Friday's Sports Feature: Derek Jeter and Other MLB Award Failures

So Derek Jeter wins another Gold Glove this year making this his 4th. This also makes his 4th Gold Glove win that he does not deserve. The guy has a high fielding percentage and thats about it. Thats like ranking a QB solely based on Passer Rating, which everyone knows is a joke. Jeter isn't a bad fielder, but he is just mediocre and here is why:


If one goes over to fangraphs.com and looks at more in depth fielding stats than mlb.com or ESPN has to offer they will see exactly how mediocre and in some cases bad Derek is. Like said earlier, he makes few errors, but this is because he is what people call a vanity fielder. He doesn't have any range and also doesn't put forth a ton of effort into his plays. Maybe this is because he is getting older, and maybe it is because he wants to prevent errors. I don't know, it could be either.

Hurp

When you look at the stats that really count he seems to fail in most categories. For example, he is tied for LAST in range factor and is in the bottom 10 of Ultimate Zone Rating(UZR) which calculates the overall number of runs saved or accountable for. This is calculation is regarded as the best way to measure a fielders worth, and Jeter barely cracks the top 10 this year, which is good, but not gold glove winning. Luckily he has improved since the 02-08 seasons where he was either dead last or bottom 5 almost each year. The rest of these stats can be viewed at fangraphs and they are all quite revealing.

Durp

I know I'm being lazy but I can't really put the rest of this topic any better than this. The people at Popular Science make a great argument. I know I'm going to catch a lot of crap for this from Yankee fans but sometimes the truth hurts. A final note, that 'trademark' jump throw he does is only because real shortstops are able to get to that ball, plant, and make a strong throw like a normal person.

Wut?

Other fails by the MLB include giving the Silver Slugger award to Jason Bay who batted a shameful .267 while trying to replace Manny. Yes he did hit 36 home runs, but so did 12 other players and 4 other outfielders in the AL. Why not give Adam Lind one of the 3 OF Silver Slugger Awards instead of Bay? He had only 1 less homer and 5 less RBIs while striking out 50 less times and having a 40 point higher batting average. Oh yeah, because he isn't a Yankee or Red Sox he doesn't deserve it.