Wells - 3rd worst defensive player in MLB

[The_Hater]

If his pop-gun offense wasn't enough, to make matters worse Vernon's range has slowed to a crawl.


http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/blog_ ... s-of-2009/

Monday, October 26, 2009
Worst Fielders of 2009
Posted by Sean Smith
That is, relative to position, and with the warning that these are imprecise ratings, not the final word, and that multi-year data, if available, must be used to determine who really is a good or bad fielder, preferably supplemented with scouting information. These ratings measure range and reliability only, and do not include an outfielder's throwing or an infielder's proficiency at the double play.

Anyway, warnings aside, here are the ten players with the worst 2009 Totalzone ratings:

1. Michael Cuddyer, RF, -26
2. Bobby Abreu, RF, -25
3. Vernon Wells, CF, -19
4. Gary Matthews Jr., CF, -17
5. Alberto Callaspo, 2B, -16
6. Orlando Cabrera, SS, -16
7. Lastings Milledge, LF, -16
8. David Wright, 3B, -15
9. Carlos Lee, LF, -14
10. Miguel Tejada, SS, -14

Cuddyer and Abreu aren't quite this bad on UZR, but close at -17 and -14. Wells is equally bad in both measures. Matthews hits and fields like a guy who might not last through spring training 2010, contract be damned. The only one that surprises here is Milledge, slightly above average for Pittsburgh in LF, according to UZR. I'll have to investigate what my park factor is doing here: -15 of that is his defense at home.

[Schad]

No joke: that's better than I expected. Given that CF tends to attract good defenders, and is the position where range matters the most, I expected him to finish dead last in the league.

[Holmes]

Carlos Lee only has to patrol the size of a backyard in left field at Minute Maid Park and yet he's still on a worst defensive player list.

[heemer]

Ouch, I knew it was bad, but not this bad. Not really any other options for CF right now either

[Geddy]

He reads fly balls terribly and as a result usually never makes a grab on a ball hit outside of his immediate vicinity. By the time he figures out where the ball is going his speed can't make up for it.

[Modern_epic]

But guys, don't you see him dive all the time? You have to be good to dive all the time!

[The_Hater]

I'm trying to figure out who's collection of Gold Gloves are a bigger sham? Vernon or Derek Jeter?

Both of them are very mediocre defensive players with soft hands but terrible range who have somehow been embraced by the GG voters over the years.

[kcthekid]

I'm trying to figure out who's collection of Gold Gloves are a bigger sham? Vernon or Derek Jeter?

Both of them are very mediocre defensive players with soft hands but terrible range who have somehow been embraced by the GG voters over the years.

he makes routine plays look spectacular

[Hoopstarr]

I'm trying to figure out who's collection of Gold Gloves are a bigger sham? Vernon or Derek Jeter?

Both of them are very mediocre defensive players with soft hands but terrible range who have somehow been embraced by the GG voters over the years.

What exactly do you mean by "soft hands" in the baseball sense? I don't think hands are the issue. I always thought Vernon was an above average fielder, but never elite, thanks to his first step and routes. His UZR stats during the GG run bear that out. Then a couple years ago he completely lost that step (injuries didn't help) and he also started running awful routes because of it. As for his arm, it's always been so-so.

[Hoopstarr]

But guys, don't you see him dive all the time? You have to be good to dive all the time!

But he doesn't dive all the time. That's what people always noted when they compared him to Hunter. Guys like Hunter and Edmonds were seen as big time divers who took unnecessarily long routes while Vernon was seen as the ideal fielder who took the straight line to the spot the ball would drop. Turns out both Wells and Hunter were overrated and guys like Rios and DeJesus were the real heroes of range.

[The_Hater]

I'm trying to figure out who's collection of Gold Gloves are a bigger sham? Vernon or Derek Jeter?

Both of them are very mediocre defensive players with soft hands but terrible range who have somehow been embraced by the GG voters over the years.

What exactly do you mean by "soft hands" in the baseball sense? I don't think hands are the issue. I always thought Vernon was an above average fielder, but never elite, thanks to his first step and routes. His UZR stats during the GG run bear that out. Then a couple years ago he completely lost that step (injuries didn't help) and he also started running awful routes because of it. As for his arm, it's always been so-so.

By soft hands I meant that neither Vernon or Jeter make a lot of errors. And GG voters tend to put to much stock in error totals and tend to overlook range.