And that’s without looking up the player’s “UZR.”

It’s clear that managers and coaches vote on reputation and not anything approaching reality.

I don’t deny that there is some benefit to trying to rate a fielder’s range and factor that into his overall defensive performance. But like all defensive statistical measurements, UZR is highly subjective and therefore subject to many caveats and qualifications. (Fielding percentage is also very subjective, since it’s based on “errors,” a wildly subjective statistic if you pay attention to what some official scorers won’t call an error.)

This overblown UZR formula has led otherwise sensible people to actually suggest Derek Jeter is a poor fielder, since before this year he’s had a relatively low UZR rating.

How about just watching the player play? Every judgment on a fielder’s performance is somewhat subjective (well, except maybe for judgments about Jason Giambi). But I think Jeter is still an excellent defensive shortstop. Jeter rarely drops the balls he gets to, he throws accurately (and has gotten more accurate over time), and he’s a superb decision maker. And his range is a lot better than he’s given credit for in some circles.

While I might not see every game played by every shortstop in the American League, Jeter looks pretty damned deserving of the Gold Glove award from what I’ve seen. But don’t take my word for it. The Gold Glove is awarded by the votes of each league’s managers and coaches. The guys in the dugouts get to see everyone play, multiple times. I think they should have a pretty good idea who the best fielder is at each position.

And that’s without looking up the player’s “UZR.”

If you bat 7th or 8th and hit .320, you need to start asking what you are doing right and what your are doing wrong because you are doing a lot of both.

If you put anybody out there with a cereal box for a glove they would look great to Yanks fans, who have seen nobody passable there for a hot min outside of the games Dougie M got into a couple or few years back.

I do not like Tex’s body type for a 1st baseman or any non DH, but I do like that he is tall, and knows how the position is suppose to be played. He did a fine job there this year and I hope he will for the length of his contract.