Why We Love to Hate, or Hate to Love the Bat Flip (By: Adam W. Littlefield)

Although it is merely a simple gesture of achievement, nothing seems to incite a pitcher, or fan’s, rage more than the bat flip. Chris Archer kisses his bicep; Fernando Rodney shoots an arrow, and Jose Valverde goes generally nuts, but yet, we never get upset at pitcher’s who celebrate recording that crucial out. Strikeout or groundout, the pitcher celebration is, for some unknown reason, more socially acceptable among fans and analysts alike. They celebrate getting out of a jam, getting the last out of a monotonous inning, and pretty much anytime something goes their way, fist pump or otherwise.

Earlier this week David Ortiz, hereafter referred to as Papi, reignited a stagnate beef between the Red Sox and Rays with a throw of the bat and a nonchalant jaunt around the base paths. Slightly more inflammatory than some of his other post-hit activities, this was obviously a calculated act in the wake of David Price’s “bigger than the game comments” by one of the ultimate head gamers in today’s game. A little whiny, definitely brash, always entertaining, Papi loves his role as the big bat. Yelling at umpires, official scorers, and journalists, his opinions are rarely a cause for speculation and he obviously wanted Archer (that day’s pitcher) and the Rays to know how he felt.

But why is it such an upsetting act? Yes, over the top, but it’s a mere toss of the bat. Was it the casual stroll after the fact or the initial throw? In any case, as fans we tend to side with the pitchers. The bat-flip shows lack of respect for the game, for the opponent, and pretending something done about five thousand times a year is special seems to be a bit much to most.

I however, don’t share this opinion. If I could step to the plate against someone throwing mid to high 90’s heat and turn it into a souvenir, I’d probably toss the bat into the air while singing “God Bless America”, cartwheel around 1^st, crab walk to second, and skip to third followed by a brief tea party at home plate catered by some well-reputed steak house and mouth kiss the cute blonde sitting above the dugout, or not. Either way, that was fun to ponder.

Yasiel Puig has also become known for his own shenanigans, but his problem is that he’s too young. For the most part there isn’t a pitcher willing to throw at the average veteran player after a small show-up. Likely a colossal pain in the ass (ex: showing up late, speeding tickets, etc.), Puig has survived defection, and turned into one of the rising stars in a league that has lost a lot in the last few years. This back story, coupled with transcendent talent, says to me the dude deserves a fair amount of levity, not a shared opinion by any stretch. He’s a five-tool player that plays hard, plays flashy, and regularly wows even the most avid fan, but yet, we can’t stop hating him for something so trivial.

Like the Dodgers metaphorically tea-bagging the Diamondback’s pool, we will forget Papi’s shenanigans… kind of, if YouTube ceases to exist, but until that day, we hate. Like all great things, we need a villain. We need to hate so we can love, enjoy the venom of truly despising one’s minor transgressions, and eventually forgive. Hate is the only emotion stronger than love in the sport’s fans arsenal and nothing brings it out more clearly than a well-timed bat flip.

I’m pretty old school for the most part, I loathe that we legislated out the home plate collision and won’t allow pitchers to throw at players to protect their own, but I just don’t see why a bat flip followed by a reasonably paced trot is such a crime. A home run is a beautiful thing… unless you’re behind. Act like you’ve been there before is probably the most important statement any player can be reminded of. If you hit a game-tying, lead taking, or game winning bomb then you get to do what you want. If you hit one that tacks on an extra run or two in a 6-2 game, just toss the bat near the bat boy, waltz around the bases graciously and don’t show up your opponent, please, or else I’ll blog you to death, mostly because I can’t stand 24 hours of ESPN talking about it.

Miguel Cabrera: On the Decline? (By: Matthew Lessard)

During his 12 year career, Miguel Cabrera has established himself as one of the games premier hitters and consummate professionals.  His Triple Crown performance back in 2012 was the first of its kind since Red Sox legend Carl Yastrzemski accomplished the feat back in 1967.  Along with the triple crown, Cabrera has amassed many other laudable accomplishments during his Major League career.  These honors include, 9 All-Star Game Appearances, 5 Silver Sluggers, and 2 league MVPs.  However, upon statistical analysis for this current season, I noticed a decline in the majority of offensive categories for the heralded hitter.  Thus, I dedicate this next post to discussing the possibility of Miguel Cabrera beginning his career decline.

