Gold vs. the Bible
Posted: November 7th, 2008 | Filed under: Baseball | 51 Comments »
OK, so you may know that I’m on the John Dewan Fielding Bible panel. I’ve been on the panel since the beginning despite my obvious lack of any sense. The panel this year included (among others):
Hal Richman: The man who invented Strat-o-Matic and — this is absolutely true — has been one of the most astute judges of baseball defense for many years. The Strat-o-Matic defensive rankings have, more often than not, been much more accurate than what has been out there as conventional wisdom. Hal, for instance, was one of the first to realize that Bernie Williams was a freaking lump in center field toward the middle/end of his career.
John Dewan: In my opinion, he and his people at Baseball Info Solutions are the cutting edge for studying defense. There are quirks in their system, of course, but basically they break down every single play, chart it, compare across the league, and I think the Dewan plus/minus comes closer than anything before to giving us a real sense for defensive performance.
Rob Neyer: The guy who writes all the Rob Neyer books.
Tom Tango Fan Poll: Uses results from the awesome defensive polling that Tom does on his site.
Bill James: The guy who writes all the Bill James books.
Mat Olkin: Stats wizard who consults several big league clubs.
Mike Murphy: Popular talk radio show host in Chicago and founding member of the Bleacher Bums.
Me: Unqualified.
The Gold Gloves, meanwhile, were voted on by managers and coaches. I’m not sure how seriously they take the voting, how much work they put into it, whatever. But they obviously see the players up close all the time, which is an advantage and disadvantage at the same time.
So, for fun, let’s compare the awards and see what we can pick up from it.
First base
AL GG: Carlos Pena, Rays
NL GG: Adrian Gonzalez, Padres
Fielding Bible: Albert Pujols, Cardinals
Comment: Everyone is in agreement that Pena is a good first baseman — he finished fourth overall in the Bible voting, though as a group we Fielding-Bible-Thumers all thought that Casey Kotchman AND Mark Teixeira, the two first baseman in last year’s big deal, were better defensively.
Huge disagreement in the National League, though. The Biblers are absolutely convinced as a group that Pujols has been the best defensive first baseman each of the last three years. And we didn’t even think Adrian Gonzalez was a Top 10 defensive first baseman.
To be honest, I’m not at all sure how this even happened — Pujols is SO good defensively, and he’s also the best hitter in baseball, I for the life of me cannot figure out why he keeps getting screwed on this award.
I have a guess, of course, and I realize it will sound crazy — but I doubt it’s as crazy as picking Adrian Gonzalez over Pujols in the first place. Here goes: I think Pujols keeps getting jobbed because he is right-handed. I’m being semi-serious here. I think a left-handed first baseman just fits the eye better. It LOOKS so much cooler. I think we imagine of slick fielding first baseman to be in the image of Keith Hernandez, Don Mattingly, Wes Parker, Mark Grace — sure, there have been righties who have won multiple Gold Gloves at first base like George Scott and Vic Power. But I still think there’s some rightism going on here.
Second base
AL GG: Dustin Pedroia, Red Sox
NL GG: Brandon Phillips, Reds
Fielding Bible: Brandon Phillips, Reds
We’re all more or less in agreement here. Brandon Phillips had a terrific year defensively. And Dustin Pedroia finished fourth in the Bible voting — in the American League he only finished behind Mark Ellis, who only played 117 games. We have peace in our time.
The biggest disagreement seems to be: How good a defensive player is Chase Utley? I picked him first overall because of his remarkable defensive numbers (the guy finished +47 in the Dewan this year, which was BY FAR the best total for any player at any position. That numbes means, on video observation, he made 47 more players than the average second baseman, which is staggering).
Thing is, many people think Utley is actually a very average or even below average second baseman. Hal Richman and the Tango Poll — two excellent sources — picked him 10th, and my Star partner Bob Dutton, who has a good feel for these things, watched Utley play during the playoffs and World Series and felt like he was pretty dreadful out there. Very weird.
Shortstop
AL GG: Michael Young, Rangers
NL GG: Jimmy Rollins, Phillies
Fielding Bible: Jimmy Rollins, Phillies
We all agree Rollins was terrific defensively, though I am a big fan of Atlanta’s Yunel Escobar and picked him No. 1 overall (with Rollins second). The Michael Young thing is, as mentioned, beyond explanation. He did not finish in the Top 10 in the Bible voting, and it’s worth pointing out again that I had never spoken to anyone in baseball who thought Young was a good defensive shortstop. This one just came out of nowhere*.
