The Randomness of A Gold Glove Winner
I don’t pay much attention to this award, just glanced at the results this morning. I think the winners are voted on by managers and coaches, not the players themselves. Everyone says it’s an award given to a player who has either won before or who has been an offensive force before–that would explain Beltran as one of the 3 options to vote on in right field. But Gerardo Parra won in left field? I didn’t think he was known outside of Arizona for much of anything. And yet he wins the left field gold glove. Polanco beats out Panda at 3rd base? I didn’t watch much of Polanco this year. He was hurt a lot and I’m sorry, but you can’t tell me he played a *golder* glove than Sandoval did this year. I’m assuming that the newer defensive stats (the UZR stuff) isn’t considered by the coaches. To tell you the truth, I don’t look much at that either since it doesn’t help me in fantasy baseball and, frankly, it can be difficult to translate into something meaningful. I’m assuming the coaches and managers just vote for the guy who made a spectacular play against them in the regular season. Again, I would be surprised if Polanco made more spectacular plays than Panda in 2011. He won a GG in ’07 and ’09 so that was probably enough for the voters–just keep punching out the holes you punched out in years passed. That’s a pretty dumb way to vote, isn’t it?
Maybe Schierholtz finally breaks through in 2012. He plays a full year injury free. He doesn’t just have the late inning hits but he finally fulfills his promise, hits .290 with 15 bombs and 20 stolen bags. Of course, there is the gold glove defense that’s always been there, the golden arm he uses to gun down would-be runners at every possible bag. The cat is finally out of the bag, and he guns that goddamn cat down, too. The national writers finally take notice and he will win an award he really does richly deserve to win. Except he won’t win it, Andre Ethier will. Why? ‘Cause he won it in 2011. Dumb award……….
A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball 
Willie Mays won 12 of them. Those were the days!
Nip, Mays would have won at least 5-6 more if not for the fact that the award was started in 1957 (and that year, they only gave one award for each position in the entire MLB . . . changed in 1958, where they gave awards to in both the NL and AL).
Lot of disagreement even among the fangraph bloggers on defensive metrics, esp on short term. I remember reading there off season last year about a disagreement over Jason Bartlett, with one set of stats saying he was above avg., and another saying he was below as a SS. By late season, I recall Kuiper saying he was very reliable and sure handed.
Since they use UZR to factor into WAR, a stat they use predominately to discuss player value, it does add a thin layer of doubt. some guys talked about combining different stats into one defensive measurement; over my head. Just doesn’t seem saber guys exactly sold on how best to determine value.
Nate’s solid tho, and I think has the respect of the league. And what happens is you actually don’t get many assists because guys aren’t going to run on you, kind of like the better corners in football who don’t get balls thrown their way. I think he could play CF at ATT too, if Sabes signed someone else that had to be in RF.
Beltran looked awful out there, lack of range and mis playing stuff hit in front of him; Torres by contrast can play anywhere, very well.
MLBTR yesterday had a thread on Ruben Amaro saying he was hoping to retain Rollins and Ryan Madson. While this seems like first round posturing, if you follow the link to news reporter story and check out 5 pages of blogger comments, there is sure some interesting stuff from philly fans (not all of whom are whack).
Prevailing sentiment tho is short term deal only, despite the fact the only replacement is a minor league kid. One guy I thought had it right said if J-Rol doesn’t like the offers, he re-ups eventually. Lot of upset people over there, demanding action by a team that won 102 games.
Just shows what 102 wins is worth in the playoffs. LOL
Beltran should go to the AL and play DH. He’s getting up there for a ballplayer. I just don’t look forward for another player dying MLB wise on the Giants playing field. 34 seems young to me, but we all know guys are always breaking down in their middle thirties. Their legs just can’t take the punishment in these large outfields.
Agree . . . I don’t want him here either.
Flav, a good example of a play that stuck in players and managers minds was Buehrle’s phenomenal defensive play at 1B on Opening Day. As a fan, I even remember that unbelievable fielding play. This play definitely lstuck with voters. That being said, Buehrle is the lone AL holdover, winning for the third straight year.
