Alfonso Soriano, Gold Glover?

In Commentary And Analysis by berselius122 Comments

Everyone has been focusing on Darwin Barney's record breaking errorless streak, but yesterday was the first that I had heard of Soriano's. He hasn't made a single error all season and even noted Soriano critic Bob Brenly has praised his defense this year. So does he really have a shot? The thing that helps him the most is that the GG rules have changed to be position specific, instead of simply being all outfielders. There are a lot of shitty LF out there. Here's the list of qualified candidates (CRUMMY METRIC ALERT: THIS IS SINGLE-SEASON DEFENSIVE DATA).

Player Errors UZR DRS
Adolfo 0 15.2 -2
Martin Prado 3 10.9 11
Ryan Braun 6 4.7 8
Matt Holliday 3 -0.8 0
Melky Cabrera 4 -1.9 -1
Jason Kubel 1 -2.8 -6
Ryan Ludwick 1 -4.4 -5
Carlos Gonzalez 4 -4.8 -11
J.D. Martinez 1 -5.4 -1

I'm kind of surprised to see so few errors all around, considering how lousy most left fielders are considered to be. Nearly all of Soriano's UZR number this year comes from his range (RngR), as opposed to the gaudy numbers he put up earlier in his his Cubs career with his arm.

So, how plausible could it be? Gold Glove voters are often hilariously wrong (see Jeter, Derek) and the lack of errors can help him with the crowd that also evaluate pitchers on W-L records. However, Jeter has a positive reputation, years of data be damned, whereas Soriano has always been smeared with the ZOMG LAZY brush. What about his competition?

Martin Prado is clearly the obvious choice over all these guys, except maybe Cabrera. But no one is going to vote for Cabrera this year for obvious reasons. Carlos Gonzalez is the only one on the list that has previously won the award, but he probably had a little help profile-wise with his hot year at the plate in 2010, which hasn't quite been the case this year. Braun has a similarly bad defensive rep and has still has the PED stink on him in the media, so he's out too. Last year's winner, Gerardo Parra, has lost most of his playing time to Kubel, who also had a lousy repuatation with the Twins. I don't think any of the other guys have a shot.

It's going to come down to Soriano vs Prado. If he keeps the errorless streak alive he should have a good chance with the voters. I don't think he'll win, but it's not as unthinkable as at first glance.

UPDATE: GW points out in the comments that Prado has moved back to 2b due to general uselessness from Dan Uggla, which could hurt his profile as a LF with the voters.

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  1. Author
    Berselius

    Mish wrote:

    This thread was good to keep up with leading up to lunch, though my homemade PBJ sandwich didn’t quite satiate my hunger. (dying laughing)

    I brought some leftover lasagna, but for some reason I’d rather have a PBJ (dying laughing)

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  2. GW

    prado might get dinged by the voters since he has now taken over for uggla as the every day second baseman (although this should really be a point in his favor, imo).

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  3. Author
    Berselius

    @ GW:

    Good point. I was going to point out that voters probably regard him as an infielder, then saw that he’s played 100+ games in the outfield in each of the last 2+ seasons. Didn’t realize that he had moved back though.

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  4. Aisle424

    My rankings of fast food burgers:

    1. Culver’s
    (giant drop off)
    2a. In n Out
    2b. Steak n Shake
    4. Whataburger
    5. Five Guys
    6. Wendy’s
    7. McD’s
    8. Burger King
    9. A pile of dog shit covered in ebola virus
    10. White Castle

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  5. Aisle424

    EnricoPallazzo wrote:

    @ Aisle424:
    once again, i find that i am the only person that loves white castle and despises all other fast food.

    I don’t think any less of you for liking it, but that place disgusts the living fuck out of me. Between the taste, which is awful, and the fact that I’ve never seen one that is clean, I’d rather go to a Greyhound station bathroom and lick the doorknob.

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  6. Aisle424

    I’d rather go to a Greyhound station bathroom and lick the doorknob.