*Especially because Young was not even very good offensively in 2008. You know how sometimes a good offensive year will get the managers and coaches excited and make them overestimate a players defensive value and give him a Gold Glove (see Palmeiro, Rafael). Well, Young had his worst offensive year in quite a while. He hit .284/.339/.402 and punched up a 96 OPS+. He missed the All-Star Game for the first time in five years. Sorry, That was wrong. Either way, I have no idea how this happened to be honest with you.
Third Base
AL GG: Adrian Beltre, Mariners
NL GG: David Wright, Mets
Fielding Bible: Adrian Beltre, Mariners
Beltre was an almost unanimous choice in the Bible — he got first place on eight out of 10 ballots, and second place on the Tange Poll behind the estimable Scott Rolen.
It’s interesting, the general perception is that the National League has significantly better defensive shortstops — Rollins, Hardy, Escobar, Jack Wilson, Cesar Izturis, etc. But I would say that most believe the American League has the better third basemen with Beltre, Longoria, Rolen, Crede, Jack Hannahan. The Bible voters, for instance, would have given Wright the NL award too, but he finished sixth overall.
Left field
AL GG: None
NL GG: None
Fielding Bible: Carl Crawford, Rays
One of these days, the Rawlings Gold Glove people will realize that they really should stop lumping all outfielders. It’s ridiculous, really. All six Gold Glove outfielders were center fielders (Ichiro did move back to right at some point) — which is absolutely absurd. There were only 20 center fielders (again, including Ichiro) who played enough games to qualify for the ESPN fielding statistics, and SIX of them won Gold Gloves, about one in three. If you play center field in the big leagues, winning a Gold Glove is like being the seventh caller to the radio station.
Carl Crawford is obviously a bit of an oddity — he’s a left fielder who has the speed and instincts to play center. He has been, by far, the best defensive left fielder in the game for years. He has never won a Gold Glove.
Center field
AL GG: Grady Sizemore, Indians; Torii Hunter, Angels; Ichiro (part-time), Mariners.
NL GG: Shane Victorino, Phillies; Carlos Beltran, Mets; Nate McClouth, Mistake.
Fielding Bible: Carlos Beltran, Mets.
I think it’s a shame that they picked three center fielders in the American League (including Ichiro) but failed to pick the best one, since that was clearly Minnesota’s Carlos Gomez. I picked Gomez second in baseball behind Beltran, but everyone here knows how much in the tank I am for Beltran. Throw some lie-detector wires on me, I might tell you that Gomez is even better; he’s a defensive phenomenon really. He gets to everything, and he plays with all kinds of crazy energy; I find it hard to believe that the managers missed that. Torii Hunter has aged to the point where I would now describe him as a “classy†center fielder* but Gomez is what Hunter was eight years ago.
*Brilliant centerfielders age to become classy centerfielders. Beautiful women age to become classy women.
We all agree on Sizemore and Beltran — they’re terrific defensively. It seems to me the managers fell a bit too in love with Victorino, but you can see why. He’s the kind of player managers and coaches love — “I wish we had one of THOSE on our team.â€
Nate McClouth is, as mentioned on a previous post, such a bad choice that it defies explanation — he makes Michael Young look like Ozzie. McLouth scored a minus-40 on the Dewan, making him the least effective defensive player in baseball. You may not believe in the Dewan system — hey, McLouth made only one error — but there’s no way that it could be THAT WRONG. The system says very clearly that Nate McLouth needs to be taken out of center field immediately before more people get hurt. Meanwhile, the managers and coaches gave him a Gold Glove. Crazy.
Right field
AL GG: Ichiro (part time), Mariners
NL GG: None
Fielding Bible: Franklin Gutierrez, Indians.
I was talking the other day about the Kansas City Royals and how they seem to only be chasing players who have low on-base percentages. And in the middle of it, I seemed to downgrade Frankie Gutierrez. So let me clarify my position a little bit — I like Gutierrez a lot and think he would actually be an excellent pickup for someone, even the Royals. He is a superior right fielder and, you would expect, he would be an outstanding center fielder. And he hit pretty well the last month and a half or so of the season. And he’s still pretty young, and he has some offensive talents. I wasn’t trying to downplay those talents — I’m actually a fan — I was just making the point that the Royals, after harping on on-base percentage, have not publicly targeted a single person with even a league average on-base percentage.*
*A couple of people have brought up that the Royals, in addition to their stunning lack of on-base percentage, also have a tremendous lack of slugging percentage and so why not concentrate on that?
