                            2007 Gold Glove Winners
                            -----------------------

By Tom Tippett
December 10, 2007

Welcome to our review of the Rawlings Gold Glove awards, which are given to the 
top fielders in each league as selected by a vote of the managers and coaches 
that is taken before the end of the regular season. 

Writing this article is a natural extension of the work we've been doing each 
winter since 1986 to develop accurate fielding ratings for the annual Diamond 
Mind Baseball season disk.  To come up with those ratings, we:

- evaluate team defense using a variety of metrics that range from simple to 
advanced, all of which help us evaluate the ability of each team to turn 
grounders and fly balls into outs, overall and in different parts of the field

- use play-by-play data licensed from STATS LLC to compute adjusted range 
factors that take these potential biases into account and focus only on those 
putouts and assists that provide the best indication of fielding skill.   
Catching a popup on the infield or taking a throw on a force play are examples 
of plays that generate assists and putouts without telling us much about 
fielding skill.

- use play-by-play data to compute the number of plays each player made above or 
below the norm for his position given the mix of balls hit his way; we call this 
our "net plays" analysis

- look at the STATS zone rating and our own zone rating to get another look at 
individual fielding performance, being careful not to be fooled by zone ratings 
that are significantly affected by error rates (our job is to come up with 
separate measures for range and error rates)

- assess the interaction between neighboring fielders, such as a third baseman 
cutting off grounders that might otherwise be handled by the shortstop, by 
examining the number of plays made by each fielder and by the team in the zones 
where the responsibility overlaps

- measure the percentage of batted balls turned into outs in home and road games 
to assess how each park influences measures of team and individual defense

- look at range factors, which are assists and/or putouts per nine defensive 
innings;  however, we look at them more out of curiosity than as an important 
measure of fielding ability because range factors can be (and often are) skewed 
by the nature of a team's pitching staff:  the left/right mix, strikeout rates, 
and tendency to generate ground balls versus fly balls, among other things

- use play-by-play data to measure other skills that are specific to certain 
positions, such as the ability of middle infielders to turn double plays, the 
ability of pitchers and catchers to shut down the running game, and the ability 
of outfielders to prevent runners from taking extra bases on hits and fly balls

- cross-check individual players against our team defense measures to make sure 
they are consistent

- where possible, look at video clips for a large number of plays involving 
fielders for whom our analysis suggests a level of performance that is 
inconsistent with their reputations 

We believe very strongly that it is only through a combination of these methods 
that one can accurately evaluate defensive performance.

Do the Gold Glove voters have this information at their disposal when making 
their selections?  It's extremely doubtful.  More likely, their votes are based 
on traditional fielding statistics, reputations, and appearances.  That's not 
necessarily a bad thing.  Some of the time, our analysis concurs with the Gold 
Glove selections, in part because the best fielders are going to look good no 
matter how you evaluate them. 

But there are some differences, so we'll go position by position, commenting on 
the Gold Glove winners (who are listed in the titles for all positions other 
than outfield) and any other candidates that we believe were deserving of 
serious consideration.


Pitchers (Johan Santana, Greg Maddux)
-------------------------------------

One important aspect of fielding performance is the ability to avoid making 
errors.  It's not the only aspect, or even the most important aspect, but it 
does matter.

The leaders among pitchers who fielded their position without making an error 
were Tim Hudson (70 error-free chances), Roy Oswalt (56), Livan Hernandez and 
Steve Trachsel (52), Chris Sampson (50), Jake Westbrook and Jake Peavy (48), 
Aaron Cook (47), Shaun Marcum (46), Chien-Ming Wang and Jeff Francis (45).  

If you can forgive a single error in favor of a guy who makes a lot of plays, 
then you would also want to look at Greg Maddux (1 error in 71 chances), Jamie 
Shields (1 in 55), Woody Williams (1 in 51), and Jeff Suppan (1 in 50).

Readers of last year's note will recognize some of these names.  Hudson, 
Westbrook, Wang, and Francis were among the leaders in 2006 as well.

