Why would you care about fielding ratings or PB ratings for a rookie?

I've never used these ratings when putting my rookie list together. Not once.

Why, you ask? Lots of reasons.

Because I don't draft rookies for only one year. I'm looking for a guy that will help me down the line.

I don't even use the stats of most players. Once again, I need a player that will last more than one year. I have the FA draft to help me with the here and now.

Pitching and hitting are the two most important stats of our sim., with fielding a distant third. If it comes down to what looks like two equal players, I choose the guy with the brighter future over the guy with a fielding rating of 7 compared to 4.

PB ratings for pitchers are a reflection of OPS and ERA. Trust me on this one and use OPS by itself(or combine with K/W ratio, WHIP, RCERA). Ignore PB ratings in general for all players. Its the stats that dictate performance.

Just my two cents.

So how do I choose rookies? I find a couple top 100 prospect lists that I trust, consolidate, and use these rankings, with some minor adjustments.

What adjustments, you ask? If two INF are pretty equal, say 5-6 rankings apart, I might choose the lower guy if his first year stats help me win, or if he plays a position I really need.

Well, if you read all this, check out this website for a number of top 100 rookie lists.

http://www.attheplate.com/2005/05_rookied.htm

You can also access the 2004 list as well. Have fun.