More Arod News

Well ARod is leaving Texas. Not for Boston though, hes becoming a Yankee. If you think I will bitch and moan about him going there I found some interesting points today from espn.com(its an insider link).

They put it in perspective that although they gain ARod, they did not get him for nothing, they did give up Soriano.
"Over the past two seasons, A-Rod has logged 67 Win Shares while Soriano has put up 57. These are both impressive totals and they help illustrate that while the Yankees will improve with A-Rod in the fold, they are not making a huge leap forward."

He also makes the point that I have been harping on. WHY WOULD YOU MOVE AROD??!?!?! He is by far the superior defensive player and it is noted in the article:
"Tradition, pride, primacy -- these are all nice words but there are baseball games on the line here. Jeter has gotten so bad at shortstop that not even the staunchest Yankee fan even bothers to defend him anymore.

Looking at these numbers, even Jeter himself would have to admit there is a compelling case for him to learn a new vocation rather than the clearly superior A-Rod:

Range Factor among qualifying shortstops:
2003: Rodriguez -- 5th (4.54); Jeter -- 10th/last (3.75)
2002: Rodriguez -- 4th (4.73); Jeter -- 12th/last (3.81)
2001: Rodriguez -- 2nd (4.72); Jeter -- 10th/last (3.82)
Zone Rating among qualifying shortstops:
2003: Rodriguez -- 6th (.859); Jeter -- 10th/last (.791)
2002: Rodriguez -- 1st (.919); Jeter -- 12th/last (.803)
2001: Rodriguez -- 4th (.853); Jeter -- 10th/last (.789)

Even giving Jeter some benefit of the doubt because the Yankee pitching staff has been striking out more men over the last three years than have the Rangers (110, 105 and 315 in reverse order), it is still apparent that A-Rod should not be displaced defensively by anybody except an Ozzie Smith-caliber shortstop.

Derek Jeter should be the player switching positions.Just how bad is Jeter at this point? Consider this:
defensive Win Shares per 1,000 innings. Most shortstops are over four in this category. All but
four -- including the scrubs, fill-ins, part-timers and cup of coffee drinkers were over 3.00. Derek Jeter was at 1.31. Fellow Yankees Eric Almonte and Enrique Wilson were also in the ones while Damian Jackson of the Red Sox was at 2.23. One could argue that there is some sort of bias in the number that keeps Yankee shortstops low and that is somewhat suspicious. Having talented third basemen like Robin Ventura and Aaron Boone playing next to them could have kept them from making more plays, but even spotting Jeter another two defensive Win Shares per 1,000 innings would still put him light years behind Rodriguez. Defensive stats are a lot more murky than their offensive counterparts, but the discrepancies between A-Rod and Jeter are so
vast that they transcend any murkiness caused by the shortcomings of the tools.

Consider this, too: who would you rather have adapting to a new position: a man who is at the top of the offensive heap or someone who is much closer to the middle? Jeter is the Yankee captain. Captains are supposed to lead by example and I can think of no better example of leadership than Jeter taking up a new position to accommodate one of the best shortstops in the history of the game. It is, to dance delicately around a hackneyed phrase, a decision that does not require any brain power."

Labels: Sports

- posted by Doug @ 3:41:00 PM