But this approach is simplistic, mainly because a pitcher's tendency to induce 
ground balls is a huge factor in the number of assists and putouts he gets.  
Fielding skill helps, of course, but the best way to pad your numbers is to get 
batters to hit it back to you in the first place.

A group of pitchers emerges when you consider the relationship of plays made to 
opportunities.  Among the standouts in 2007 were the following pitchers who 
earned Diamond Mind's Excellent range rating:  Mike Mussina, Chris Sampson, 
Johan Santana, Javier Vazquez, and Jon Garland.

Santana was my pick for the Gold Glove last year, though the voters went with 
Kenny Rogers.  (Rogers was my pick every year from 2002 to 2005.)  Did Santana 
do anything to lose his title?  Not really.  No errors in 40 chances, excellent 
range, and a very strong record in controlling the running game, with several 
pickoffs and only 6 steals allowed in 11 tries.

But I've never been a big fan of returning the incumbent just because he didn't 
do anything wrong.  (Of course, that happens way too much in Gold Glove voting.  
And in politics, too, even when the candidate did plenty of things wrong while 
in office.)  So let's take a look at the other AL names we've mentioned so far:  
Trachsel, Westbrook, Marcum, Wang, Mussina, Vazquez, and Garland.

Trachsel notched 2 double plays and was error-free while showing very good 
range, but he was below average in controlling the running game.  Westbrook's 
profile was very similar, though he handled 4 fewer chances and participated in 
3 more double plays.  Marcum matched Westbrook stride for stride in error-free 
chances, range, and double plays while doing a better job controlling the 
running game.  None of them pitched the entire season, however.

On the surface, Wang's numbers look competitive with these three.  He was in the 
same vicinity in error-free chances, double plays, and stolen base prevention.  
But he needed many more innings to compile these raw numbers even though he's an 
extreme ground ball pitcher, and that underscores the fact that he turned a 
lower percentage of his chances into outs than the others.

Vazquez is a fly ball pitcher, so he doesn't have impressive putout or assist 
totals despite his excellent range.  His candidacy is hurt by his 2 errors and 
helped by another strong performance in shutting down the running game.

Mussina had a subpar year as a pitcher but did quite well with the glove.  
Despite pitching 67 fewer innings than Santana, Mussina had only 4 fewer 
chances, matched Santana's error-free record, and helped turn 3 more double 
plays.  But he was quite easy to run on, yielding 24 steals in only 152 innings.

Which brings us to Jon Garland, who we've rated Excellent or Very Good for range 
in each of his five seasons.  Garland's only blemish is a single error.  Other 
than that, he matched Santana for range, tallied 8 more successful chances, 
participated in 3 more double plays, and did an even better job of controlling 
the running game, allowing only 2 successful steals in 8 tries.

It's a very close call, but my vote goes to Garland.

In the NL, the top candidates are Maddux, Hudson, Oswalt, Hernandez, Sampson, 
Peavy, Cook, Francis, Williams, and Suppan.

As I've pointed out before, Greg Maddux is an extreme ground-ball pitcher who 
generates a lot of opportunities to make plays.  In 2007, he had 71 total 
chances, second in the NL to Brandon Webb's 75.  He made only one error while 
displaying very good range.  He helped turn 5 double plays.  And, as usual, he 
was extremely easy to run on, allowing 37 steals in 39 tries.

What about Tim Hudson and his 70 error-free chances?  He deserves kudos for 
reliability, but as one of the league's top ground-ball pitchers, he can rack up 
impressive putout and assist totals despite showing below-average range.

Roy Oswalt's credentials are very solid:  second in the majors in error-free 
chances, very good range, 3 double plays, and an excellent record in shutting 
down the running game.

Another perennial contender is Livan Hernandez, who completed 52 error-free 
chances while exhibiting very good range, though his 2 double plays and 20 
steals allowed were nothing special.

Chris Sampson's career is just getting started, so it may be too soon for the 
voters to pick up on what he's doing.  But his range numbers have been 
outstanding, he completed a very impressive 50 error-free plays in only 122 
innings, helped turn 2 double plays, and allowed only three steals.  He began 
his pro career as a shortstop, and he is using his athleticism to great 
advantage when the ball is hit his way.

