Deserving Gold Glove Winners – A.L.

Image via Wikipedia Catcher: Catcher’s defense is by far the toughest to quantify, as there really isn’t a metric for it, and you pretty much have to go exclusively by stats like runners thrown out, passed balls, and dare I say, fielding percentage. Deserving Winner: Jason Varitek Reasoning: Highest RF/9 (range factor per game) among AL catchers by far, and tied for the highest fielding percentage with Gerald Laird. Who I Expect to Win: Jason Varitek or Joe Mauer Reasoning: If there’s one position that’s going to be decided by reputation, it’s going to be catcher, and they both have reputations as excellent defensive catchers, whether it’s true or not. First Base: Deserving Winner: Kendry Morales Reasoning: He has far superior range to any other AL first baseman at 4.6 range runs above average (Miguel Cabrera has the 2nd most with 1.6), and the highest UZR at 4.8. Who I Expect to Win: Mark Teixeira Reasoning: Despite the fact tha...