I was listening to KNBR this morning and Kruk was on and he mentioned that Rafael Palermo the first basemen for the Rangers won the GG award one year and he only played in 23 games that year. and Kruk also brought up Nate, said Nate could dance circles around the guy who won it. Matt Williams was the last 3rd basemen to win it as a Giant. mmm…wonder why?? ha ha
I thought it was 12 games, but 23 for Rafael Palmeiro. Shows how stupid the GG voting has been over the years. At least I wasn’t delusional. Concerning that.
Buerhle? See what it took to keep Kaat from winning for the 53rd time? Nate doesn’t belong in the conversation if Torres doesn’t. That he wasn’t a finalist in 2010 was a fucking joke. DelaCasa or whatever his name is didn’t belong this year either. I think it’s fair that the guy have been a regular at some fucking point in his career. Pablo will undoubtedly win a few, Nate will have to be a regular and also hit some if he’s to win one. It may be somewhat unfair that offense plays a part but who wants a bunch of Delacasas winning? Not me.
No Yanks or Mets among the Gold Glovers — Teixeira and Reyes could’ve easily won — so at least there’s no New Yawk bias, although there are three Red Sox. Is there a minimum amount of games a player needs to qualify? Because as long as Omar Vizquel is still playing, there ain’t anybody who’s better, whether it’s SS or 3B.
I just accept the fact that the Gold Glove is now a near meaningless award.
BB winners have more visible credibility…
AP just reported . . . “Embattled Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt and Major League Baseball reached an agreement late Tuesday to sell one of the sport’s most storied franchises, ending a seven-year run that included four trips to the postseason before recently becoming mired in legal troubles capped by a filing for bankruptcy protection.
A joint statement said there will be a “court-supervised process” to sell the team and its media rights to maximize value for the Dodgers and McCourt. The Blackstone Group LP will manage the sale, which could include Dodger Stadium and the surrounding parking lots.”
Bad news, of sorts, for Giants fans. McCourt has agreed to sell the Dodgers. I had hoped his circus would drag on at least through next season and mess the team up for at least 2 more years, but, oh well. Buyer(s) TBD. Even if they agreed on a buyer today, it would take sometime through next Spring or longer to close the deal, so this uncertainly will still stretch into next season. How that impacts this offseason’s personnel moves is anybody’s guess. Team revenues are down from a high of around $280M in 2009 to $240M or so. Estimated value of the team is $800M – $1.1billion, including the stadium and land. I’m guessing it’ll be a bit below $1B. Not a bad return for McCourt that bought it for $421 million in 2004, and leveraged the purchase up to his eyeballs, so his actual return on his equity will be immense. This whole debacle is on Bud, he pushed the sale to McCourt, when cooler heads were saying then that the guy was a scumbag. One thing is for sure, the next owner can’t possibly run the Dodgers worse than this current regime…
“One thing is for sure, the next owner can’t possibly run the Dodgers worse than this current regime.”
Maybe, but this is twice consecutively, i.e., McCourt’s predecessor was Fox Corporation. Personally, I’m hoping that they do the business equivalent of a hockey hat trick.
Wishful thinking, but shouldn’t happen, Blade. The owners this time will be more careful and do their own review instead of letting the Budster take the wheel. This episode, along with the Mets ongoing financial situation, has got to have them wanting to find a AAA buyer and stop the nonsense. As long as the buyer is not getting that rating from Moody’s or Standard & Poors, since their ratings are near meaningless, too…
Probably spot on regarding the “Budster” not being able to take the wheel in this upcoming sale . . . However, someone please explain to me why a rabid fan and ultra-competitive owner such as Mark Cuban has been blackballed every time he has bid on a team? Per Wikipedia:
“On July 12, 2007, Cuban sent in an application to MLB to purchase the Chicago Cubs, which along with Wrigley Field and the Cubs Television Contract could go as high as $1 billion.[76] On October 8, 2007, he said he would likely bid on the team, calling it “an opportunity [he] couldn’t let slip by” and also reiterated his interest in the team on The Jimmy Kimmel Show on November 3, 2007.[77] In July 2008, he submitted an initial bid of $1.3 Billion to buy the Cubs and was invited to participate in a second round of bidding along with several other potential ownership groups.[78] Cuban was not selected to participate in the final bidding process in January 2009. On August 4, 2010, Cuban actively bid to buy the Texas Rangers. Cuban stopped bids after 1:00 am, having placed bids totaling almost 600 million dollars. He had outbid ex-pitcher Nolan Ryan, but lost the deal before the Rangers played the San Francisco Giants in the 2010 World Series. In February 2011, Cuban said he was open to becoming a minority owner of the New York Mets after owner Fred Wilpon announced that he was planning to sell up to 25% interest in the team.[79] In June 2011, Cuban was mentioned as considering the purchase of the Los Angeles Dodgers.[80]”
I can understand if he lost out to a higher bidder for the Cubs, but according to this information, he outbid the Ryan ownership group, but lost out for some reason . . .