    This is blatantly stolen from Richard Jeni. RIP.

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  7. Aisle424

    Mucker wrote:

    I don’t know if there is a Checkers where you are from Aisley but they make excellent burgers as well.

    I have not had Checkers or Sonic. I assume they’ll land somewhere under Culvers and above Wendy’s.

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  8. EnricoPallazzo

    @ Rice Cube:
    i actually kind of respect the fact that White Castle makes absolutely zero effort to make you think that those chicken rings are unprocessed. i would bet that the nutritional value of chicken rings is identical to mcdonald’s, but mcdonald’s feels the need to make you think that you’re eating chunks of natural chicken, which is of course a bit of a lie. white castle just said “fuck it, how about ring form. no one thinks this shit is natural anyway.” which i kind of respect.

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  9. WaLi

    @ Berselius:

    Vogelbach is considered a 1B at best and possibly just a DH, but I was also told that he had “80 power”, which is at the very top of the scouting scale.

    80 Power… That’s awesome. What other prospects have had 80 power? IF Vogelbach ends up being a better hitter than Rizzo, why not move Rizzo to LF?

    I’ll be voting for the DH if we have an insane Vogelbach in the minors and Rizzo “blocking” his path (dying laughing)

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  10. Mucker

    @ Aisle424:
    Sonic’s food is crap, aside from their breakfast and ice cream, I think. Checkers food is so much better. I don’t have 1-5 on your list in my area so Checkers and Wendy’s probably top my list.

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  11. Aisle424

    WaLi wrote:

    I’ll be voting for the DH if we have an insane Vogelbach in the minors and Rizzo “blocking” his path (dying laughing)

    I think the NL will have the DH by the time this is a problem. I really do. After a year or two of playing an “interleague” game every day, people will realize having 2 sets of rules is stupid.

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  12. Mish

    I’m a big fan of Sonic; I do like Checkers too, but I haven’t had it 15 years, so I barely recall.

    I remember trying to find a White Castle after me and a buddy saw the first Harold & Kumar (no, my buddy wasn’t Asian, but we were baked). That failed and we settled on Wendy’s.

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  13. Mercurial Outfielder

    @ WaLi:

    The minor leagues are littered with all-bat 1B that have top-end power and even these guys make it, they don’t often last long. For every Prince Fielder there’s 20 Russell Branyans and Richie Sexsons. At his level, doing what he is doing is what is expected. If he can flash this kind of stick at AA or AAA, then there’s more reason to be excited.

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  14. josh

    @ Aisle424:
    Culvers is better than sonic. When I lived in Arkansas, Sonic was really good, but the Sonics here in Chambana I’ve found to be really shitty. Could be a global policy change. Memo from the president of Sonic: start making food shittier.

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  15. Aisle424

    @ EnricoPallazzo:
    The best part is that McDonald’s kind of owns that McNuggets aren’t “natural” by any stretch of the imagination, so they keep trying to phase them out with the Chicken Selects and now the Chicken McBites, but I hear people ordering McNuggets all the time (including myself) and hardly ever an order of McBites.

    AND the McNuggets are still fewer calories than the new shit they keep peddling as healthier. I know caloroes isn’t the only indicator, but its the biggest one most people look at. It’s like the batting average of food statistics.

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  16. WaLi

    @ Rice Cube:
    FTA
    http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_21431269
    Rockies using their 4 man rotation again next year:

    Rather than four starters and three “piggyback” relievers, the Rockies ideally would like to employ an octopus: eight arms.

    There would be four starters on a 75-pitch count and four “hybrid” pitchers, trained starters limited to 50 pitches. Two pitchers, in essence, would be asked to perform the previous job of a starter — get the team as deep as possible into a game.

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  17. EnricoPallazzo

    @ Mish:
    no idea. but i went to carl’s jr. a few times when i lived in san diego and thought it was legit. way better than in-n-out which might be the most overrated place ever. actually, now that i think about it, i might like carl’s jr. better than white castle. their fried zucchini was delicious.

    ok i just looked up the websites for hardee’s and carl’s jr, and yes, they’re the same place.

