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It's been pretty hectic around here the last couple days. I just wanted to pop in to mention one thing about the Gold Gloves, and that is this: this guy didn't win one.
And the reason that's notable is that that guy is, quite simply, the most valuable defensive player in the game today. There's really no argument and no comparison.
By UZR, he was worth 29.1 runs above average in center field in 2009. That's more than ten runs better than any other player in the game registered (Evan Longoria, maybe the only clear-cut deserving winner on this year's AL list, is second at 18.5). UZR doesn't really compare perfectly among positions, but CF is an awfully important position, and considering that the first middle infielder (fellow Mariner Jack Wilson) comes in at 14.0, less than half of Gutierrez's total, I have no hesitation in pronouncing him the most valuable fielder in the bigs. By a wide margin; maybe by about as much, proportionally, as the amount by which Pujols is the best hitter in the bigs. If Gutierrez hadn't played a single game prior to 2009, that 29.1 would still be in the top ten total UZRs over the last three years. This is historically, crazily good.
And it's no fluke, either, or at least it doesn't look that way. In 2008, playing mostly right field, Gutierrez saved a little over 2/3 the runs (20.9, 72% of his 2009 total) in a little over 2/3 of the playing time (69% as many innings). In 2007, he saved "only" 9 runs in about 2/3 again as many innings, his UZR per 150 games a merely amazing 21 rather than his superhuman 27 of 2008-09. The guy is for real. He's the best outfielder we've seen since at least Andruw Jones' early years.
Don't like UZR? By plus/minus, the guy they (rather unoriginally) call "Death to Flying Things" led all right fielders at +29 in 2008, and led all players everywhere with a +43 in center in 2009, 20 better than the 2nd-place CF. I don't think Baseball Prospectus has a leaderboard for its fielding runs stats, but Gutierrez's 2009 comes in at 23 above average and 42 above replacement, which fits right in with Andruw's heyday. So there's room to quibble about exactly how much Gutierrez's defense is worth, but they all seem to agree with this: whatever that number is, every other outfielder in the bigs is worth less than that.
And it's not like his prowess goes unnoticed by the non-stats-obsessed crowd. Not at all. Any Mariners fan, and many of the fans of his victims around the league, will tell you that the plays Gutierrez made on a regular basis this season simply defied description. You just simply didn't get a hit into the Mariners' outfield, most of which was covered by him. Scouts have always raved about his defense. Even if you just hate all defensive numbers, period, you can't question Gutierrez's prowess. He's the best, and its not close.
But Torii Hunter has won eight in a row. And so has Ichiro. So of course they have to win again this year. And Adam Jones? Well...I have no idea, honestly. Looks athletic?
I'm sure I don't have to tell anyone reading this that Gold Glove Awards mean absolutely nothing in any context or situation. But it amazes me how many people still bring it into arguments, as though they prove something. But it's important to remember that in 2009, when Torii Hunter won the 9th of probably 11 or 12 consecutive Gold Gloves, there was a guy up in Seattle who didn't win one, and was about as much better than Torii with the glove as Miguel Cabrera was better than Asdrubal Cabrera with the bat. It was like naming Derrek Lee the silver slugger at 1B over Albert Pujols (only worse, because in the outfield, the Gold Glove voters get two more shots at it). I don't care if you're convinced your guy deserved it, or if he won one or five or twenty-two of them. His Gold Glove Awards do absolutely nothing, not even the slightest little bit, to help your case. Just forget about them.
At this point, it seems like it would be a good idea for Rawlings to scrap the sham voting process they currently have coaches and managers undergo and just adopt a league-specific version of the Fielding Bible Awards as the new Gold Gloves...really, it's getting to be an embarrassment to the company name.
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