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GREAT topic of threads.
My question is this -- do those top 7 speedsters ALSO have the top 7 (or near it) UZRs?
The danger here is the self-fulfilling prophecy: All great CFs have speed - therefore find ONLY the fastest guys, put them in CF.
(I continue to have a MAJOR problem with triples included in the speed scores, because triples are MOSTLY a product of hitting left-handed.
--------- RHB --- LHB
AB/2B - 19.08 - 19.55
AB/HR - 33.30 - 37.53
AB/3B - 275.21 - 162.89
Being lefthanded literally increases your odds of hitting a triple by 70%.
If and when I see (RHB = 3B * 1.7) in one of these formulas, then I'll be much more ready to accept it. And, of course, switch-hitters tend to get most of their ABs as lefties, but the split complicates their calculation tremendously.
You ask me - the "key" isn't speed, (though speed can MAKE UP FOR other problems), the key is "jump". How quickly is the CF off in relation to the bat, and how often is that initial jump incorrect?
Ideally, you want a CF with lightning jump AND sprinter speed. But, "what if", 2/3 (3/4? - 9/10?) of the speedsters being shoved into CF because of speed really don't have any feel for the ball off the bat?
Was Andruw REALLY done as a star CF at age 24? Because that's the year his triples and SB attempts plunged. Perhaps.