I know what the majority of you may be thinking right now, that I am insane for making this conjecture.  For the 31 year-old slugger, just started at first base for the American League during the 2014 All Star game.  He also leads the league with 81 RBIs thus far in this 2014 MLB campaign.  However, I will provide analysis to strengthen my argument and hopefully sway some of the skeptics.     I personally believe that Cabrera should not have been the starter for the American League this year during the All-Star Game.  Also, upon my statistical analysis, I came to the conclusion that Miguel Cabrera only ranks fifth in my 2014 MLB First Baseman Power Rankings.

Let me now begin with the analysis.  The two main statistics, which I considered for the majority of the analysis were Wins Above Replacement (WAR) and my own statistical creation, Individual Offensive Rating (IOR).  If you are unsure of what exactly either of these statistics are, please reference my earlier posts, where they are explained.  The best piece to reference would be The 2014 MLB All-Star Game (Part 2): A Popularity Contest?.  Not only does this piece contain explications of these statistics, but also it argues and proves why Miguel Cabrera was elected to start the ASG due to popularity, not performance.

Name	IOR	WAR
Alex Avila*	0.409	0.9
Miguel Cabrera	0.464	3.1
Ian Kinsler	0.391	3.6
Andrew Romine#	0.338	-0.1
Nick Castellanos	0.362	-1
Rajai Davis	0.478	1
Austin Jackson	0.403	1.9
Torii Hunter	0.367	-0.7
Victor Martinez#	0.545	2.5
J.D. Martinez	0.450	2.4
Eugenio Suarez	0.429	0.2
Don Kelly*	0.415	-0.3
Bryan Holaday	0.341	-0.2

First, consider Cabrera in comparison with his position player teammates on the Detroit Tigers.  Cabrera leads the team in neither IOR, nor WAR.  This shows me that in terms of the Tigers line-up, Cabrera is neither the best individual offensive performer, nor the most valuable player this year.  Cabrera ranks second in WAR, only behind Ian Kinsler.  However, if Victor Martinez did not primarily play Designated Hitter, he probably would have a greater WAR than Miguel Cabrera.  V-Mart is hands down the Tigers best individual offensive performer this year, with an IOR of .545, 0.081 points greater than Cabrera's.  Sure Cabrera leads the league in RBIs, however, that is a stat that is heavily dependent upon the performance of the other players in the lineup.  With the exception of a home run, a hitter can only record an RBI if one of his teammates is on base.

I understand that the Tigers are in fact one of the best teams in baseball, so I will now compare Cabrera to the other first basemen in Major League Baseball.  First, I would like to put down my MLB 2014 First Baseman Power Rankings, for the top 5 first basemen this year.  The list is as follows:

1) Paul Goldschmidt, Arizona Diamondbacks

2) Anthony Rizzo, Chicago Cubs

3) Edwin Encarnacion, Toronto Blue Jays

4) Jose Abreu, Chicago White Sox

5) Miguel Cabrera, Detroit Tigers

As you can see in the preceding list, Miguel Cabrera is only ranked fifth.  To statistically validate these rankings, I will provide a chart similar to the one above, which I made for the Tigers.  This list is composed of 24 of the primary First Basemen in the MLB.

Name	IOR	WAR
Albert Pujols	0.438	2.4
Freddie Freeman*	0.476	2
Eric Hosmer*	0.373	0.3
James Loney*	0.406	0.6
Paul Goldschmidt	0.560	4.4
Miguel Cabrera	0.464	3.1
Adrian Gonzalez*	0.421	1.6
Ryan Howard*	0.409	-0.3
Anthony Rizzo*	0.549	3.4
Jose Abreu	0.486	3.1
Brandon Moss*	0.472	3
Matt Adams*	0.397	2.6
Justin Morneau*	0.411	1.8
Edwin Encarnacion	0.518	3.1
Chris Davis*	0.445	1.3
Lucas Duda*	0.494	2.3
Adam LaRoche*	0.507	1.7
Joe Mauer*	0.416	0.7
Mike Napoli	0.517	2.3
Lonnie Chisenhall*	0.469	1.7
Mark Teixeira#	0.462	1.1
Ike Davis*	0.458	-0.1
Justin Smoak#	0.339	-0.5
Joey Votto*	0.523	1.9

Considering the statistics above, Miguel Cabrera once again does not top either category.  In fact, for IOR, Cabrera ranks 12th and for WAR, he is tied for 3rd.  With the performed analysis, I can say that as of this day, for the 2014 season, Miguel Cabrera is neither the best First Baseman nor hitter in the game.  I believe that either Jose Abreu or Edwin Encarnacion should have started the All-Star Game instead of Cabrera.