They certainly can and should concentrate on adding some power, especially from within (i.e. Give Kila Ka’ahue a real chance to be your starting first baseman). But there are two reasons why I don’t think it’s nearly as important as improving their on-base percentage.
1. OBP is significantly more important than slugging when it comes to scoring runs.
2. The Royals, by virtue of their payroll problems, cannot afford to build their team around other people’s sluggers.
Catcher
AL GG: Joe Mauer, Twins
NL GG: Yadier Molina, Cardinals
Fielding Bible: Yadier Molina, Cardinals
There is mostly agreement here, though the Dewan people who watch every play are not particularly impressed with Mauer’s defense. I thought — looking at the numbers and from my own observation — that Kurt Suzuki had a fabulous defensive year. He threw out 37% of stolen base attempts which is excellent, he only made four errors, he only had five passed balls, he seemed nimble and solid behind the plate to me. But nobody really seems to agree with me.
Pitcher
AL GG: Mike Mussina, Yankees
NL GG: Greg Maddux, (Soon to be retired?)
Fielding Bible: Kenny Rogers, Tigers
The fact that they give out a Gold Glove to freaking pitchers, who are not allowed to catch their own pop-ups, but don’t give one out to left or right fielders is really a disgrace. I’m writing my congressman.
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Ryan Zimmerman is an astonishingly good third baseman, but playing for the sinkhole that is the Washington Nationals he will probably never get the attention he deserves (until he leaves as a FA in three years, of course). He wasn’t going to win a GG this year with his time on the DL, but I think the case Chris Needham put together for him in 2007 is pretty remarkable.
If they’re not going to give Pujols the MVP every year, they could at least throw a GG his way.
Wright and Zimmerman were on the same AAU team in Virginia (I think B.J. Upton also was on it). I wonder who played third?
http://aaunews.org/news/?p=86
Wright at third, Upton at short, Z-man at second, according to this article. Hell of an infield.
Michael Young missed the All-Star game? I thought he drove in the winning run….
Michael Young hit the game-winning sac-fly in the All-Star game, so he didn’t miss it again.
Other than thatm, great stuff.
Was Mark Reynolds also on that team? I’ve heard that he was from that area.
I’ve been pondering this for a while, and by “this” I mean the whole Michael Young-Nate McLouth thing, and I’ve come to the conclusion that the bulk of Gold Glove voters just can’t be that dumb — I mean, they just can’t be. They’re professionals, even if they don’t reference the numbers that we might. It can’t be that a significant plurality of them think that Michael Young is a great defender.
There is another explanation, and that is the simplicity of the ballot and an oversupply of reasonable choices. You got, what, maybe 100 people voting for each Gold Glove spot? And maybe there are three good choices for shortstop, and each gets 15-20 votes, and two more non-ridiculous choices who each get 8-10 votes. Plus Jeter gets maybe a dozen. What you’re left with is 25 other votes, cast quite carelessly, and in some years, someone like Michael Young — who is well liked and respected and appreciated for his all-around game — gets 21 of them. Boom, there’s your Gold Glove winner.
This is dead easy to avoid, and you don’t even need a point system. You just need an instant-runoff ballot, which prevents the most thoughtful voters from inadvertently splitting the vote among the most thoughtful choices:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instant-runoff_voting
If the Gold Glove was balloted this way, I bet there would basically never be a total head-scratcher like Young or McLouth.
Thank you again, Joe, for pointing out the obvious foolishness involved in handing out Gold Gloves to pitchers, but not regaularly recognizing corner outfielders. There have been some stunningly good defensive players in the corners who have been absolutely screwed by this system.
Maybe Michael Young won because he leads the AL in RZR… Maybe he won because he leads the AL in fielding percentage… just a thought. He wasn’t THAT bad. He displayed absolutely no range, but he got to the most balls that he was SUPPOSED to get to, and when he got to the balls, he made plays on them.
