Best Method to Develop Utility Guys

[Bears5122]

I've always been a fan of players like Ben Zobrist who you can use all throughout the diamond. I foresee someone like Javy Baez coming up for the Cubs as a similar type player.

My question is, what is the best strategy to develop utility guys? Is it just about forcing them to play new positions in the minors till they build up a rating (will that negatively impact their primary position)? Maybe playing them at that new position during a blowout? Are there certain positions where it's a lost hope (like teaching a Catcher to play OF)?

Just curious if anyone has any strategies that have worked. I have guys who are good enough to be called up but their lack of positional flexibility has me keeping them in the minors. In the future I'd like to be able to take that into account when developing them.

[TuckerDuckson]

My personal super utility guy already had 6 positions ranged 35-55 learned when he was drafted (missing 1B and C both of which he learned)

He had an 80 in RF and the rest were in the range of 50-65 on all 8 by the time he left in free agency after 6 years

the main thing is that he has to be able to play the position you want him to play (3B: a good arm, SS good Turn DP, etc etc)

The way to have him learn those positions is through spring training/force starting him in the minors, by the time this guy was in Single A I had him force starting in positions he wasn't so good at (for example 3B which he started with a 35) this eventually grew into a solid 50 after a year in single A.
I always recommend this method for position/outfield positions other than SS and CF

For CF, SS, and C I almost exclusively use spring training, granted you can use the strategy used above, so using the example of my guy, he got a 50 in C despite never playing catcher before because 1. he had the ratings for it and 2. since it is one of the headrest positions to learn he learned it in ST which for some reason allows them to learn harder positions faster.

So that's how I develop my utility players

[RchW]

Originally Posted by Bears5122

I've always been a fan of players like Ben Zobrist who you can use all throughout the diamond. I foresee someone like Javy Baez coming up for the Cubs as a similar type player.

My question is, what is the best strategy to develop utility guys? Is it just about forcing them to play new positions in the minors till they build up a rating (will that negatively impact their primary position)? Maybe playing them at that new position during a blowout? Are there certain positions where it's a lost hope (like teaching a Catcher to play OF)?

Just curious if anyone has any strategies that have worked. I have guys who are good enough to be called up but their lack of positional flexibility has me keeping them in the minors. In the future I'd like to be able to take that into account when developing them.

In reality Ben Zobrist is very rare and even he doesn't play that many positions any more. He's played only 4 games other than 2B and OF since 2014.

[TuckerDuckson]

Originally Posted by RchW

In reality Ben Zobrist is very rare and even he doesn't play that many positions any more. He's played only 4 games other than 2B and OF since 2014.

I'm betting he can still play SS and probably some 1B, they don't need a SS since they got Russell and Baez, also not to mention Kris Bryant who can play 3B and all of the OF positions and he can probably take a few innings at SS too

[ohiodevil]

Originally Posted by Bears5122

I've always been a fan of players like Ben Zobrist who you can use all throughout the diamond. I foresee someone like Javy Baez coming up for the Cubs as a similar type player.

My question is, what is the best strategy to develop utility guys? Is it just about forcing them to play new positions in the minors till they build up a rating (will that negatively impact their primary position)? Maybe playing them at that new position during a blowout? Are there certain positions where it's a lost hope (like teaching a Catcher to play OF)?

Just curious if anyone has any strategies that have worked. I have guys who are good enough to be called up but their lack of positional flexibility has me keeping them in the minors. In the future I'd like to be able to take that into account when developing them.

I have never had luck teaching someone Catcher, and really the only spot I have been able to move a catcher is to 1b. But I seem to have good luck creating utility guys from middle infielders, especially if they have a decent range rating in the OF. I was able to turn Cesar Hernandez into a really good utility guy in one of my long term saves....picked him up off waivers from Philly and needed him to play some 3b and noticed that he started to gain ratings there, so I started playing him in LF, CF and SS and by his 3rd season with me, he was rated ( on a 1-10 scale) at 7 (2b), 6 (SS), 7 (3b), 6 (LF) and 4 (CF) and he had a 1 or 2 rating in RF and 1b. I had to let him go in free agency because he wanted $7 mil per season to stay, and he was 34 years old.

[NoOne]

start early, as in force play them at various position from rookie on, and start with someone with some if/of range/error/arm/dp ability.

pick them out early. worry much less about offensive ability than you probably do at the moment. it's a bench player, so expect their offense to be below average in one or more categories, likely more.

if you want a guy that will perform well (hit) and use as a constant sub rotating around the field... well that will probably take a bit of luck.. like, whether the player exists and opportunity to acquire him.

if you want them to catch, then they likely have to begin as a catcher and have the initial ratings of one. i can't recall if i've seen a non-catcher with catching ability and catcher arm ratings you could work with, but that doesn't mean much since i'm not lookng hard. probably happens

[MrBojangles]

My mistake is not picking them out early. Developing them at AAA as they want to move up to The Show is risky.

[zelishmekhi]

Originally Posted by TuckerDuckson

My personal super utility guy already had 6 positions ranged 35-55 learned when he was drafted (missing 1B and C both of which he learned)

He had an 80 in RF and the rest were in the range of 50-65 on all 8 by the time he left in free agency after 6 years

the main thing is that he has to be able to play the position you want him to play (3B: a good arm, SS good Turn DP, etc etc)

The way to have him learn those positions is through spring training/force starting him in the minors, by the time this guy was in Single A I had him force starting in positions he wasn't so good at (for example 3B which he started with a 35) this eventually grew into a solid 50 after a year in single A.
I always recommend this method for position/outfield positions other than SS and CF

For CF, SS, and C I almost exclusively use spring training, granted you can use the strategy used above, so using the example of my guy, he got a 50 in C despite never playing catcher before because 1. he had the ratings for it and 2. since it is one of the headrest positions to learn he learned it in ST which for some reason allows them to learn harder positions faster.

So that's how I develop my utility players

Being a utility player helps you learn more about your strengths and weaknesses. Playing different positions puts you into different parts of the field and exposes you to the places you need improvement in each of them.