Yet, again, some more fun stuff via the Bill James Handbook 2009…

Among the “Leader Boards” in the book, the BJH ‘09 provides the top fielders from last year in terms of “Range Factor” (which is the number of successful chances [Putouts plus Assists] times nine divided by the number of defensive innings played).

Now, “Range Factor” is not a perfect stat. But, it does serve some purpose.

According to the BJH ‘09, the average “Range Factor” for a shortstop is 4.41 and the average “Range Factor” for a third baseman is 2.66.

Getting back to the “Range Factor” leader boards…the BJH ‘09 says that, in 2008, Alex Rodriguez’ “Range Factor” was 2.59 (which is close to average) and Derek Jeter’s “Range Factor” was 4.05 (which is below average).

But, also, the BJH ‘09 says that, in 2008, the Mets’ David Wright had a “Range Factor” of 2.51 and Jose Reyes had a “Range Factor” of 4.07.

Pretty interesting that the Yankees and Mets 3B and SS both had just about the same “Range Factor,” huh?

2.59 vs. 2.51…
and
4.05 vs. 4.07…

Go figure.