Kenny Rogers is amazing. He is almost like a hockey goalie out there. I can’t recall seeing a pitcher as good defensively as him. And he is very good at keeping runners from stealing too.
you’re referring to victorino’s energy as why managers would like him. What is amazing about him, for his size, is his arm. Last year, as the Phillies had Gold glover Aaron Rowand in center, he was given more oppurtunities to show it off his arm in right field. the arm is still there
to prove im not a homer i would like to nominate Bobby Abreu for your Palmeiro category of offensive players winning gold gloves. but hey, i guess that’s what happens when they give the outfielding gold glove to right fielders
Are we sure Ron Popeil is right-handed?
To see the GG as a joke, look no further than 1999 when Rafael Palmero won the award at first base despite playing less than 50 games in the field (mostly a DH that year). How can anyone take the award seriously after that?
Less than 50 does not even do justice to the joke that was Palmeiro winning. I believe the exact number of games he played in the field was 28. 28!?
As an occasional viewer/long-time critic of the Nationals, let me add that Zimmerman (a) is not an outstanding 3rd baseman and (b) played 106 games this year.
It’s easy to be biased toward your own players (“you have to see this guy play every day to appreciate how good he is”). The problem is there are a lot of other guys people say the same about, ignoring the fact that, hey, they’re major leaguers. They’re all pretty darn good, or at least better than me.
What about Strat-O-Matic’s assessment of Jeter’s lumpiness? 2e20, 2e16, 2e14 the last three years–that’s pretty good.
By the way, I didn’t get into Strat until someone turned me onto The Sporting News’ online game. The site I’m linking to is something I built to help me better understand their All-Time Greats game, which I play almost exclusively. Strat people should find it interesting.
Hey, I also wanted to comment on the poll. I live in California. A little known stipulation of the passage of prop 8 (gay marriage ban), is that Flintstones’ reruns are also banned as they may promote “gay old times.”
You know, the stats show that over the last five years, Pujols is one of the best defensive players in baseball. Not the best defensive first baseman. The best defensive PLAYER. He’s on his way to a top-10, maybe top-5 career. Let’s enjoy it while it lasts.
And vote Keira!
Those of you who voted Nirvana:
Go YouTube a live performance of “State of Love and Trust.”
Though, this argument is like picking between Teddie Ballgame and Joe-D…
Does “Nirvana” take into account the Foo Fighters? Because otherwise it’s strictly a peak/career argument there.
I spent way too long choosing between some of those poll questions. There should definitely be a choice for “Undecided”. And maybe even a “Neither” choice – at least on the Pearl Jam or Nirvana question.
I do not understand how Albert Pujols, who is indisputably the best player in baseball right now, can be overlooked time and time again. Is there something in the water (or beer) in St. Louis that accounts for monumental players not getting their due?
First Musial, now Pujols.
I went to high school with Paul Rudd, and he’s just about the nicest guy you’ll ever meet. At least, he was in high school. Plus, Brian Fantana beats the pants off Wes Mantooth, so that’s an easy choice.
I saw Nirvana. I saw Pearl Jam at their peak (or close to it, right after Vs. came out). Absolutely no contest. Nirvana was better.
But Mudhoney kicks both of their asses.
I also would have liked a “neither” for the Pearl Jam/Nirvana question. Not really my thing, even though I’m in the prime demographic for grunge.
I’ve liked Paul Rudd all the way back to Clueless, so that’s an easy choice over Vince Vaughn.
Aren’t Natalie Portman and Keira Knightley the same person?
Joe, thanks for no “ginger v mary ann” or “samantha v jeannie” questions, as those are cliche.
So as I write this, Nirvana is up 92-91, and I just voted for them, so I guess if the poll ended now I’m the deciding vote!
Anyway, it is an intriguing question–Beatles/Stones has been argued to death, and I feel like Nirvana/Pearl Jam is now the far more intersting ink blot test.
I guess I prefer Nirvana because they were sloppier and goofier and a little more irreverent, which I tend to prefer to the classic rock precision and self-seriousness of Pearl Jam (which isn’t to say I don’t like Pearl Jam–I do). Both were pretty good, but if I’m going back to that period, I’m usually listening to Pavement or the Pixies (which I guess speaks to just how much I like sloppy and goofy and irreverent).
Well, Pearl Jam is my favorite band, so I guess I’m voting for them. (although I do like Nirvana.)