In terms of Cabrera being in a career decline, it would appear to be so.  However, with Cabrera being the high caliber player that he is, it would not surprise me to see him rebound either in this year or the next.  To emphasize his decline, I now will provide the WAR and IOR for Cabrera from the 2012 and 2013 seasons.

Year	IOR	WAR
2012	0.545	7.2
2013	0.638	7.5

Cabreras WAR and IOR were significantly higher in the previous two seasons.  I comprehend the fact that the season is only a little over half way done, however his statistics thus far are significantly smaller.  To reiterate, for the 2014 season, Cabrera has a WAR of 3.1 and IOR of just 0.464.

Gold Glove or Gold Bat?

For our next combined piece, we chose to tackle the seemingly controversial, Gold Glove award. Just as with our “True All-Stars” I will be charged with creating an analysis of the National League and Lessard will broach the American League. We will be choosing which statistics and metrics to use independently, without the other knowing so as to possibly give different approaches to our respective sides.

The decision to address this topic was brought on by several conversations condemning the processes designated to choose different awards and honors, namely giving coaches and managers the power over the Gold Glove. Given that most of the “old school” analysts and baseball personnel despise the new metrics and better ways to quantify how a player is valuable, very few of them go beyond their love of the well-known “eye test” that years of scouting has relied on.

Often times you see players with less deserving resumes overtake less popular, defensive minded ones as a result of the offensive bias so rampant in the minds of those who get to vote in the post season awards. As voted by the Managers and Coaches of the league, many more popular stars get the honor of this award despite posting less than stellar defensive numbers. Ozzie Smith was a dazzling exception; a middling offensive talent, his defense was revered by those he shared the field with. A career .262 hitter (peaking at .303); he collected 13 consecutive gold gloves during his career, and an average WAR of 3.5.  Unfortunately, the newer advanced defensive statistics are unavailable for earlier players, but anyone with even a modest awareness of the MLB years past knows the legend of Ozzie’s defensive prowess.

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I will begin this installment by breaking down the players in the National League who are deserving of the Gold Glove at this point in the season. I will mainly be using the advanced metric Defensive Runs Saved (DRS) which allocates a run value to defensive performance. This analysis will occasionally be justified, or undermined by Ultimate Zone Rating (UZR) which takes into account many similar statistics and gives a clearer view of range and fielding ability, in regards to saving runs relative to other players at the same position and how well they field the easy plays and hard plays alike. The abridged version of these statistics' tiers are -15, -10, -5, 0, 5, 10, 15 ranging from awful(-15) to Gold glove Caliber(15) with 0 representing an average fielder. Like all advanced metrics it is suggested we examine multiple years to gain a better perspective, but we’re after the single season, stand out performers not those that compile years of consistency (Sorry Managers and Coaches, your idol worship is lost on me).

The last two years the best examples I can find of players overlooked is Starling Marte and Mark Ellis. Marte tallied a wondrous 20 DRS compared to Gold Glove Winner Carlos Gonzalez, who was in fact 2^nd, with 10 in left field. UZR confirms what DRS already dictated, showing Marte at 10.2 and Gonzalez at 7.1, which was good enough for 3^rd. Marte may have been overlooked for being a second year player, playing beside Andrew McCutchen who undoubtedly makes his life a lot easier, or just because he was yet to achieve the regal status of being a “household name.” Brandon Phillips managed to snag a Gold Glove with only 1 DRS compared to Ellis’ 12, Darwin Barney’s 11, and Neil Walker’s 9 and all played a comparable number of innings. Phillips has been a very popular player in the league and happens to be a very solid defensive second basemen but unfortunately even the other most widely used advanced defensive metric, Ultimate Zone Rating (UZR), places him behind Barney, and in the same general range as Ellis.

