The American League Gold Glove awards were announced the other day. There were few surprises amongst those who received the awards (Ichiro getting his tenth in ten years, Mark Beuhrle getting his second, Franklin Gutierrez being recognized) and for the most part, there were few flaws with those who received this award. However, that is unless one looks at the winner of the Gold Glove award for shortstop - the essentially immobile Derek Jeter.
Looking at the metric for defensive capability (Rfield - which measures the number of putouts, assists, and double plays made by each fielder, and comparing those totals to positional norms of other fielders to arrive at a figure above or below average. Each extra out made, or hit allowed, is worth X runs which leads to the FR figure) Jeter ranked dead last in the American League, and 27th of 28 shortstops in baseball that played a minimum of 100 games at that position (here is a link to the chart at baseballreference.com: http://www.baseball-reference.com/blog/archives/9067 ). Now, this is taking nothing away from Jeter; he is a smart baseball player who knows almost exactly where to position himself with each hitter. If he is able to get to the ball, he typically makes the play, as exemplified by his six errors all season. However, he simply does not have any range at this point in time in his career. He has major problems getting to a ball hit in the hole or behind second base unless he is already shaded in that direction. Getting to a ground ball anywhere beyond two steps of his location either way is improbable at best.
The best choice for the AL Gold Glove award based on the chart would have been Jack Wilson. However, he plays in Seattle on a dismal ballclub and is not a 'name' for the fans. Let's face it, how many people out there care about Jack Wilson's baseball career outside of his family? Having the career that Jeter has had, and playing in pinstripes, definitely helped him get this award.
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