Ratings vs. Skills

[chicoruiz]

So: if a player has all the necessary skills to play a certain position, how important is his rating at that position? For example, if a player has 8 infield range, 8 error and 8 arm, but hasn’t played a lot of shortstop, how high would his shortstop rating have to be before you’d play him there?

[BaseClogger]

The player’s rating at that position only matters to me in the context of how close it is to being filled out. I don’t pay any attention to the number itself, but I do want them to be trained there. Players make more errors before they fill out that rating.

[RonCo]

Agree with Kurt. I pretty much never pay attention to the high level rating of a fielder's position. In the past it's always grown to peak with enough playing time (though maybe that will change now?). I've even gone so far as to "train" Dong Po Thum at second base in the playoffs. Unique case, but he picked up the position in something like 5 games back in the day.

[ae37jr]

I think it all depends on the situation. Obviously minor leagues and spring training are the ideal times. But I've also trained players during season. If it's a rebuilding team, I don't mind cross training during the season. If I'm in the playoff hunt, maybe not so much. I'd also weigh how far off a player is and importance of position. So if I'm trying to get a guy to go from 5 to 8 at LF, that's no big deal. Getting a SS from 1 to 8 may significantly hurt your team for a few weeks though.

[RonCo]

True. Most players do take awhile to come up the learning curve, and they will pay a penalty until they do.

[Trebro]

Spring training does wonders for this in my experience.