As for Joe Mauer not being impressive to Dewan’s crew. Keith Law raves about his defense, and I have heard nothing but good things about it. If I watched Mauer enough to give my own opinion of what he does behind the plate, then I would.
http://statisticianmagician.mlblogs.com/
I wonder if Pujols is given short shrift as a defensive player because he is the best offensive player in the league. It just seems so unfair that he should be both and there’s probably this unconscious distinction in a lot of managers mind between big hitters and glove men.
As someone alluded to above, I think that a lot of managers value defenders who get to pretty much everything that is hit to them as opposed to guys with more range who make a few more errors. In certain ways, this is not an irrational position. Guys who don’t make errors tend to have a positive impact on pitchers’ confidence. Whether or not this subjective effect has objective consequences, I don’t know, but it could explain why some managers value defenders with poor range.
For the Wright/Zimmerman AAU questions, I played against that team on several occasions. In the games that I played David Wright was the main 3B on that team (The Tidewater Mets) and was the big stud. He was committed to GA Tech but with all the scouts that were out watching him play the real question was whether he’d be drafted in the first round or second (ended up going in the supplemental round). Zimmerman was a lanky guy with a great glove and hitting potential on his way to UVA and was the back up there. I remember playing against him when Wright was at some kind of big deal showcase. Upton played SS and had tremendous range and arm but very questionable hands. He seemed like he’d be better in the outfield when he was 17 too. I don’t remember Reynolds on that team.
Pujols suffers from what is commonly known as “Michael Jordan Syndrome.” Jordan was the best player in basketball for a dozen years, yet doesn’t have the MVP’s to show for it, because he was simply too good. People would rather see some underdog with a surprising season win awards than the BEST PLAYER IN THE LEAGUE. Pujols is just too good to win these awards. Maybe people don’t vote for him because they assume other people will. I don’t know. Between their terrible offense and Spanish name, I tend to forget the Padres even exist. It was easier when Gwynn was around, but that’s because I think he was visible from small satellites. It’s only a matter of time before London subway walls are telling the masses that “Pujols is God!”
I don’t know, Utley’s fake toss to first and throw home to get the runner at the plate was purty darn special if ya ask me. You betcha. Down right Jeter-esque.
Carlos Gomez is Gary Pettis. He will win his GG next year and win 4-6 in his career, but his lack of hitting will ultimately be his undoing, despite great speed and high stolen base totals.
Kiera Knightley? She is one “hot” actress I totally do not get. No curves, no lips, and weighs 75 lbs soaking wet. Why does Hollywood insist on trying to turn every cute young actress into an emaciated stick before they hit 27? Though to be fair, she started out emaciated.
“I think that a lot of managers value defenders who get to pretty much everything that is hit to them as opposed to guys with more range who make a few more errors. In certain ways, this is not an irrational position. Guys who don’t make errors tend to have a positive impact on pitchers’ confidence. Whether or not this subjective effect has objective consequences, I don’t know, but it could explain why some managers value defenders with poor range.”
Great point. Hence Ross Gload’s extension and Moore and Hillman’s enthusiasm for him, despite 2007 being the only year in his career where his defensive metrics at 1B were above average (they were dreadful every year before, and were this year as well — good thing he’ll be around to sub for Jacobs late!)
I think Mauer will be in the running for best defensive catcher every year (and I suppose for the Gold Glove, too, not that those two things are related), but as a Twins fan, I have to say he seemed to have a down year fielding. Maybe catching Livan Hernandez too often messes with a person’s mind and makes it hard to catch real pitchers, but there were a lot of “wild pitches” that shouldn’t have been this year.
“Hal Richman: The man who invented Strat-o-Matic and — this is absolutely true — has been one of the most astute judges of baseball defense for many years…”
“…Thing is, many people think Utley is actually a very average or even below average second baseman. Hal Richman,,,picked him 10th,..”
Kind of makes you wonder just how astute old Hal really is.
I have not seen much of Utley other than the playoffs, but I do know that during the playoffs, I thought that Utley and Rollins were the best looking DP combo I have seen in a long time. They can really turn 2. And they are so in sync while doing so. There isn’t much prettier than a DP combo that makes it look like they could do it in their sleep.
Natlie Portman wins simply because of V For Vendetta.
McLouth only made 1 error because he didn’t get to enough balls to make more.
