Subtitled: Is Richie Ashburn worth a lottery pick?

I'm having trouble evaluating CF in my progressives. I have a few (M.Cameron, W. Wilson, M. Byrd, G. Anderson) who don't rate well offensively (Low OPS) yet Cameron was an All-Star. Similarly, I do not rate R. Ashburn as a lottery pick. He has no power and only average OBP. I would take one of several good pitchers in 1948, starting with R. Roberts, and then Larry Doby, who seems a better hitter than Ashburn. What am I missing? Should I tweak my OF formula to factor in defense, or scrap my OF ratings when it comes to CF and start fresh?

Do you have access to the Progressive Draft Database forum?  There are 3 '48 drafts posted and Ashburn went 2nd, 2nd, and 3rd.  Robin Roberts was 1st in all three drafts and when Ashburn went 3rd the #2 pick was Billy Pierce.  I'm also in the Space Age league which for 1948 was still drafting the AL and NL separately.  Ashburn was the first offensive player drafted in the NL portion of the draft.  Having personally had Larry Doby on my team though, I can say he puts up some very nice years and is certainly worth the high pick it would take to draft him.  I think I'd prefer Doby myself since he's a much better run producer and still provides good OF defense himself, but if you need PA and OBP in the lead-off spot while still getting excellent OF defense, Ashburn is one of the best for a long time.

I would probably take Doby, but you may need to re-evaluate what you're calling "average" OBP in a progressive.  Even in a dual-season progressive, Ashburn has far from what I'd call average OBP.  He has 15 seasons in the database, 13 full seasons, and the worst OBP in those seasons is .343; all the rest are at least .360.  That is exceptional OBP in a limited player pool.

Dahsdebater, you are correct. I take back my statement about Ashburn's OBP. He has several outstanding seasons and many great ones as well.

skunk206, I do have access to the PDD forum. Roberts is always 1 (I agree with that), but Ashburn has the second-lowest average, and is more than two slots better than the next player (tie between Pierce and Campanella), and three slots better than Doby. Is it defense, is it Ashburn's ability as a leadoff hitter or is it longevity that moves him that far ahead of Doby? I guess the answer is "all of the above'. But I'd like to hear which factors are most important to my re-evaluation of Ashburn.

Longevity, high PA, OBP, and OF defense.

But I still choose Doby, and would probably take Campanella and Dark ahead of Ashburn, too, if I had a need at C or SS.