Peavy had a very solid year in the field, but his range is only a little above 
average and he can be run on.  Cook was notable only for preventing errors; 
there's nothing special about the rest of his defensive game.  Same for Francis, 
though he's good at controlling the running game.  Williams' year was similar to 
Oswalt's but not quite as good:  one error, a few more steals allowed.

Suppan is an interesting candidate.  We've rated him Very Good for range in each 
of the last five seasons, he led the majors with 7 double plays, and allowed 
only 7 steals in over 200 innings.  He made one error.

In my view, it comes down to Maddux, Oswalt, Sampson, and Suppan.  And it's not 
easy to choose among them.  Suppan and Oswalt are about as even as you can get, 
with Suppan having an edge in range and double plays and Oswalt having one fewer 
error and a better grip on the running game.  Maddux tops them both if you 
forget about the running game, but that's a very big liability.  Sampson 
performed at the highest level but only pitched 122 innings.  Is that enough?

I think so.  Even with many fewer opportunities, he made more net plays than any 
of the others, has yet to make an error in 156 career innings, and has allowed 
only 3 steals in his big-league career while picking off one runner.

Maybe it's a little premature to choose a guy who has yet to pitch a full season 
in the majors, but I'd rather be a year early than a year late when I see 
someone who has performed at such a high level.


Catchers (Ivan Rodriguez, Russell Martin)
-----------------------------------------

Ivan Rodriguez will go down as one of the greatest defensive catchers of all 
time.  But was he the best in 2007?

Rodriguez had a solid year behind the plate.  Compared with an average player 
with a similar amount of playing time, he was charged with two fewer errors and 
one fewer passed ball.  He threw out 31% of the runners who tried to steal on 
him, and more importantly, continued to intimidate runners enough to keep them 
planted at first base.  The average catcher yielded 71 steals in the number of 
innings caught by Rodriguez, but I-Rod allowed only 47.

What about Joe Mauer?  Last year, I wrote that "Mauer served notice that his day 
is coming, too.  He was just a hair behind Rodriguez in every respect, and if 
his knees hold up, time is on his side."  Well, his knees weren't the problem, 
but he did miss a month with a strained quad and was out for a while with a 
hamstring problem.  In the 88 starts he was able to make, his numbers (1 error, 
4 passed balls, 21 steals allowed, 53% caught stealing) were terrific.

If these were the only two candidates, we'd be faced with a classic battle of 
rates versus volume.  Rodriguez performed very well over a full complement of 
starts.  Mauer performed better but caught 26% fewer innings.

However, there are a few others who performed well while playing as much as 
Rodriguez.  Kenji Johjima, Victor Martinez, and Jason Varitek head this group, 
with Johjima being the top candidate among these three.  

Johjima was second in the league in innings, made only two errors, was charged 
with only five passed balls, threw out 46% of the runners who challenged him, 
and allowed only 46 steals.  In fact, Johjima exceeded Rodriguez in every 
respect:  playing time, fielding percentage, passed ball rate, total steals, and 
caught stealing percentage.

In my view, Rodriguez used to be the best defensive catcher in the league and 
Mauer is the best defensive catcher now.  But Johjima gets my vote for this 
season because he caught 42% more innings than Mauer while performing at a very 
high level.  Mauer is better, but Johjima was more valuable this year.

In the NL, Russell Martin certainly deserves the iron man award, racking up 145 
games at the position, including 143 starts.  According to our range metrics, he 
gobbled up more bunts and dribblers than any other catcher in the game.  He 
threw out a respectable 33% of enemy base stealers.  And he allowed only five 
passed balls, a low total for someone who played so much.  Although Martin made 
14 errors and was in the bottom 20% among major league regulars in fielding 
percentage, his resume is certainly impressive enough to put him on the short 
list of Gold Glove candidates.

Yadier Molina shut down the running game more than any other NL catcher in 2007, 
gunning down 54% of those who dared to challenge him.  But he's not the most 
agile catcher when it comes to fielding balls in play, and his error and passed 
ball rates were nothing special.

