Why doesn't WIS distinguish between left, center and right fielders?   Are you best off just putting your best defensive outfielder in center and your worst in left or best arm in right?  Just curious.

They DO distinguish them in the sense that their defensive ratings are based on how many putouts and assists they got in real life. CFers get more chances than the corner guys, so their range shows up as being higher.
In the SIM, you have to put a better defender in center, so you often end up with real life CFers playing CF for your sim team.

I have always assumed putting your best OF at CF was the right move. The sim doesn't use any ratings for a players arm so don't worry about that. I stick my 2nd best in left, since I believe they get more chances than rightfielders. I think this is due to most hitters pulling the ball and most hitters being RH. If you're playing a team full of lefties, it might be wise to put the weaker defender in left...

One thing to be careful about CF though is if you're playing guys out of position. The defensive spectrum that's used is:

C | SS - 2B - CF - 3B - LF/RF - 1B

Any outfielder can play all three outfield positions without penalty, but are all considered in the LF/RF group when playing other positions. The only time the CF part comes in to play is if you're moving a 1B/3B to the outfield. Playing him at CF will result in a much larger penalty than playing them at the corners.

?Posted by minnow on 2/13/2011 2:36:00 PM (view original):
I have always assumed putting your best OF at CF was the right move.

What exactly do you mean by your best?  There are two ratings for every position player, fielding and range...

Thanks for the feedback as always guys. This forum is invaluable!

Posted by zubinsum on 2/13/2011 5:08:00 PM (view original):

?Posted by minnow on 2/13/2011 2:36:00 PM (view original):
I have always assumed putting your best OF at CF was the right move.

What exactly do you mean by your best?  There are two ratings for every position player, fielding and range...

I just mean in a very general sense. Obviously A/B > B/C kind of thing... Now what's the ideal positioning of an OF consisting of an A/C, B/B and C/A fielder? I have no idea, but it probably won't make that much difference.

That one is easy: A/C, B/B  = LF, RF; C/A = CF
How 'bout A/D, B/A- and D/A+ ? 

Posted by minnow on 2/13/2011 2:36:00 PM (view original):
I have always assumed putting your best OF at CF was the right move. The sim doesn't use any ratings for a players arm so don't worry about that. I stick my 2nd best in left, since I believe they get more chances than rightfielders. I think this is due to most hitters pulling the ball and most hitters being RH. If you're playing a team full of lefties, it might be wise to put the weaker defender in left...

One thing to be careful about CF though is if you're playing guys out of position. The defensive spectrum that's used is:

C | SS - 2B - CF - 3B - LF/RF - 1B

Any outfielder can play all three outfield positions without penalty, but are all considered in the LF/RF group when playing other positions. The only time the CF part comes in to play is if you're moving a 1B/3B to the outfield. Playing him at CF will result in a much larger penalty than playing them at the corners.

I think the A+ range guys are getting more + plays in LF now....

It isn't perfect and Maloney's RF is a little higher than Davis  (3.03 vs 2.93 I think) but Maloney's ratio of +/PO is significantly higher than Davis's (~1/12 to 1/20).

Posted by zubinsum on 2/14/2011 2:37:00 AM (view original):
That one is easy: A/C, B/B  = LF, RF; C/A = CF
How 'bout A/D, B/A- and D/A+ ? 

I'd go with 

A/D=RF  (lowest chance of a + Play, range not worth much)
B/A- =CF  (more chance's less errors with still a high chance of a + play)
D/A+= LF (highest chance of a + play with less chances for errors)

I always try to put my highest RRF player in Center Field, but almost must discliam that I rarely use D fielders, and never use D- fielders. Not to overly complicate things (fielding in SIM is complicated), but you also need to consider your pitching staff's composition. If you're using dead ball guys, I think it's important to have high Fielding position players. When using more modern day pitchers, you can sacrifice some fielding.

In general, and only as a rule of thumb, I've found it's best to have good field/high range players in CF. I will sacrifice some field for range there is necessary, e.g. take a C/A+ guy over a B/B+ guy in center). I often use average to less-than-average range in LF and RF (i.e. D+, C-, C).

In addition, TJ's post immediatley above is how I would allign that specific corps of OFs.

Posted by Trentonjoe on 2/14/2011 9:52:00 AM (view original):

Posted by minnow on 2/13/2011 2:36:00 PM (view original):
I have always assumed putting your best OF at CF was the right move. The sim doesn't use any ratings for a players arm so don't worry about that. I stick my 2nd best in left, since I believe they get more chances than rightfielders. I think this is due to most hitters pulling the ball and most hitters being RH. If you're playing a team full of lefties, it might be wise to put the weaker defender in left...

One thing to be careful about CF though is if you're playing guys out of position. The defensive spectrum that's used is:

C | SS - 2B - CF - 3B - LF/RF - 1B

Any outfielder can play all three outfield positions without penalty, but are all considered in the LF/RF group when playing other positions. The only time the CF part comes in to play is if you're moving a 1B/3B to the outfield. Playing him at CF will result in a much larger penalty than playing them at the corners.

I think the A+ range guys are getting more + plays in LF now....

This is kind of why I said I assume to put my best guy in CF as I'm not 100% sure. Great range guys in the corners will get you tons of + plays while great range guys in CF will get you less + plays but avoid more - plays. Every fielder will have a better +/- at the corner spots, but the degree will keep increasing as the total range lowers.

Again how much this degree is I don't know exactly. If you have a B+/A+ and a A+/B+ fielder, playing the former in CF should give you a better overall +/- but a lower overall Fld%.