Worst Gold Glove Winners by position

[baseball junkie]

I'm certainly not the first to notice or comment on how ridiculous Major League Baseball's Gold Glove Award is. Determined by the Baseball Writer's Association of America -- the gold glove seem to be the single most subjectively determined and often times nonsensical of awards in all of sports.

I'm interested in your thoughts about who were and are the worst choices for the gold glove by position in the long history of the award, whether it be individuals or a whole team.

I'll get us started with my worst defensive Gold Glove winners ever:
CA Sandy Alomar Jr. (AL 1990) 14 errors, 5.67 range factor;
1B Rafael Palmeiro (AL 1999) 28 games at 1B, 135 games as a DH;
2B Fernando Vina (NL 2002) 13 errors, 4.59 range factor;
3B Travis Fryman (AL 2000) 2.31 range factor;
SS Robin Yount (AL 1982) 24 errors, 4.82 range factor;
LF Dusty Baker (NL 1981) range factor 1.87, league range factor 2.02;
CF Andy Van Slyke (NL 1990) 8 errors -- fairly horrible for a CF;
OF Andre Dawson (NL 1988) range factor 1.86, lg range factor 1.98;
PI Jim Kaat (AL 1969) 8 errors as a pitcher, range factor very slightly better than lg avg.

[baseballPAP]

The range factors thing is not exactly good evidence. Baker and Dawson were both slightly above average for range...for corner OFers. CFers get roughly .25 above average in RF, while the corners lose .13 or so.

Also, don't forget that range factor has some serious flaws to begin with.

I'd throw Bobby Abreu in as a bad one...he's MAYBE average in RF. Mike LaValliere at catcher was a pretty bad one. Robby Thompson at 2B. Jeter, though much improved, is still a terrible choice.

[RuthMayBond]

Raffy's is definely the worst at 1B, and Kaat is overrated

[geezer]

Jeter in 2004 over Vizquel.

And definitely Palmeiro over Tino in 1999.

[E.Banks#14]

Palmeiro in '99. Who was voting that year? :crazy

[538280]

Determined by the Baseball Writer's Association of America -- the gold glove seem to be the single most subjectively determined and often times nonsensical of awards in all of sports.


The GG is voted on by the managers of the league, not the BBWAA. And going through looking at range factors and fielding percentages is not a good way to disprove the voting. I'd take a managers opinion on fielding over RF and FP's any day. I think GG voting is certainly far from perfect, and they do make some horrible choices, but I think in general people are too hard on the award.

The big problem is the way the voting is set up, where each manager just votes for one player. I would prefer it if each position was set up like an MVP vote, you make your top 10 and the winner is determined by each top 10 list. The award would return much better results if that's the way it was voted on IMO.

[soberdennis]

Even though I wouldn't call it the worst choice, I always felt they gave Brooks the GG by default and there were some years others deserved it more than him. Despite the selectors opinions, he wasn't the only third baseman in the AL at the time. I'm not saying Brooks wasn't a great 3Bman. Just that he may not have been the best every year.

[leecemark]

--He probably didn't deserve any of the GGs he won in the 70s. I thought Aurelio Rodriguez and Graig Nettles were clearly better at that point in his career. Lots of great defenders keep on winning by reputation after they no longer deserve them though - and the greater you were the longer the undeserved awards keep coming (unless a new great wows everybody or you really start sucking).

[RuthMayBond]

--He probably didn't deserve any of the GGs he won in the 70s. I thought Aurelio Rodriguez and Graig Nettles were clearly better at that point in his career. Brooksie probably deserved at least 1974

[RuthMayBond]

Jeter in 2004 over Vizquel.I don't have zone rating but

Player Vizquel Jeter
putout 200 273
assists 396 392
errors 11 13
DPs 91 96
adjRF 0.98 1.05

[yankillaz]

--He probably didn't deserve any of the GGs he won in the 70s. I thought Aurelio Rodriguez and Graig Nettles were clearly better at that point in his career. Lots of great defenders keep on winning by reputation after they no longer deserve them though - and the greater you were the longer the undeserved awards keep coming (unless a new great wows everybody or you really start sucking).

True. Griffey in an injured 1995, Bench in some years of the 70's , as Keith in the 80's. But the worst of all the GG's Award has to go to:

Derek Jeter (2004-2005).

How is it possible that you can go from one of the worst deffensive players at the position to a Gold Glove player? This amazes me!!!:evil

[RuthMayBond]

True. Griffey in an injured 1995The funny thing with Junior is, I don't have him definitely deserving a Gold Glove for any of the ten years he got one . . .
. . . but I do have him definitely deserving two in the years he did NOT get them :laugh