Gold Glove selections

American League:
1B - Kevin Youkilis, Boston
2B - Placido Polanco, Detroit
SS - Orlando Cabrera, Los Angeles
3B - Adrian Beltre, Seattle
OF - Torii Hunter, Minnesota
OF - Ichiro Suzuki, Seattle
OF - Grady Sizemore, Cleveland
C - Ivan Rodriguez, Detroit
P - Johan Santana, Minnesota

National League:
1B - Derrek Lee, Chicago
2B - Orlando Hudson, Arizona
SS - Jimmy Rollins, Philadelphia
3B - David Wright, New York
OF - Carlos Beltran, New York
OF - Andruw Jones, Atlanta
OF - Aaron Rowand, Philadelphia and Jeff Francoeur, Atlanta
C - Russell Martin, Los Angeles
P - Greg Maddux, San Diego

Some interesting selections. It was surprising to see Derek Jeter lose out on the GG, after winning it 3 years running. I've been advocating O-Cab over Jeter for while now, so it was a pleasant surprise. Cabrera has terrific range, and excellent hands.

David Wright was a big surprise as well, and I'm not certain he deserved it. By sabermetric standards he probably didnt. But with Rolen sidelines, and Zimmerman a little shakier than he was last year, there werent a whole lot of great candidates. Pedro Feliz was mentioned, as he was credited with improving his defense. He was first in the NL in fielding percentage, 3rd in assists and total chances, behind Zimmerman and Wright. However, he played in about 200 less innings than those two.

Martin and Francoeur won what I assume will be the first of many Gold Gloves in the National League, and it was good to see Sizemore win one, as watching him play he is one of the most exciting centerfielders out there.

The one selection I really had a problem with is Adrian Beltre's. Among qualified AL third baseman, Beltre was dead last in fielding percentage, and tied for the most errors. He was 2nd best in total chances. He fared well sabermetrically, placing 2nd in Range Factor, and 4th in Zone Rating. He wasnt bad, by any means. However, he wasnt the best either. I think the award should have gone to either Mike Lowell or Alex Rodriguez. Both were terrific defensively, and were the only AL 3B to turn at least 30 double plays. A-Rod ranked 4th in fielding percentage and 5th in total chances. Lowell was 7th in fielding percentage and 3rd in total chances. Still, Beltre isnt as bad as say, Rafael Palmerio.