Brad Ausmus continued to be exceedingly reliable (only four errors and two 
passed balls) but was fairly easy to run on.  Josh Bard was every bit as 
reliable as Ausmus but was last in the majors in throwing, though his pitchers 
have more than a little to do with that.  Dave Ross showed a strong arm but was 
in the middle of the pack in other areas.

Brian Schneider and Carlos Ruiz deserve consideration for a combination of 
reliability, playing time, and throwing prowess, but Ruiz didn't quite play as 
much as Schneider.

As was the case in the AL, we have a performance versus playing-time decision.  
In performance, I'd rank them Molina, Schneider, Martin.  In playing time, it's 
Martin, Schneider, Molina.

I'm really on the fence about this one, but I think the difference in playing 
time is enough to make the difference in this case.  If that difference was only 
200 innings, I'd vote for Molina.  But it's not, and I'll agree with the voters 
who chose Martin.


First basemen (Kevin Youkilis, Derrek Lee)
------------------------------------------

I was very impressed with Kevin Youkilis.  His range is merely average for the 
position and he was a hair below average in starting double plays, but he 
excelled by handling 1080 chances without making a single error.  It's not hard 
to see why the voters would choose him.

At the same time, it's worth asking whether that one notable achievement, the 
error-free season, is valuable enough to make him the league's best first-
sacker.  As a general rule, the answer is no.  

Today's first basemen don't make a lot of errors to begin with.  Compared with 
an average defender, a 1.000 fielding percentage in 1094 innings saves only 
seven outs.  In most years, it's not hard to find someone else who saves more 
outs through a combination of range and reliability.

The obvious alternative, Mark Teixeira, missed more than a month with a strained 
quad and then was traded out of the league at the deadline.  As a result, he 
started only 74 games for Texas.

Justin Morneau and Casey Kotchman showed more range than Youkilis and were a 
little better at starting double plays.  Although they didn't match Youkilis in 
fielding percentage, they were both well above average in that category.  My 
pick is Morneau, who showed more range than Kotchman and played more innings.

The NL first base picture is a lot more interesting.  Albert Pujols and Todd 
Helton earned our Excellent range rating, Pujols for the second year running and 
Helton for the sixth time overall (but the first time in five years).

It's clearly a two-horse race, but before I get into those details, it's worth 
noting that Adam LaRoche and Adrian Gonzalez had good defensive years and would 
have been in the Gold Glove conversation had they been in the AL.

In my view, Pujols wins by a nose over Helton.  Both showed excellent range.  
Both started over 150 games at the position.  Helton made fewer errors.  Pujols 
started more double plays.  It's hard to be certain, but it appears that Helton 
might have prevented a couple more throwing errors than Pujols.  Add it all up, 
translate it into runs, and it appears that Pujols saved a run or two more than 
Helton.

Afterthought:  I just noticed that I didn't say a word about Derrek Lee, who won 
the award despite being about average in range, double plays, and fielding 
percentage.  I seem to recall that he was my choice a couple of years back, but 
he's been passed by Pujols and other younger players, and he was never in 
Helton's class when Helton has played to the peak of his ability.

 
Second basemen (Placido Polanco, Orlando Hudson)
------------------------------------------------

The AL is loaded with viable candidates these days.  Placido Polanco got my vote 
last year.  Mark Ellis and Aaron Hill are perennial contenders.  Robinson Cano 
has emerged as a top fielder.  Several others youngsters are showing signs of 
moving up in the rankings in the coming years.

Polanco had another good year, extending his string of seasons with very good to 
excellent range, very low error rates, and strong performances on double plays, 
more so in starting them than in making the pivot.  In 2007, his reliability was 
as good as it gets:  no errors in 683 chances over 1209 innings.  But his range 
was down from his peak, and that opens the door for other candidates.

Ellis, as usual, showed very good range, was among the leaders in fielding 
percentage with only 5 errors in 149 starts, and posted below-average double 
play numbers.

