ofahn wrote:
May I assume that you consider "Gold Glove" to signify the BEST fielder at each position? It really doesn't and never has historically. Just two years ago Adam Jones won the gold glove and many evaluators questioned his routes to the ball and defensive placement. Derek Jeter has won a TON of Gold Gloves and many evaluators DO NOT consider him to be the best DEFENSIVE SS, just the BEST SS. Nick Markakis has been the best RF in basebakll for the last four or five years and finally won the GG just last year. Brooks Robinson's last two GGs weren't because he was the BEST 3B those years (not with Gregg Nettles as his contemporary) but because of his reputation and the fact that his play was ALMOST as good as it had been. I watched Mark Belanger play in the late Sixties and early Seventies and could NOT understand how he wasn't the GG winner EVERY YEAR. With all due respect to Cal Ripken and Ozzie Smith, Belanger in his prime was the best defensive SS I have ever seen.
Over the last couple of weeks I have posted hundreds of words about Reynolds' flaws at 3B and how some of them have carried over to 1B, including his range. Roch Kubatko posted this yesterday:
http://www.masnsports.com/school_of_roc ... rners.html
The comment "he failed to make other plays that were scored hits" was specifically about his range which has improved SLIGHTLY at 1B but not IMO to GG level.
I have posted that I would be happy to have Reynolds back IF he were willing to work on his weak areas such as range and willingness to take outside pitches the other way. IF he were to do that successfully he could play at an All Star level.
Well, first of all that quote was signifyng his play at third base. Second of all, not all "should have been errors" are range-related. I cannot see how he has bad range. He catches everything(confidence player there perhaps)and you've failed to show me an example of a ball he should have gotten to. By definition, The Gold Glove Awards are handed out to “the best individual fielding performances at each position in the National and American Leagues, as voted by managers and coaches.” Thats the defintion of gold glove. Whether all of them make the right choice, or even go by that defintion, is hard to tell, since none of them watch every game of the season and opposing managers only see that player at most 18 times. Stateing your opinion on a couple of people who should have one or not have one is pointless. As they have been many instinces (most of the time the smartest people in baseball get it right as much as possible) where the "best" defender has been chosen. BA is just a componet of OBP and he has a very solid one. I'd say any other season he's a 30 plus homer guy too.
