Value of Multiposition Players

[Weasel_King]

In leagues with few bench spots, they're much more valuable. In leagues with many bench spots I think multi-positions is next to useless.

[MTUCache]

I went into my draft expecting multi-position players to be at an ultra-premium... I was wrong.

Do they make things easier in the case of injury? Sure... They definitely do.

In order to make them worth "extra", your league and team have to be set up the proper way.

First, the less bench spots, the more important. Flexibility becomes much more important when you don't have as much room to move.

Second, the player themselves needs to be flexible at the right positions. You still need to be strong at shallow positions. Having a player with 1B/OF eligibility honestly isn't much use. Both of those spots are stacked. Likewise, if they're only eligible at two shallow positions (2B/3B), you need to shape your roster during the draft to benefit from that. If you don't have any other 2B option, and your 3B gets hurt, you can't exactly benefit from shifting your multi-use guy over to 3B, now can you? You're left just as shallow at second.

They're not a season-long solution to shallow positions. They're stop-gaps for 15 days at a time. You still need to have good everyday players at the shallow positions if you want to reap any of the benefits that a multi-position player gives you.

As for their added value during a trade (or the draft, for that matter), it depends entirely on the team that they're going to end up on. It doesn't add any value to your team by drafting Rich Aurilia. He's still Rich Aurilia. Just because he can fill a dozen positions doesn't mean he's going to produce anything while he's doing it.

[JRAT]

I find that they also help in pitching. SP/RP rated pitchers can be valuable in a few sitautions, especially if they are primarily RP (middle or closers). In a situation where you are over the max IP and want to tightly manage you starters, an SP/RP player such as Gregg or Hennesey now can help with SVs, Ks, ERA and WHIP and even Holds, while not increasing your IP that much. This will allow you to come back to even in IP, and even save some IPs for the final stretch while still collecting some (maybe not stellar) stats.

I'm in a 7 x 7 Roto. Not sure how this works in H2H. But with a MAX IP setting it can work out.

[Tavish]

It typically depends on the depth of the league, the number of bench spots, and which extra positions the player is eligible at. The first two have already been covered, the last is somewhat obvious. A 1B that has extra eligibility in the OF doesn't gain a ton of value due to the extra position. A 1B who has extra eligibility at catcher gets a significant boost.