“Sure, there’s lots of plays that Derek Jeter doesn’t make a shortstop. And, his defensive skills are limited. But, as long as he contines to make all the routine plays, does it matter? You tell me.”

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Heck, yes, it DOES matter. Would you justify a hitter not hitting .320 by saying, well, he gets all the routine hits, and he’s hitting .275, which is average, so does it matter? Would you justify a base stealer getting thrown out every time by Jose Molina by saying, well, he gets all the routine steals off of A.J. Pierzynski?

What matters most of all is the relative numbers. If other players are making 15 more misplays a season, and Jeter isn’t getting to 15 balls up the middle, then everybody’s about even. But if its an additional 30 or 40 or 50 balls going up the middle, then that’s 15 or 25 or 35 fewer outs (maybe more, because some of them might be GIDP grounders with a man on first), and an addition 5 or 10 or 15 runs worth of baserunners.

Of course it’s true that botching a routine play, especially when it extends a rally with 2 outs, can be devasting for the pitcher and the team, but so can seeing a DP grounder go “just past a diving Jeter, one run scores, and the other runner goes all the way to 3rd…” Just because it isn’t scored an error doesn’t mean it doesn’t take a toll on the pitcher, and on the team as a whole.
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As for Ozzie Smith…you do realize that Ozzie got to more balls and made more plays in all but his three worst years than Jeter did in his best years, don’t you? That’s because Ozzie made almost all the routine plays, but he also made almost all the hard plays, and he also made quite a few damm-near-impossible plays.

And that’s why Ozzie’s in the Hall of Fame, despite being nowhere near the hitter Jeter has been up to this point in his career.

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Lookit, Jeter used to be good for 50-60 EBH in a typical year, with about 15 HR on average. Last year (and last year may have been an aberration because of a lingering hand injury), he played 150 games and had 39 EBH and 11 HR. His slugging percentage was the lowest it’s been since his 2nd full season.

Hey, but Derek still hit .300, right? So, as long as he’s still getting his routine singles, do those more spectacular doubles and superduperooper homers really matter?

Maybe it’s just because I haven’t RTFA, but I don’t really see how James’ defensive misplays is any less subjective as a measure than errors.

Anyway, yes, this is what can be said in defense of Jeter, and it’s not really a new argument (well and originally stated though it may be). But…

My problem is simply that I feel he doesn’t make enough of the routine plays because he can’t get to the ball. Or that he turns routine plays into non-routine plays.
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This is the crux of the issue. How do we weigh these things? I don’t honestly know. But, personally, I think if we add Jeter’s poor range to his undeniable smoothness, we get a moderately below average defender.

Which is fine considering his offensive production. But smoothness alone doesn’t actually make him worthy of a gold glove. It does, however, explain why people might mistakenly believe it does.

(BTW, I really wish I could figure out how to make the frakking Quote button work. I must be incompetent.)

Sure, there’s lots of plays that Derek Jeter doesn’t make a shortstop. And, his defensive skills are limited. But, as long as he contines to make all the routine plays, does it matter? You tell me.
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In fact, Steve, all I want from Jeter is for him to make the routine plays. I don’t care if he never does another jump throw again. My problem is simply that I feel he doesn’t make enough of the routine plays because he can’t get to the ball. Or that he turns routine plays into non-routine plays.

Steve, I applaud you for presenting both sides of the issue with unbiased arguments over the last two days. Well done.

Fielding stats are beginning to become as diverse as hitting stats—and nearly as conflicting. For instance, the most effecient SS in the AL last season in turning DPs (DP% and Pivot%) was Bobby Crosby of the Oakland A’s. Yet he had a subpar Range Factor and led all AL fielders in throwing errors. So was it a good year or a bad year for Crosby with the leather?