Personally, I don’t want him bidding for the Dodgers because I know he would make every effort to win and that’s not good for our Giants. However, the “larger good” seems to indicate that Cuban would be good for MLB . . . Why the fuck owners and/or the car salesman Commish is in fear of him joining their fraternity I have no idea.
Cuban is an unpredictable outsider who will shake up MLB. Owners are a very closed elite club and they wish to keep it that way.
If you include part timers, it would be a circus. Hey, maybe “Stewie” could win one. Crawdaddy might give Tulip a run for his money. And Nate, of course…he’d have a nation wide cult then.
It IS a dumb award and a Lead Glove Award would have more competition and be more fun.
But here’s how Giants would fared if the awardc was based on UZR-150. Catchers and pitchers aren’t ranked by UZR. (Leader by UZR in parenthesis)
1B Huff 5th 4.3 (Votto 6.8)
2B Fruckie 10th minus 1.1 Kepp 14th minus 10.7 ( Utley 14.5)
3B Pablo 2nd 17.9 ( Rolen 18.9)
SS Crawford 4th 8.2 ( Barmes 10.8)
LF Ross 10th minus 4.5 ( Parra 11.2)
CF Torres 1st 17.3 ( Kemp won with minus 4.7)
RF Nate and Beltran were both in bottom five. Carlos at minus 9.2, Nate at minus 6.2. ( Heyward 12.7)
Plenty of room for controversy doing it by UZR-150. Nate was minus 6.2 this year, plus 18 last year. Makes little sense yet others seem right on ( Torres, Crawford, Panda). I think it gets better with more chances. Nate is a CAREER plus 10.7.
UZR-150, BTW, is runs saved above average per 150 games.
The Lead Glove Award: They could name it after Dick “Dr. Strangeglove” Stuart. Eli would be a lock for catcher.
My grandfather used to refer to “Ironglove Dick Dietz”…
Opening odds to win the 2012 World Series
Philadelphia 4-1
Yankees 5-1
Boston 6-1
Texas 8-1
St. Louis 10-1
Atlanta 12-1
Detroit 12-1
Giants 12-1
Tampa Bay 15-1
Angels 18-1
For those who care because it’s the Bay Area, Oakland 65-1. And for those who care because of the division, Arizona 25-1, Dodgers 25-1, Colorado 30-1, Padres 80-1
Twin posted this stuff the other day and we were at 15-1 . . . We must be good – we haven’t played one frickin’ game in 2012 and we’ve already improved our odds 12-1 to win it all.
Must be the re-signing of Lopez and Affeldt.
And I apologize for being somewhat redundant. I missed twin’s post
My odds were from the International House of Pancakes…
And I have zero idea what that means. Nappy time.
I have no idea what that means either but I’ll defend to the death your right to say it
Not certain what you guys are talking about, but everyone knows that the International House of Pancakes has the best Sports Book Operation in the State of Nevada.
Ask for Guido
No need to apologize, Ted. I doubt any of us have scoops here.
No scoop here, but a crazy-ass story about Lou Gehrig’s bat, Bing Russell, and memorabilia . . .
http://tinyurl.com/3klsvm2
I liked that story Chuck.
Link to the right for your Lead Glove nominations.