Pujols is getting shafted in the same way the writers used to shaft Mantle for the MVP awards back in the 50s. He’s so good, they feel like they need to knock him down a peg to keep things in reality.
and Rudd vs Vaughn was pretty tough for me, they’re both good for making me laugh. I went Rudd because he doesn’t have to get all pissy to get the job done. Vaughn usually has to blow up to get there.
oh, and Jetsons rooled!
Didn’t Mike Murphy give Young a first place vote in his Fielding Bible ballot?
utley is hard to judge. he and rollins do make a good pair (feliz is terrific too, but doesnt hit himself into consideration). the thing with utley is that he’s so unorthodox. he throws sidearm or something. a little tyranasauros rex-esque. still he gets the job done. he just wont get the style points
My theory about Pujols getting jobbed out of Gold Gloves (supported by no evidence whatsoever): I think managers and coaches vote primarily based on images, and their image of a great defensive player is someone who’s fast and wiry. Therefore they tend to prefer rangy guys like Derrek Lee, John Olerud, or Mark Grace at first over thick, blocky guys like Pujols.
You’d think we’d be over these kinds of stereotypes, but might I remind you that Juan Pierre batted leadoff in 65 games this year.
Hey Padre…
Here’s why Mauer had a down year with passed balls and whatnot…Mauer had to catch Livan Hernandez quite a bit. He was not used to the ball making it to him because it was being hit very hard the other way. He lost his ability to actually catch the ball. Very sad.
I think the fact that Pujols kinda sucked defensively before moving to first (and for awhile after making the move) probably hurts him with Gold Glove voters. They already formed their opinion of him as a defensive player and aren’t willing to change it, even though he’s finally found the right position and is awesome at it.
If I remember correctly Pujols was also considered a decent 3B and LF when he played there, just that the Cardinals got Rolen and then I don’t remember who forcing Pujols to move around to accommodate those two.
They decided to make him a 1B and it’s been great for all involved, except the opposition, but the fact that he was in 3 positions in his first 4 years or so probably made people undervalue his defense.
Great column Joe. I wrote a similar column at the DYNASTY League Baseball MLB.com News Bog for the DYNASTY League Baseball fielding ratings.
Albert Pujols is incredible in that he is the best hitter in Baseball and also the best defensive 1b. Pujols had excellent defensive range stats at 3b and could well have been a Gold Glove 3b. Early in his career people forget he even played shortstop.
MANTOOTH!!!!
“Natlie Portman wins simply because of V For Vendetta”
Bravo, Amen and +1000 for Kyle Davidson
I don’t think that Utley was at his best defensively during the playoffs. If you have only seen him play in the play-offs, well, I’m not surprised you would think he is not a good defensive second baseman. But based on all the regular season games he has played well in, I would argue that he is a very good defensive second baseman.
Pujols was moved to 1B because of his elbow. It wouldn’t have held up with all the throwing from 3B or LF. The move had little to do with his glove. He wasn’t Miguel Cabrera or Ryan Braun at either position.
I used to really like Keira Knightly. No more. I lost all my respect for her as an actress in the last Pirates of the Caribbean movie. If you watch the first movie, she was an actress; when she was in mud, she got muddy, when she was in dirt, she got dirty. But by the time of the last one, she had become a movie star. Not just a movie star: a movie star who not only never had a speck of dirt besmirch her face in close ups, but was wearing so much makeup it made me wonder when her character had time to put it all on. There was one fight scene where I just completely broke out of the movie because not only was her face spotless, but also seemed to have six times as much makeup as necessary. Her makeup choices ruined the third movie for me. Portman deserves lots of negative points for Episode 3, but she didn’t make any of the other casting decisions, and has been trying to make it up to us.
As for Gold Gloves, reputation is almost everything. When an insane choice wins GG, look to number of errors and fielding percentage. As for outfielders, well, the reasoning is that almost every center fielder in baseball could play left or right better than almost every corner outfielder, so why punish the second or third best outfielder in the league? But by that logic, it’s possible if not probable that the second or third best defensive shortstop would be the best defensive second or third baseman. Cesar Izturis played a *great* defensive third base for the Dodgers after they got Furcal, for example (of course, he didn’t hit enough to justify playing him there). So I’m with Joe; vote GG for the folks actually playing those positions.