So I played a 5 at Catcher

I play in this $150 million ongoing league (Even the Playing Field) were we rotate between the top 12 franchises, drafting the all timers for each club and then adding up to 3 other players depending on your current franchise (NeL or from the franchises not being played) to 'Even' things out. For example if you have the Yankees you don't get an additional player but if you have say the Reds, you get 3.

We just started our 17th season last night.

Last season I had the Indians and since they don't have a dominate catcher in ATG, most of the managers have drafted one to fill that role. Mauer x5 Range 1, Gibson x3 Range 3, Hoiles x1 Range 3...and when you miss on those guys the managers have stuck with O'Neil x5 range 1, Alomar jr x1 range 1. I missed on Gibson and Mauer...so I decided to go offense, took Beckwith and played him at catcher...crossing my fingers. He's a 5+2e13 t16pb6.

In retrospect I wanted to see what kind of negative impact playing a 5 at catcher would have on my team/staff.

Of course his X% was last at 69.9% with most in the mid to high 80%s. The X chances ranged from 97 to 58, Beckwith was 51/73. One season Mauer was 74/81 for 91.4%.

We finished 82-80 3 games out of the wild card, so competitive. Now I wanted to compare how Beckwith and the pitching staff stacked up against all the other 15 seasons of Indians. The cool thing about this league from a comparison standpoint is we are typically using the same core guys.

The top 14 of 16 staffs by $$ were $39.5 - $37.9, two outliners at $31.2 and $26.2. So for comparison purposes I eliminated the last two. My staff was $38.4.

Ballparks used:
Cleveland '57 x9 (1-8-8-16) MINE
Cleveland '51 x2 (8-8-12-12)
League Park '11 x2 (13-17-1-1)
Cleveland '66 x1 (5-5-10-10)

Ok now for the rankings:
WINS
93 - Mauer
92 - Alomar jr
91 - Gibson
88 - O'Neil
85 - O'Neil
83 - Gibson
82 - Beckwith
81 - Mauer
81 - Mauer
78 - Hoiles
72 - Mauer
70 - O'Neil
69 - O'Neil
65 - O'Neil

WHIP
1.40 - Gibson
1.46 - O'Neil
1.47 - Beckwith
1.49 - Gibson
1.50 - Alomar
1.51 - Mauer, O'Neil,
1.52 - O'Neil, Hoiles
1.53 - Mauer x2
1.57 - Mauer
1.59 - O'Neil
1.60 - O'Neil

ERA
4.80 - Gibson
5.13 - Gibson
5.29 - O'Neil
5.30 - O'Neil
5.46 - Mauer
5.60 - Alomar
5.63 - Mauer
5.68 - O'Neil
5.70 - Hoiles
5.72 - Mauer
5.75 - Beckwith
5.76 - O'Neil
5.85 - Mauer
5.98 - O'Neil

In the 9 seasons that used the same ballpark my team was second in WHIP.

In summary I've come to the conclusion that playing a 5 at catcher really doesn't impact the team like it should.

Now I realize I've focused on the Range factor, but that's really the closest attribute to use under the current system. In actual on the field baseball we all know a good/great catcher has tremendous influence on the staff. It would be interesting to incorporate some kind of 'impact or sphere of influence' rating that a player at key positions could have on his teammates; in particular Catcher and Firstbase. Maybe a H rating for handling. Because as we know, the defensive stats on the cards we play are based on the team they played on.
So for example it seems logical that if you take the '61 Twins;
1B - Killebrew
2B - Billy Martin 17e
SS - Zolio Versalles 30e
3B - Bill Tuttle 15e

And move Harmon to DH, inserting say Will Clark or Keith Hernandez at 1B, they would save those guys some errors.

For a catchers impact, maybe walks or singles could be turned into outs based on the catchers H rating?

Happy to answer any questions
Rosie