MLB Defensive Player of the Year 2014 Awards: AL and NL Winners and Reaction

Coming on the heels of announcing the 2014 Gold Glove winners, defense takes center stage once again in Major League Baseball with the release of this year's Wilson Defensive Player of the Year Awards.   

Unlike the Gold Glove Awards, which are voted on by managers and coaches from each team, the Defensive Player of the Year Awards use more scientific information. In addition to scouting reports and standard fielding metrics, these awards incorporate sabermetric numbers like defensive runs saved, among others. 

They hand out awards for best defensive player at each position, as well as the best overall defender from the 2014 MLB season. This is a recap of the winners, as well as reaction to those honored for their work with the leather. 

Position	Player	Team	Defensive Runs Saved (via FanGraphs)
1B	Adrian Gonzalez	Los Angeles Dodgers	12
2B	Ian Kinsler	Detroit Tigers	20
SS	Andrelton Simmons	Atlanta Braves	28
3B	Juan Uribe	Los Angeles Dodgers	17
LF	Alex Gordon	Kansas City Royals	27
CF	Lorenzo Cain	Kansas City Royals	14
RF	Jason Heyward (Overall Defensive Player of the Year Winner)	Atlanta Braves	32
C	Russell Martin	Pittsburgh Pirates	12
P	Johnny Cueto	Cincinnati Reds	N/A

Winner	Defensive Runs Saved	Range Runs (RngR)	UZR
Cincinnati Reds	67 (1st in MLB)	31.1 (6th)	46.3 (4th)

Full list can be found on MLB.com

Overview

John Amis/Associated Press

Any discussion of best defensive players starts with Atlanta Braves shortstop Andrelton Simmons. He was honored with a Gold Glove on Tuesday, then took time on Twitter to offer thanks for the recognition he received from fans:

It would be easy to sit here and list all the numbers stating that Simmons is an incredible defender. He was second among all position players with 28 defensive runs saved and led all shortstops with a 15.5 UZR.

However, instead of continuing to recite all the numbers, all you really need to know about what makes Simmons so special with the glove is plays like this, via MLB.com:

Of course, Simmons has stiff competition from teammate Jason Heyward on the defensive spectrum. Atlanta's right fielder was awarded as the best right fielder and best overall defender in 2014 thanks in large part to saving an MLB-high 32 runs with the glove. 

You can see what makes Heyward so elite with this particular play against Miami, via MLB's official Twitter account:

Even though Adrian Gonzalez makes a living hitting the baseball, he's turned into a solid defender at first base. This was the fourth consecutive season he's had at least 11 defensive runs saved and he led all first basemen with 31 plays made out of his zone. 

The first surprise winner was Juan Uribe, who is a very good defensive third baseman but didn't have the overall numbers with the best in baseball because he only played in 103 games. The Dodgers star was credited with 17 defensive runs saved, though that was only second behind Oakland's Josh Donaldson (20). 

If you work out Uribe's numbers for 140-150 games, he would have ended up as the best in that specific category. However, you can't do that for awards. All you can go by is the numbers as they were. Donaldson was superior with more runs saved. 

In terms of UZR, Chase Headley had a higher UZR/150 games played (28.0) than Uribe (17.8) and Donaldson (13.3). Even though he was traded from San Diego to New York at midseason, it shouldn't matter in this particular case because it's a cumulative award and not league-specific. 

Rob Carr/Getty Images

The most controversial winner of the group was Lorenzo Cain. Kansas City's young star is a tremendous defensive outfielder, as the world saw during the playoffs, but going back to the theory of an entire season's worth of work, this was a mistake. 

Cain only played 723.1 innings in center field this season. He was fantastic in those innings, finishing tied for third with 14 defensive runs saved and fourth with a UZR/150 games of 18.7. 

However, none of Cain's numbers compares to New York Mets center fielder Juan Lagares. The rookie led all center fielders with 28 defensive runs saved, 15.1 range runs (RngR) and 25.3 UZR/150 games.

ESPN's Mark Simon also added a note on Twitter about what made Lagares so valuable defensively after the Mets star won his first career Gold Glove:

In a surprise twist on the team side, Cincinnati was awarded as the best defensive club in 2014. The smart money going in seemed like the Royals or Baltimore Orioles, but the Reds did lead the league with 67 runs saved. 

Overall, there wasn't a lot to complain about with this list when compared to the usual chicanery from the Gold Glove voting. There were a couple of instances where there were more deserving players, but if you're saying that Cain and Uribe are my two "worst" defenders, my team is going to be pretty good with the leather.

All stats via FanGraphs.com

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