With all that said, it’s time to broach this years “favorites” for the award. Come the end of season we’ll undoubtedly reexamine our predictions based on the current numbers and see how reliable the half season sample size was. I’ll do this by starting with the catcher and working our way towards the outfield, entirely ignoring the pitcher, because let’s be honest, aside from an occasional web gem a pitcher better be able to make the throw to first if he comes up with the ball. Last year’s winner will be shown in parentheses with this year’s DRS and UZR. I’ll keep my explanations to the top 3 within a reasonable range of total innings. In the words of Patton Oswalt, “I’m drunk, here we go!”

Catcher (DRS Only) – Jonathan Lucroy, Brewers – 6 (Yadier Molina, Cardinals – 4)

So far this year Lucroy has amassed a DRS of 6 compared to Molina’s 4. The only outlier here is Russell Martin with 8 DRS but I chose to slight him for now given that he has nearly 250 less innings than Lucroy and just over 200 less than Molina. For catcher’s UZR isn't computable and DRS is less reliable than other positions because it doesn't take into account game-calling but given the reputations of these top 3, it’s obvious it’s got something right in it’s make up. Martin and Molina are both well known for their value to pitching staffs and given this is only Lucroy’s 2^nd full season in the majors, he still has time to gain that reputation. I’m predicting Lucroy continues to stay at the top, especially with Molina on the shelf for the foreseeable future, and given Martin’s offensive woes he will undoubtedly be overlooked in favor of the more exciting Lucroy, especially if the defense is even remotely close.

1^st Base (DRS/UZR) – Adrian Gonzalez, Dodgers – 7/4.4 (Paul Goldschmidt, Diamondbacks – 0/-2.2)

Currently Yonder Alonso and Matt Adams sit at 8 DRS and 2.5/3.5 UZR respectively, which would put them in the conversation if they were closer to Gonzalez as far as innings but they aren’t, at least for now. Gonzalez has played 827 innings this season, Morneau has posted 4/3.1 in 728 innings, and Rizzo 2/2.7 in 853. Gonzalez has always been known for his defensive acumen and this year is no different. Considering LA is one of several teams slated to go deep into October which will only bolster Gonzalez’ case with both Rizzo and Morneau likely to be irrelevant come September. Goldschmidt is unlikely to remain so far below others at this position given he scored 13/5.4 last season, but I believe he will remain on the outside looking in especially if the voters want to keep him from uniting the Silver Slugger with the Gold Glove. In any case, Adrian Gonzalez should remain atop the ranks throughout the season but look for Rizzo to be in this conversation given the breakout he’s having this year.

2^nd Base – DJ LeMahieu, Rockies – 12/8 (Brandon Phillips, Reds – 3/4.5)

LeMahieu sat atop the DRS leader board last year but only played a partial season, this year having played 711 innings for Colorado he is in a much better position to be considered and currently has a decisive lead. Darwin Barney and Mark Ellis are again atop the leader board but have played far fewer innings than typical day to day players. Also worthy of consideration are Chase Utley (3/4.6) and Brandon Phillips but they’re numbers pale in comparison to what LeMahieu has done so far this year. It’s likely you’ll see Utley take the award given how well known he is and the likelihood the gap will close enough to justify it. LeMahieu has a small sample size for these specific metrics, which will likely be ignored by the voting base anyway, but it’s impressive to say the least. I’m going to pick this to be the position most likely to be gift wrapped for an aging veteran to take over the up and comer.

Shortstop – Zack Cozart, Reds – 17/11.3 (Andrelton Simmons Braves – 9/7.2)

Andrelton had one of the best defensive seasons in the history of baseball last year (Posting 43/24.6 in each statistic respectively), this year he has fallen back to earth and currently sits 3^rd in DRS. Cozart was top 10 in both metrics last year and currently is having a career year defensively for the Reds, another great candidate to lose the award due to poor offensive performance, if he continues the season in such a manner he should be the undeniable favorite come season’s end. Also in consideration Jhonny Peralta has a 15/8.7 line and Tulo sits at 9/3.5 which are both very respectable but given that the managers tend to favor past winners, Simmons is the most likely to beat out Cozart.

