Ken Griffey, Jr in the outfield? Really? I believe it was emeritus Gary Huckabay who first stated Griffey "breaks like a glacier". He'd consistently be diving for balls that were simple outs for other OF.
Gimme Devon White (or maybe an early Andruw Jones) anyday. I'll never forget White's catch off David Justice's laser beam in the '92 World Series. He made it look easy. So many times, White would be camped under a ball for which another player would be diving. He had his shortcomings as an offensive player, but he was amazingly fluid & full of grace.
We can probably add Dwayne Murphy and a bunch of others to the discussion. As great as Griffey was, I don't see how he makes the top 20 on the defensive side of the ball.

Yes, it seems odd that Griffey would be cited for all time excellence in the outfield when BP's own metrics have him 70 runs below average. Jones, White, and Gary Pettis are all 15-20 or more WINS ahead of Griffey with the glove.

Griffey? Isn't this column about two and a half weeks early?

Love this column. I've been reading articles on sabermetrics for about half my life now and it's really great to get a more in-depth understanding of the scouting side of things. Keep up the good work!

Who else figured into the infield discussion of Top Major League Tool?

No Willie Mays?!

Regarding outfielders' first read, and getting a break on the ball: How does a scout figure this out, practically speaking? Presumably the observer is watching the pitcher/hitter to begin with. Once a ball is hit, it takes a split second to recognize what field it's hit to and another split second to locate the fielder. In that time, the fielder has already made his break, presumably. The same question, maybe to a lesser extent, with shading for different hitters. How to keep track of the player's innumerable shifts in position?

I fully expect the answer is, 'Scouts are good.' But I still have a hard time with it.

Just sent out a quick industry poll on Griffey, and every source put an 8 on the glove, which was the only tool being debated in this article. I didn't ask about the grade on his range or his arm, just the raw glove score they would assign. Every scouting source called it elite, or suggested it held that distinction at some point during his career.

Best ever? Now that is the real debate, as that is very subjective and I might favor a different player every day of the week. In a pool of 80-grade tools, its very difficult to identify the one that stands above the rest. I remember throwing out names like Cameron and Hunter, two gloves that burned a hole in my memory when I first started focusing on the particulars of tool identification. I know that I can make a case for both, just as many can make a very good case for Griffey.

I don't have any idea who was the best ever, but because I want him to be remembered, I will add Paul Blair to the list of candidates in CF.

"You want to see the outfielder take a direct path to his intersection with the ball, not a “banana” route that suggests the player misread the ball off the bat and is now trying to adjust on the fly."

When I attended a Cubs fantasy camp a couple years ago, I was told that taking the "direct path" wasn't always the correct play. Sometimes, the "banana route" that you describe was the preferred route if that put the outfielder in a better position to fire the ball straight back to the infield after the catch. During outfield drills, we were instructed to try and end up facing the infield after we made the play so that our throws would be more direct.

I LOVE this series.

No consideration for Starling Marte? Very good to excellent in both range and arm.

Considering that most mention was made about up-the-middle players (Beltre notwithstanding), who rated best among corner men? I am particularly interested in 1B. Great series.