The awards are announced tonight. I don't expect my choices to match the ones that we will see tonight, because a lot of the managers who vote for these awards don't really base them on defense, but use the award as more of a popularity contest. Here's what I came up with.
American League:
Catcher - Matt Weiters - He hasn't developed offensively like most thought he would, but his defense is really good. I'm amazed by how smooth he is behind the plate while being 6'5" tall.
First Base - Adrian Gonzalez - I don't trust a lot of the defensive metrics for first baseman. I think that most of them are flawed, especially when only looking at one years worth of data. Adrian is great at both fielding and receiving, and gets m vote at first base.
Second Base - Ian Kinsler - Second base actually has a lot of good candidates. I like Pedrioa's all around game, and I love Cano's arm, and how he makes the pivot at second, but I think Kinsler is the best all around defender at second base.
Third Base - Adrian Beltre - He's been the best for a while at the hot corner, and nothing has changed.
Shortstop - Brendan Ryan - This guy is awesome. Most people have never seen him play defense. He gets to everything, and has a surprising arm. I think he's the best and doesn't get enough credit for it.
Left Field - Brett Gardner - The "center fielder playing left" is a popular trend in recent years. Gardner has great instincts, great speed, and takes good paths to the ball. He's like a black hole playing left field.
Center Field - Peter Bourjos - Bourjos just goes and gets it. It's fun to watch him track down balls in center. Give him a look next season if you haven't seen him.
Right Field - David DeJesus - This one was difficult as the American League doesn't have a lot of good defensive right fielders. I never really thought of DeJuses for this until I looked at the metrics. He's essentially a center fielder playing right for the A's. He's the best of a weak crop for A.L. right field.
National League:
Catcher - Yadier Molina - Has been the best and still is the best. Although Miguel Montero is an underrated backstop in the National League.
First Base - Joey Votto - As with the A.L. version, this is mostly by eye test. I've seen a lot of Votto from my time living with Reds fans. He's good around the base, although I'm not crazy about the way he holds runners on.
Second Base - Brandon Phillips - Phillips was underrated defensively for a while at second base, but in recent years the public has discovered his defensive prowess.
Third Base - Pablo Sandovol - Maybe a surprise choice. Sandovol doesn't look the part of a Gold Glove defender, but he gets it done. Scott Rolen has been the standard for a while, but wasn't healthy enough this year to win the award.
Shortstop - Troy Tulowitzki - An all around player, Tulowitzki defense matches his offense and maybe then some.
Left Field - Gerardo Parra - Maybe more of a Golden Arm award, but hey, Omar Vizquel won a bunch of these without actually using his glove.
Center Field - Cameron Maybin - His future appeared to get a lot brighter this year. He found a home in San Diego, and did a great job of paroling the vast Petco Park.
Right Field - Justin Upton - Upton came up as a center fielder. He's great at going to get the ball, and has an arm to keep base runners from trying to take extra bases.
Other Notes:
Free Agency started yesterday with one big move. C.C. Sabathia stayed with the Yankees via an extension, but I think we all knew that was gong to happen. The Indians made a trade with the Braves to acquire Derek Lowe. Since the Indians didn't give up anything, I guess it was a good deal for them. The Braves got the salary relief that they were looking for, and opened up a spot in the rotation for one of their younger pitchers who's probably better at this point then Lowe anyways. The Indians now have three ground ball machines in their rotation. Lowe, Justin Masterson, and Fausto Carmona all generate ground balls at a very high rate, and the defense will need to improve in order to turn these ground balls into outs. None of the Indians infielders are even average defenders. Lonnie Chisenhall is a poor defender at third. Asdrubal Cabrera is great around the bag and makes flashy plays, but doesn't have great range. Jason Kipnis is new to second base, and doesn't really have the athleticism to be an above average defender. If the Tribe is going to go all in with this pitch to contact, ground ball plan, they are going to need to address the defense either with bench players who can come in at the end of games, or devote a lot of time working with the guys that they already have to turn them into the best that they can be.
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