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  18. mikeakaleroy

    @ Mish:
    Yeah, they’re owned by the same folk if I remember correctly. The commercials with the hot gals in bikinis eating the giant greasy nasty looking burgers does nothing to make me want to eat there…

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  19. josh

    @ Berselius:
    cherry limeade is quite tasty. The food’s not great.

    @ EnricoPallazzo:
    I had a friend in college who used to go to Hardees at midnight (they were open 24 hours) eat a Double Bacon Whatever, then barf it back up in the bathroom.

    That’s pretty much all I have to say about Hardees.

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  20. Rice Cube

    I think the DH will be adopted…it’s inevitable. Especially if even NL affiliates in the minors use the DH, and they do the same in spring training to get ABs for guys. What the hell is the point of the pitcher batting if you don’t develop that skill in the minors anyway? Might as well DH.

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  21. SK on the moon

    If you’re ever in Mississippi and see a Lenny’s Sub Shop franchise thinking it will be a decent option for a non-burger meal, you’d be wrong. It sucks balls.

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  22. Aisle424

    I like Arby’s a lot more now that I can’t get it anywhere on the north side. It’s become a rare treat.

    Horsey sauce on the fries is awesome.

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  23. Mercurial Outfielder

    We’ve just started packing our own stuff for road trips. Just pack up a cooler with veggies and fruit, a bag of dry snacks and a few water bottles. Only thing we’ll usually buy on the road is beef jerky. (dying laughing)

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  24. Author
    Berselius

    @ Mercurial Outfielder:

    Also, coffee. Well, “coffee”.

    We usually bring some dry snacks and water too but anything bigger gets complicated, since long road trips usually mean our dogs are coming with us, and they know how to use their noses (dying laughing)

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  25. mb21

    Aisle424 wrote:

    My rankings of fast food burgers:

    1. Culver’s – never been
    (giant drop off)
    2a. In n Out – never been
    2b. Steak n Shake – never been
    4. Whataburger – never been
    5. Five Guys – went once
    6. Wendy’s – 10+ years ago
    7. McD’s – 15 years ago
    8. Burger King – 10+ years ago
    9. A pile of dog shit covered in ebola virus – last week
    10. White Castle – never been

    The TGI Fridays burger has to be #1. Amirite?

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  26. Mercurial Outfielder

    @ Rice Cube:
    Lendy gave Brycebag some chin music, of course he’s weak sauce so he gets shouty, benches clear, Clevenger ejected for throwing a punch.

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  27. Mercurial Outfielder

    If that pitch from Lendy was on purpose (I know Aisley thinks it was), what could the purpose possibly have been? I’ve really never understood throwing at players because you’re getting your ass kicked.

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  28. Rice in limbo

    Unfortunate game-ending TOOTBLAN by BJax.

    I read that the brushback was because of the Nats stealing bases in the fifth.

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  29. Rice Cube

    @ Mercurial Outfielder:
    The ESPN recap suggested that the Cubs didn’t take kindly to the Nats stealing bases in the fifth with a large lead. It’s the fifth inning and the lead was only five runs (which is like 50 for this shitty team but still). Plenty of game left, of course they’re going to try to score as much as they can right then.

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  30. SVB

    If you are looking for a silver lining from today’s game, here it is:
    Collectively, the Cubs hit for cycle.

    (Also, Bubbles is back. Just thought I’d repeat that.)

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  31. Mobile Rodrigo

    The brawl also might have been due to the Nats third base coach essentially charging the Cubs dugout an inning or two before to go after Jamie Quirk. It was a strange event.

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  32. Chet Masterson

    Rice Cube wrote:

    It’s from the Nats’ commentators’ point of view.

