Those geniuses at ESPN have done it again

[British_Pharaoh]

They've decided to confer gold glove awards a bit early and when it came to short stop this happened

Shortstop: Alcides Escobar, Royals

Metric consensus: 1. Troy Tulowitzki; 2. Alex Gonzalez; 3. Escobar.

Escobar has great range to his right, with an amazing cannon from deep in the hole. And he needs to be spectacular, because his hitting is bordering on unacceptable -- .227/.260/.270. OK, that is unacceptable. Tulo is like Cal Ripken: He might not look flashy and his powerful arm allows him to play a step or two deeper than other guys. The metrics back up his outstanding reputation. Elvis Andrus also ranks high, although his 13 errors indicate lapses in concentration.

Overrated: Asdrubal Cabrera. A consensus rating here: They all agree he has below-average range.

And then when they came to RF THIS happened

Right Field: Shin-Soo Choo, Indians

LOL what a bunch of tards. If the A-Cab comment wasn't bad enough giving the RF award to Choo is a clear indication that they do not watch the teams outside the north east of America.

[Lokais]

I had to comment on that. Especially since his first line was "I watch a lot of baseball."

[rebelwithoutaclue]

UZR actually shows Cabrera to be the worst SS in the entire AL and 2nd worst in the game, only ahead of Ryan Theriot. He's short, fat, and doesn't run very fast = no range. Before you get all over me, it doesn't factor in flashiness of plays to cloud homer-judgement.

[statmasta]

UZR actually shows Cabrera to be the worst SS in the entire AL and 2nd worst in the game, only ahead of Ryan Theriot. He's short, fat, and doesn't run very fast = no range. Before you get all over me, it doesn't factor in flashiness of plays to cloud homer-judgement.

UZR is also an immensely flawed stat.

Now, he doesn't have great range, but he doesn't have the worst range in the league. You really think Jhonny Peralta has better range than Asdrubal?

[bookelly]

Good Hannahands range to his left really helps cover Droobs inability to go right. Cabrera is pretty good going left tho. If we can sign Lindor and fast track him (still likely at least 3 years) i could see moving Droobs to 3B or 2B in the future.

[motherscratcher]

UZR actually shows Cabrera to be the worst SS in the entire AL and 2nd worst in the game, only ahead of Ryan Theriot. He's short, fat, and doesn't run very fast = no range. Before you get all over me, it doesn't factor in flashiness of plays to cloud homer-judgement.

UZR is also an immensely flawed stat.

Now, he doesn't have great range, but he doesn't have the worst range in the league. You really think Jhonny Peralta has better range than Asdrubal?

UZR is flawed for sure, but it's what we have. And since I haven't watched other SS play much other than highlights and what other peoples opinions of them are, UZR and its ilk are what I have to go on.

I'm skeptical that Asdrubal is rated the worst SS in the league by these stats, but I have no reason to think that he's the best, or anywhere near the best.

BP, your post is EXACTLY why he's listed as overrated. He's average at best and there are people that consider him a gold glover based on, well, nothing in particular.

As far as Choo goes, he sure takes some crazy routes to balls and has some adventures out there. But damn does that due have a hose. Is it enough to make up for his routes? Hell..I don't know.

hjsdk

[YouCanPutItOnTheBoardYES!]

UZR actually shows Cabrera to be the worst SS in the entire AL and 2nd worst in the game, only ahead of Ryan Theriot. He's short, fat, and doesn't run very fast = no range. Before you get all over me, it doesn't factor in flashiness of plays to cloud homer-judgement.

UZR is also an immensely flawed stat.

Now, he doesn't have great range, but he doesn't have the worst range in the league. You really think Jhonny Peralta has better range than Asdrubal?

UZR is flawed for sure, but it's what we have. And since I haven't watched other SS play much other than highlights and what other peoples opinions of them are, UZR and its ilk are what I have to go on.

I'm skeptical that Asdrubal is rated the worst SS in the league by these stats, but I have no reason to think that he's the best, or anywhere near the best.

BP, your post is EXACTLY why he's listed as overrated. He's average at best and there are people that consider him a gold glover based on, well, nothing in particular.

As far as Choo goes, he sure takes some crazy routes to balls and has some adventures out there. But damn does that due have a hose. Is it enough to make up for his routes? Hell..I don't know.

hjsdk

Because he makes highlight reel plays. Doesn't mean he's a great defender though.

[Symbolic47]

What the hell? Did someone just call Droobs fat? Jesus man.

Droobs is a very good defender, hes not Omar, but hes about a million times better than Baby Face.

[British_Pharaoh]

UZR actually shows Cabrera to be the worst SS in the entire AL and 2nd worst in the game, only ahead of Ryan Theriot. He's short, fat, and doesn't run very fast = no range. Before you get all over me, it doesn't factor in flashiness of plays to cloud homer-judgement.

UZR is also an immensely flawed stat.

Now, he doesn't have great range, but he doesn't have the worst range in the league. You really think Jhonny Peralta has better range than Asdrubal?

BP, your post is EXACTLY why he's listed as overrated. He's average at best and there are people that consider him a gold glover based on, well, nothing in particular.

As far as Choo goes, he sure takes some crazy routes to balls and has some adventures out there. But damn does that due have a hose. Is it enough to make up for his routes? Hell..I don't know.

hjsdk

A bit contradictory here. You say ESPN is right in its assertion that A-Cab is over-rated because he has poor range and that a few flashy plays don't make up for this deficiency.

However you acknowledge that Choo is a poor fielder and doesn't play the ball well but you then allude to the fact his bionic arm somewhat makes up for it and therefore ESPN is supported in its bizarre conclusion that Choo is the best RFer in the league.

[motherscratcher]

The point I was making was that the fact that people consider Asdrubal (who I love) a gold glove caliber fielder when he so clearly is not, is pretty much the definition of overrated.

As for Choo, nowhere did I say that ESPN is justified in calling him the best RF. I acknowledged his poor routes and overall buffoonery out there. And I'm pretty sure I said that "I don't know" how much his strong arm makes up fornhis oth defensive inefficiencies. I guess I could have been more clear on that.

[rebelwithoutaclue]

However you acknowledge that Choo is a poor fielder and doesn't play the ball well but you then allude to the fact his bionic arm somewhat makes up for it and therefore ESPN is supported in its bizarre conclusion that Choo is the best RFer in the league.

Looking again at UZR, Choo is rated as either the best or 2nd best RF in the AL. His routes might not be great every time but his quickness and first-step give him great range and the all the assists more than offset the seldom brain-fart in route running.