3^rd Base – Pablo Sandoval, Giants – 10/3.8 (Nolan Arenado, Rockies – 9/7.3)

Sandoval has had a great year. After a slow start offensively he’s currently a top 3^rd baseman. Arenado started the year on fire both offensively and defensively and the unfortunate injury has put him 300 innings behind Sandoval. Other considerations at 3^rd are David Wright (7/-1.1), Martin Prado (6/2.6), and Matt Carpenter (5/5.9). Given that Carpenter has the most consistent numbers in both statistics I will put him as the likely candidate to make a case in the second half for the award. If Arenado makes a strong case in the second half to retain his throne, it’s hard to bet against him, but I think this might be Kung-Fu Panda’s year and who can argue against a guy doing it on both sides of the ball for a team primed for a title run.

Right Field – Jason Heyward, Braves – 28/20.5 (Gerardo Parra, Diamondbacks – 3/-2.4)

The next right fielder with similar innings is Giancarlo Stanton (7/1.9) but Nate Schierholtz (8/6.8) 2^nd and 3^rd in both metrics respectively with over 200 fewer innings than either Heyward or Stanton. Really this is Heyward’s award, he’ll have to collapse in a major way to give any weight to another candidate and he was even a borderline candidate for the DH slot in our “Real All-Star” blog given his WAR. Parra is above average on one side of the coin but below average in the other so don’t expect him to rise to the level of Heyward or Stanton.

Center Field – Billy Hamilton, Reds – 8/11.6 (Carlos Gomez, Brewers – 2/4.5)

Marcell Ozuna has comparable innings but is below average per UZR and only ahead of Hamilton by 2 in DRS. My opinion given how far above average in both Hamilton is he deserves the nod in his rookie season, that partnered with how game changing his speed on the base paths has been, he’s been a valuable asset to a team currently lacking both Joey Votto and Brandon Phillips. Suprisingly Andrew McCutchen isn’t even a consideration posting -7/-10.4 this season, which I find doubly unsettling than the revelation that Goldschmidt isn’t a top 1^st baseman per defensive metrics. In any case, Billy Hamilton is a fitting nominee to this post and will likely be among the top defensive players in the outfield for years to come.

Left Field – Christian Yelich, Marlins – 6/8.5 (Carlos Gonzalez, Rockies - -5/-3.6)

CarGo has been injured for the better part of this season so we really don’t need to talk about him; Yelich on the other hand is top 6 in innings played at the position while holding down 3^rd and 1^st respectively in the highlighted metrics. Khris Davis is posting a 7/3.3 line in the two metrics of choice but given the UZR he’s posting shows a substantially smaller ranger than Yelich who is a mere run behind him in DRS. Other contenders of note are Marte (6/2.9), Eric Young (3/6.3 in 413 INN), and Seth Smith (3/-1 472 INN) who I’m including as a result of his nomination to my All-Star team. Yelich having been the runner up in my All-Star conversation is clearly more valuable on the defensive side of the ball but is a relative unknown and gets overshadowed in any conversation involving the Marlins due to sharing the outfield with Giancarlo Stanton. Overall, the metrics demonstrate that he has range and significant defensive value on a team that is 22^nd in team ERA at 3.98 so he's had plenty of opportunities to hone his defensive skill set.

It is now my pleasure to break down and provide an in-depth analysis for the American League Gold Glove Winners.  For my analysis of the past American League Gold Glove Winners, I will consider the years of 2011, 2012, and 2013.   Prior to my analysis, I made the conjecture that there is and was significant bias when selecting the Gold Glove winners.  I sincerely believe that some of the most valuable defensive players do not receive the award, due to their sub-par offensive performances.  For my analysis, I will use the statistics of Defensive Wins Above Replacement (dWAR), Fielding Percentage, and in addition, for catchers only, Caught Stealing Percentage.  I understand that the statistic of Fielding Percentage can have some bias and discrepancy due to the variance in opportunities between players.  However, that is why I also elected to use dWAR in my analysis.  The following table breaks down the statistical analysis performed.  Also, I will exclude pitchers from the analysis.

