Notes on the 2008 Gold Gloves

How could Win Shares suggest that Phillips is marginally (about 1/3 of a Win) better than Utley, while +/- says that Utley was about 2.5 times better than Phillips? Worse yet, how could metrics that generally agree on Pedroia and Phillips so significantly disagree on Cano and Kennedy?

I suspect that eventually the smart folks behind each of these, John Dewan and Bill James, already so closely associated with each other, will put their heads together and figure out which of them, if either, is right, or at least more right. But for now, there's not much reason to complain about either Gold Glove selection, only to scratch our heads about some of these other curiosities.

Third base

Adrian Beltre (this is probably the first time ever that two Adrians were named, by the way) led the majors with +32 plays, according to Dewan's Fielding Bible, but was only sixth in the A.L. in Win Shares. He was also third in Range Factor and first in Zone Rating, so no complaint there, really. The difference between first and sixth in Win Shares is about 1.5 WS, so there's no reason to get too bent out of shape here.

David Wright was not among the top third in MLB third basemen in +/-and was only fifth in WS in the N.L., but he won it last year. He's young, he's still hitting, and it's going to be tough to take it from him for a while, now that he's got a reputation. Troy Glaus (first in WS) might have been a better choice, or perhaps Blake DeWitt, who's the only N.L. hot cornerman to show up on both lists (second in WS, first in the NL in +/-).

Shortstop

Jimmy Rollins led all MLB shortstops with +32 plays, according to Dewan and was third in fielding WS. J.J. Hardy (second in +/-, firstst in WS) was also very good.

Michael Young, however, is a bizarre case. He was second in the A.L. in Win Shares this year, with 7.1, trailing only Orlando Cabrera's 8.0. Seems like a good pick, right? Except that Young was not among the top 10 among MLB shortstops in +/-, and until this year, he was perennially in the bottom six.

From 2005-'07 he was a total of 64 plays worse than an average MLB shortstop, trailing only Manny Ramirez (-109) and Derek Jeter (-90) as the worst defensive player in the majors at any position.

Like second base, shortstop seems to have a notable difference in how Win Shares and +/- evaluate worth, as Young usually is among the best shortstops with 5-7 WS per year, despite the thrashing he usually gets from Dewan. Derek Jeter gets similarly divergent treatment from the two metrics.

Outfield (AL)

As a blanket statement, before I get into specifics, let me just reiterate that the voters should be required to select players from three different positions: right, left, and center, not just pick three center fielders, as they usually do.

Carlos Crawford and Franklin Guittierez were both very good in left and right field, respectively, and Alex Rios was just as good splitting time between center and right, so it's not as though there are no other options for the voters. Now, on to specifics...

Torii Hunter was tied for first (with B.J. Upton) among A.L. outfielders with 6.7 WS, though he doesn't show up in the top 10 on the +/- lists. He was sixth in both Range factor and Zone Rating among A.L. center fielders, but his perfect 1.000 fielding percentage must have made the voters swoon, so he's got a little more hardware.

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