essentially get 600 productive PAs at short (not including your AAA guy) for less than $3.5 mil. which is plenty for the bottom of the order.

Thanks both of you. I will try out the SS combo on one of my next teams. In the OF, depending on the stadium, Tony Conigliaro 1970 can be very productive for $4.00 million. 

I used him in a theme league recently, he was a solid hitter, made 0 errors and 27 - plays. I would gladly take the 0 errors with the - plays.

He'll also hit you 15 triples on average