[duncan_idaho]

I'll agree there are certain positions in baseball that don't require a ton of athleticism to play well. 1B. DH. And at P, you can get away with not being really athletic if you're a freak of nature. Teams tend to look for more athletic guys on the hill, though, because it helps with repeating deliveries and etc.

But try playing MI, or 3B, or any of the OF spots well. You need to be really athletic to do so in the major leagues. For those IF spots, great quickness and first two steps are a must. That's athletic ability. Speed helps. That's athletic ability. Throwing arm, again, athletic ability. There's a ton of quick twitch that's required on the IF.

In the OF, reading the ball off the bat and taking good routes are skills that can be taught. Speed and throwing ability cannot. And...you'll notice the best OF are the guys with a really quick first few steps. That's athletic ability as well.

And as for catcher, it requires a ton of quickness/endurance/throwing ability as well. You can put a fat guy back there to "hide" him, but it's going to hurt you a lot defensively.