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Originally Posted by RchW
A lot of players have trouble catching LD at 3B and 1B even if they are accomplished middle infielders.
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Are you suggesting that this persists once the player has spent a significant amount of time at a corner infield position? Because I'd certainly agree with you that this happens when a player is first making the transition; in my mind, this is the purpose the positional experience ratings serve.
Quote:
Originally Posted by RchW
Judging FB is different than GB and are definable IF/OF skills etc.
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Of course they're different skills. I'm suggesting that the error rating is a measure of ability, and those skills are honed with experience at the position.
Quote:
Originally Posted by RchW
The throwing action at 3B (possibly SS) is radically different than the OF and C. Several years ago Jose Bautista took a week to get his arm ready for a move from RF to 3B to protect his arm. I'd say that 2B and 1B arms may be weaker than many OF but hard to compare with the different action.
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Again, I think the difference here is one of ability vs. skill. The fact that it only took Bautista a week to get his arm ready suggests that, while there was a difference in what he was doing, the arm was trainable, and rather easily so. To be sure, not all players can make the transition from one position to another; maybe the solution here would be to randomly (and infrequently) cap a player's position experience rating at non-natural positions.
Quote:
Originally Posted by RchW
Range is about getting to the ball even when it is on the edge of the normal space for a position. Speed is often not a big factor and intelligence has little to do with the geometric skills required to pick up a ball in various environments.
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I've always understood the Intelligence rating to mean baseball intelligence, a player's ability to pick up new things. That absolutely relates to one's ability to find the best route to a fly ball, since every one is a little different than the one before it. Quickness/Acceleration has more to do with range than Speed, and Speed is pretty much irrelevant in Infield range, but you can't tell me that the ability to make up ground quickly doesn't add to an outfielder's ability to reach a ball even when it is on the edge of the normal space for his position.