Last week I examined pitching tools, laying out my rankings (and reasoning) in eight categories, and earlier this week I tackled the hitting and speed tools. Today I look at fielding tools from a scout's perspective, ranking players with the best gloves and arms at each of the three position areas (catcher, infield, outfield).
Best catcher glove
1. Russell Martin
Toronto Blue Jays
Defensive WAR (baseball-reference): 2015 -- 0.6; 2014 -- 2.0; 2013 -- 2.5
2. Buster Posey, Giants
3. Yadier Molina, Cardinals
4. Jonathan Lucroy, Brewers
5. Jason Castro, Astros
The top four players all earn the highest marks from scouts and execs, with Lucroy and Posey frequently ranking among the top pitch-framers in the game. While Yasmani Grandal gets a lot of credit for superior framing, he's actually a below-average receiver when it comes to plate-blocking and preventing wild pitches/passed balls. I considered Christian Vazquez for this top five, but with so little major league time to go on, it seemed like it might be too much of an extrapolation for a tool that is notorious among scouts for the difficulty it poses in grading.