Hill also exhibited very good range, but was near the league average in errors 
and a little below the norm on double plays.  Hill, by the way, led the league 
in assists with 560, 61 more than Ellis and 63 more than Cano.  This was partly 
because he led the league in innings, partly because he's good, and mostly 
because his pitching staff led the majors in ground-ball percentage.

That brings us to Cano, who was the only AL second baseman to earn our Excellent 
range rating and backed that up with a league-average fielding percentage and a 
superior performance on double plays, both starting them and making the pivot.

All things considered, for this season at least, I'll take Cano's superior range 
and double-play proficiency over Polanco's 1.000 fielding percentage.

The NL race boils down to Orlando Hudson versus Kaz Matsui, with Chase Utley a 
very respectable third.

Both of the contenders earned our Excellent rating for range.  Matsui's fielding 
percentage (.992) was noticeably better than Hudson's (.985), though the 
difference is only 4 errors after you equalize playing time.  Both were above 
average on double plays, though Matsui was more so.

Once again, we're faced with a performance versus playing time decision.  Matsui 
performed at a higher level but started only 96 games at the position because he 
missed five weeks with back spasms.  Hudson started 137 games and completed 320 
more innings.  That's a big difference, and because Hudson also performed at a 
very high level, I've got to go with Hudson.


Third basemen (Adrian Beltre, David Wright)
-------------------------------------------

I'll begin with the NL race because that's where the great defensive third 
basemen are these days.  Not long ago, before injuries reduced his playing time 
and took a little away from his performance, Scott Rolen owned this award.  
Nowadays, Rolen is still a viable candidate, but Pedro Feliz, Ryan Zimmerman, 
and David Wright have emerged to make this a real competition.

The voters chose Wright, so let's start by comparing him to Zimmerman.  Both 
were workhorses, with Zimmerman starting 161 games and Wright 159.  Both made 
errors at about the league average rate, and because they played so much, their 
raw totals were a little scary:  23 errors for Zimmerman and 21 for Wright.  

But that's where the similarity ends.  In only 13 more innings, Zimmerman made 
33 more putouts, 24 more assists, and 15 more double plays.  This is not an 
illusion caused by differences in the pitching staffs.  Zimmerman's staff had a 
low strikeout rate and therefore put more balls in play, but Washington had the 
league's lowest ground ball percentage.  Combine these two factors and you'll 
see that Zimmerman did indeed see a few more grounders than Wright, but not 
nearly enough to make up the difference in total chances.

What about Rolen?  He had another excellent year, but he missed a third of the 
season.  With the other candidates being so strong, this is enough to take him 
out of contention.

That brings us to Pedro Feliz, who is my pick for the second year in a row.  
Feliz continues to show outstanding range (tops in the league by our measures), 
had the best fielding percentage among the contenders (a little ahead of Rolen, 
far better than Wright and Zimmerman), and was solid on double plays.  Zimmerman 
was in the field for 212 more innings than Feliz, but Feliz's performance was 
better by a large enough margin to overcome that, though not by much.

Over in the AL, there's Brandon Inge, of course, and Mike Lowell.  But Eric 
Chavez isn't the defensive player he once was, Alex Rodriguez is awe inspiring 
at the plate but ordinary afield, and ... well, third base isn't a particularly 
strong position in the AL these days, at least not on defense.

The voters chose Adrian Beltre, so let's take a quick look at him.  To me, his 
performance was average.  Average range, average error rate, a little below 
average on double plays.  And his pitching staff was near the league average in 
the number of ground balls generated.

Meanwhile, Inge had another strong season in the field, though he was unable to 
match his spectacular 2006 campaign.  In 2007, his range was very good, his 
error rate was a tad better than average, and he didn't stand out in his ability 
to start double plays.

Lowell had many fewer opportunities to make plays than Inge because the Boston 
pitching staff (a) generates a lot of fly balls, (b) was third in the league in 
strikeouts, and (c) was so good that they faced the lowest number of batters in 
the league.  So Inge's 325 to 264 edge over Lowell in assists isn't quite as 
impressive as it looks.  Still, our analysis gives Inge the advantage in range.