    Yeah it is! Some instant classic lines in there from the broadcast team. My favorite was “… and now the Cubs are going to throw at a teenager.” Hawk Harrelson has likely already furiously masturbated to this clip.

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  33. Jack Benny

    “You’re up 7-2 … you don’t swing 3-0 in that situation,” Clevenger said.

    Please send that clown back to oblivion.

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  34. GBTS

    @ Chet Masterson:
    I love those Nats announcers. When things are going well for Harper, they marvel at his maturity and skill for his age. But whenever it’s convenient they bust out the “BUT HE’S JUST A WIDDLE GUY!!”

    For the record, I like Harper.

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  35. Mercurial Outfielder

    Steve Clevenger is a stooge. WTF Cubs. If you’re going to be bad, at least don’t be stupid.

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  36. Mercurial Outfielder

    Seems Layne is going to write it up with the Cubs as the instigators in both incidents:

    The incidents began after the Nationals took a 7-2 lead after four innings. With the bases loaded and two outs in the fifth, Jayson Werth swung at a 3-0 pitch, starting Quirk’s shouting to Porter. Crew chief Jerry Layne said Quirk was “screaming out obscenities (to Porter and) I just felt that was inappropriate and that’s what caused everything.”

    Porter left his coaching box and walked over to the dugout steps, screaming at Quirk.

    Quirk declined to comment, but plans to defend himself strenuously during Major League Baseball’s investigation.

    “You’re up 7-2 … you don’t swing 3-0 in that situation,” Clevenger said.

    The Nationals dugout emptied, as did both bullpens. Nothing resulted but a lot of gesturing and shouting. Layne said he allowed Porter to remain to coach third because time was out when he went to the dugout.

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  37. josh

    @ SVB:
    2008. It wasn’t that long ago. It was magical.

    This team sucks. Not just a little, like where things are close, but they just aren’t pulling off enough 1-run victories, like in 2009. But a lot. On any given day, I expect them to lose. I don’t care what kind of lead they have. In 2008, it didn’t matter how far behind they were, I felt like they could win it.

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  38. Mercurial Outfielder

    I really hope this team doesn’t go full Mercker here at the end of the year. They’re already terrible, I don’t want them to turn into a bunch of Brycebags. (dying laughing)

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  39. Mercurial Outfielder

    @ josh:

    NHL isn’t going to happen this season. All depends on the OL and DL for the Bears. If they can keep Cutler from getting killed and generate a pass rush from their front 4, they will be good. If not, they’ll be painfully mediocre.

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  40. Mercurial Outfielder

    @ Berselius:

    There’s been no pass rush from them in preseason. McLellin looks like a failed pick already. He’s not a hand on the ground guy. DT is deep, but none of them have shown the ability to consistently get pressure over the last couple seasons.

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  41. Mercurial Outfielder

    @ Berselius:

    That really only applies to McLellin, though. The DL was having these problems basically from week 5 or 6 on last year. The Bears corners are not strong cover corners. If there’s no pass rush, this D will get gashed.

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  42. Mercurial Outfielder

    @ Berselius:

    Not yet. The Bears LB aren’t great blitzers, so age-based declines of Briggs and Urlacher will be felt more in the run game and on intermediate passing routes to TE and RB with top-end speed. Peppers is held on every passing play, and can still go get it. It’s with the other three positions on the line that the Bears have a problem. They’ve never been able to replace Tommie Harris since his injury, and a true 3-technique is vital to the the scheme. In place of a true 3T tackle, they’ve just put a bunch of high motor guys in the rotation (Adams, Melton, Paea, Okoye) and then rotated Toeaina and Idonije at the nose. Lovie basically tries to make up for the loss of a the 3-technique by keeping a set of fresh legs in there as much as possible. Melton was dominant at times, but he’s still learning the position. Paea can’t stay healthy, Okoye has a balky knee and is pretty inconsistent in his gap discipline, Adams is gone and replaced by Collins, but he’s suspended for the first 3 games for violating the drug policy.

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