Hi,

I have a few questions about defense:

1)  how harmful is it to try to play a catcher with terrible range at 1B?  I have a catcher with a great bat but lousy defense that I'd like to put into the lineup (I'm in the NL, so no DH).  Will he cost me as many runs on defense as he contributes on offense?

2)  does it affect anything if I switched a player's primary defensive position?  For example, I have a young SS whose defense is not quite good enough to play at SS yet.  I'd like to start him at 3B because his defensive rating is good enough there and he has a good bat.  In a few seasons, I'd like to switch him to SS as his defensive rating increases.

is primary defensive position just for show?  Or does it actually hurt a player playing at a position other than his stated primary?

1.  Lot of discussion in this thread.   http://www.whatifsports.com/forums/Posts.aspx?TopicID=431983&Page=1

2.  Primary is just for simmy recs in rest/d-replacement heirarchy.    Some will tell you he won't develop as well playing 3B but I think that's BS.   Playing time is playing time, IMO.

sweet thread.  Thanks Mike.

It's pretty simple to build a good defense. Look at the recommendations and try to exceed them.