Both men made errors at about the league average rate.  This was normal for Inge 
and a huge surprise for Lowell, who prevented more errors than any other fielder 
in baseball over the previous five years.  In 2007, Lowell made a bunch of 
errors early in the year before returning to his super-reliable form in the 
second half.

One of Lowell's gifts is the ability to start double plays, and he led the 
league in that category.  Inge, on the other hand, was nothing special in this 
area, a performance that is consistent with his previous seasons.

It's almost a dead heat between these two, with Inge ahead on range and Lowell 
up on double plays by almost exactly the same amount.  It could go either way, 
but I'm going with Lowell.


Shortstops (Orlando Cabrera, Jimmy Rollins)
-------------------------------------------

For the second year in a row, it's not easy to come up with a clear winner in 
the AL.  In fact, it's not easy to come up with a list of players who are seen 
as defensive wizards.

Orlando Cabrera's range is average, but he is reliable (AL leading .983 fielding 
percentage), handles himself very well on the double play, and looks smooth in 
the field.  He's the kind of player that managers and fans can feel good about 
because it's clear that he has the job under control.

Generally speaking, however, the most valuable shortstops are the ones who make 
the most plays.  None of this year's candidates made enough plays to earn our 
Excellent range rating.  Three regulars were far enough above average to be 
rated Very Good:  John McDonald, Jason Bartlett, and Julio Lugo.

Lugo earned his rating mainly by being terrific on balls hit in the air.  His 
performance on grounders was near the league average, he made a few more errors 
than you'd like to see, and he's not especially good on the double play.

Bartlett has posted very good range numbers in both of his big-league seasons.  
In 2006, Minnesota turned around its season after installing Bartlett as the 
everyday shortstop.  He's not the only reason, but he was definitely a part of 
that remarkable comeback.  However, in 2007 Bartlett took himself out of the 
running by making a major-league leading 26 errors.

John McDonald is a big-leaguer because of his glove.  With a career OPS of .595, 
however, his bat hasn't been good enough to keep him in the lineup for long 
stretches.  Based on our analysis, he was clearly the best defensive shortstop 
in the AL this year.  Problem is, he only started 93 games.  

Cabrera played 530 more innings than McDonald and did so at a high enough level 
to earn the honor.  I agree with the voters on this one.

On the other hand, I cannot agree with the voters who chose Jimmy Rollins in the 
NL.  I'm not saying Rollins is a bad fielder.  He's actually quite good.  His 
range is above average.  Compared with league-average shortstops, he prevented 9 
errors in 2007 and a total of 35 over the past five seasons.  And he's good on 
the double play.

But the field is very deep these days.  Adam Everett was my choice last year and 
excelled in 2007 before he broke his leg in June.  Troy Tulowitzki, Omar 
Vizquel, Rafael Furcal, Jose Reyes, and Khalil Greene would be Gold Glove 
candidates in the other league.

The strongest of these other candidates is Tulowitzki, who anchored baseball's 
best defensive infield this year.  Tulowitzki was right with Everett at the top 
of our range measures and maintained that lofty level through 155 starts.  He 
led the majors in fielding percentage, making only 11 errors in 834 total 
chances.  He was above average on the double play.  That's more than enough to 
make him my choice.


Outfielders
-----------

I often begin my review of potential Gold Glove outfielders by looking at team 
defense.  In most years, the best individual candidates come from teams whose 
outfielders turned the highest percentage of batted balls into outs.

This year, however, no team separated itself from the pack in a big way, and 
some of the teams in the upper end of the rankings got some help from their home 
parks or spread the playing time around to the point where no one player could 
claim the lion's share of the credit for the team's strong performance.

Four of the players I've settled on were with teams in the top four of their 
respective leagues in team outfield defense.  The others were saddled with 
corner outfielders who didn't hold up their end of the bargain.

In the AL, the voters selected Ichiro, Torii Hunter, and Grady Sizemore.  I'm 
happy to concur with the first two.  These are players who have consistently 
performed at a very high level, even if they may be a little overrated by the 
mainstream media.  

