I just took over a team and while waiting for it to fill, decided to take a look through the depth chart.

Am I missing something on this player, who is in AA? Am I not seeing something that would make him anything less than a MLer?

https://www.whatifsports.com/hbd/Pages/Popups/PlayerRatings.aspx?pid=9049748

You are missing nothing. The other guy may have been a tanker or had no idea wtf he was doing. His speed is low so he will struggle some there

I'd stick him in RF (if I had a better DH) and be happy!

The other head-scratcher I found was this guy...aside from a decent PC rating, any reason he should be a C?

https://www.whatifsports.com/hbd/Pages/Popups/PlayerRatings.aspx?pid=9108235

He was probally listed at c when drafted and no one changed his position

Ah. Looks like he could play some 2b to me.

He is a weak hitting not great hitting 2nd baseman. In really good worlds he would be an option but in weak worlds he would never leave aaa

That guy is weird indeed but definitely a DITR catcher, that's the only way I think you'd ever find a set of numbers like that.

He was a 2B when drafted. Mostly he has a weird set of ratings because he got a Diamond in the Rough boost right after being drafted.

I love him as a bench player. He's a very credible 2B/PH vs LHP and can cover as your backup C for a couple of weeks in case of injury.

That's kind of what I was thinking, sort of a super-utility type. Might save me a bench spot.

that Merv Nicholson is a gem . . if your primary catcher is good defensively, then Nicholson saves you a roster spot. He can be your backup catcher and with stats he can be a general utility player as well.

Posted by ParlanceGuy on 4/11/2019 1:57:00 PM (view original):
I just took over a team and while waiting for it to fill, decided to take a look through the depth chart.

Am I missing something on this player, who is in AA? Am I not seeing something that would make him anything less than a MLer?

https://www.whatifsports.com/hbd/Pages/Popups/PlayerRatings.aspx?pid=9049748

He'll hit .270 and hit 15-25 homers a season if he is in there mainly against R handed pitching. Some might think that is not good enough to DH. Those same folks may think his low pitching calling is too low for C. You can put him in RF and he will do ok. He'll make some negative plays and some errors, but he will probably give you 750 - 850 OPS.

Or trade him. I am sure that somebody will want him. Young cheap talent is coveted.

That guy can definitely catch. I use two 48 PC catchers and perennially am in the top 5 in pitching in both worlds. Granted, both of my guys are premier offensive players and that guy is good but not premier, but I still think he would be fine.

Wilmer James, the C in the OP (not the utility guy) is actually a weird case.

If you don't like his 48 PC and you're an NL team there is nowhere to put him (except in RF as mentioned but hes not a great bat in RF which kinda undermines the point). You can trade him but what is his value? Not much. Meanwhile, almost every year you can find a washed up C who can still hit in FA who is at least as good a hitter as James and most of the time noticeably better (esp because there are plenty of switch hitting Cs). And nobody ever wants those guys so they cost nothing (<$2 mil for sure, normally closer to $1 mil)

Should he be in the majors if everything was distributed for peak efficiency on the world/macro level? Yeah. Is it that surprising that he isn't? Not to me.

Yeah, I'm not a huge fan of that 48 PC....