My third choice goes to the man Grady Sizemore displaced from the Cleveland 
outfield, Coco Crisp.  Crisp was absolutely brilliant in the first half of the 
season, making one highlight film catch after another for an extended period of 
time.  The wow factor wasn't there as often in the second half, but he continued 
to do all of the things you expect from a top-flight center fielder:  good 
jumps, good routes, great speed, fearlessness, and the athleticism to make the 
play when the ball was within reach.  His only weakness was a below-average arm.

Honorable mentions go to Sizemore, Melky Cabrera, and Curtis Granderson, all of 
whom performed very well this year.  I couldn't find any corner outfielders in 
the AL who were worthy of consideration, though Franklin Gutierrez served notice 
that he might be Gold Glove worthy if he plays a full season next year.

The NL picture was a lot more muddled.  Not because of a lack of candidates, but 
because a good number of players had good defensive seasons without separating 
themselves from the pack by a large margin.

Among the corner outfielders who earned consideration were Geoff Jenkins and 
Eric Byrnes in left (he also played the other positions) and Austin Kearns in 
right.  Of these three, only Kearns made enough plays to make my short list.  He 
earned our Excellent range rating for the third year in a row.

The center field candidates begin with two men who are almost always on these 
lists, Andruw Jones and Carlos Beltran.  Neither, in my opinion, is an elite 
center fielder.  Jones was one of the all-time best early in his career but has 
not played at that level in several years.  According to our measures, Beltran 
has never quite lived up to his reputation as a center fielder, though he's a 
good fielder and a better all-around player.

Two of the league's best defensive outfielders, Willie Taveras and Nook Logan, 
didn't play enough, partly because each was sidelined with injuries for a few 
weeks.  If either or both had played a full season, I might be using this space 
to argue that they're better than the guys the voters picked.

Another strong performer who lacks playing time is Jacque Jones, who split his 
time between center and right.  He might have played more, but Chicago gave an 
extended trial in center to top prospect Felix Pie.  When not in the starting 
lineup, Jones usually came on as a defensive replacement late in the game.  
Despite having only 1000 innings in the field, Jones was more plays above the 
league than most of the guys who played a full season.

Jeff Francoeur has made quite a name for himself with his throwing arm.  In 
2005, his first year, he nailed 13 runners in less than half a season.  Another 
13 bit the dust in 2006.  For some reason, runners continued to challenge him 
this year, and 19 of them paid the price for such reckless daring.

Those are very impressive numbers, and throwing is very much a part of my 
thinking for the Gold Gloves.  Still, I can't convince myself that Francoeur's 
arm is, by itself, enough to justify picking him ahead of Kearns (who has more 
range and throws well himself) or the top center fielders (who have more range 
and play a more demanding position).

It's not easy to choose among these guys.  Andruw Jones is one pick because he 
makes his share of plays while also shutting down the running game better than 
any other center fielder.  Kearns is another because he's the top corner 
outfielder in the league and the center fielders didn't do enough to close him 
out.  

My third choice is too close to call, but I have to pick one, right?  No, wait!  
The official Gold Glove voting ended in a tie, so there were four official 
winners.  So I'm going to take the easy way out and say that Beltran and Jacque 
Jones tied for third in my own selection process.


Recap
-----

Here's how my selections compare with those of the voters:

        ------- American -------        ------- National -------
  Pos   Voters        Diamond Mind      Voters      Diamond Mind

  P     Santana       Garland           Maddux      Sampson
  C     Rodriguez     Johjima           Martin      same
  1B    Youkilis      Morneau           Lee         Pujols
  2B    Polanco       Cano              Hudson      same
  3B    Beltre        Lowell            Wright      Feliz
  SS    Cabrera       same              Rollins     Tulowitzki
  OF    Hunter        same              AJones      same
  OF    Ichiro        same              Beltran     same
  OF    Sizemore      Crisp             Francoeur   Kearns
                                        Rowand      JJones

This year, we agreed on 7 of the 19 selections, which is a little below the norm 
for recent years.  From 2001 to 2006, we agreed on an average of 8-9 picks, with 
a low of 5 and a high of 12.