	Position	Winner	Fielding %	Fielding % Leader	Def. War	Def. War Leader	Caught Stealing %	CS % Leader
2013	Catcher	Salvador Perez	0.993	A.J. Pierzynski	2.2	Salvador Perez	42%	Joe Mauer
	First Base	Eric Hosmer	0.994	Justin Morneau	-0.5	Mike Napoli
	Second Base	Dustin Pedroia	0.993	Ben Zobrist	2.2	Dustin Pedroia
	Third Base	Manny Machado	0.973	Manny Machado	4.3	Manny Machado
	Shortstop	J.J. Hardy	0.981	Yunel Escobar	1.9	Elvis Andrus
	Left Field	Alex Gordon	0.995	Michael Brantley	1.2	Alex Gordon
	Center Field	Adam Jones	0.995	Denard Span, Coco Crisp	0.3	Lorenzo Cain
	Right Field	Shane Victorino	0.990	Nick Markakis	2.2	Shane Victorino
2012	Catcher	Matt Wieters	0.991	Jose Molina	1.3	Salvador Perez	39%	Salvador Perez
	First Base	Mark Teixeira	0.999	Mark Teixeira	1	Mark Teixeira
	Second Base	Robinson Cano	0.992	Dustin Pedroia	1.9	Robinson Cano
	Third Base	Adrian Beltre	0.974	Adrian Beltre	1.4	Brett Lawrie
	Shortstop	J.J. Hardy	0.992	J.J. Hardy	2.7	Brendan Ryan
	Left Field	Alex Gordon	0.994	Desmond Jennings	1.9	Desmond Jennings
	Center Field	Adam Jones	0.982	Craig Gentry, Curtis Granderson	-1.3	Denard Span
	Right Field	Josh Reddick	0.982	Ichiro Suzuki	1.3	Josh Reddick
2011	Catcher	Matt Wieters	0.995	A.J. Pierzynski	2.7	Matt Wieters	37%	Kelly Shopach
	First Base	Adrian Gonzalez	0.997	Casey Kotchman	0.3	Adrian Gonalez
	Second Base	Dustin Pedroia	0.990	Dustin Pedroia	2.3	Ben Zobrist
	Third Base	Adrian Beltre	0.965	Kevin Youkilis	1.5	Evan Longoria
	Shortstop	Erick Aybar	0.980	J.J Hardy	0.7	Brendan Ryan
	Left Field	Alex Gordon	0.991	Alex Gordon	1.3	Brett Gardner
	Center Field	Jacoby Ellsbury	1.000	Jacoby Ellsbury	1.1	Austin Jackson
	Right Field	Nick Markakis	1.000	Nick Markakis	-0.4	Josh Reddick

I want to begin my analysis with the 2011 winners.  As you can see, the only two winners, who actually led the league in dWAR, for their respective positions, were Adrian Gonzalez and Matt Wieters.  In terms of Fielding Percentage for the winners,  only three winners led the league.  These players being Dustin Pedroia, Jacoby Ellsbury, and Nick Markakis.  However, for an outfielder it is much easier to maintain a higher fielding percentage, so I am heavily leaning on dWAR for my analysis.  Of these winners, the only ones who truly deserved the award, statistically speaking are Matt Wieters, Adrian Gonzalez, Dustin Pedroia, and possibly Jacoby Ellsbury.  I say possibly to Jacoby Ellsbury deserving the award because anyone who has ever watched Ellsbury play knows that he has the arm of your average college player.  Arm strength and accuracy (depicted somewhat through the stats of Assists and Fielding Percentage) are very important for outfield positions and should be taken into account when considering candidates for the award.  The largest snub in my opinion was with Brendan Ryan, who toted a laudable 2.6 dWAR, which is truly incredible.  However, on the season, Ryan only amassed a mere .248 batting average in combination with below average power numbers, which should not have impacted the results, but I am inclined to believe they did.

For 2012, the statistical analysis and results were not much different.  Of the winners, three actually led the league in terms of dWAR, for their respective positions.  They were Mark Teixeira, Robinson Cano, and Josh Reddick.  Then again, for fielding percentage, only three winners led the league.  They were Mark Teixeira, Adrian Beltre, and J.J. Hardy.  Of these winners, the ones who truly deserved the award, were Mark Teixeira, Robinson Cano, Adrian Beltre, and Josh Reddick.  Once again, Brendan Ryan was one of the most cheated players for the award.  Ryan put forth an even higher dWAR than in 2011, totaling at 3.6.  In terms of dWAR, even the greatest players would struggle to put up a figure like that.  Also, pretty much every other Center Fielder got snubbed.  The winner, Adam Jones, had a dWAR of -1.3 and Fielding Percentage of 0.982, both of which are not great figures.  Again, the selection committee had some sort of unjust, offensive bias towards the other players resulting in Jones receiving the award.

Lastly, I evaluated the winners from last season and there was some improvement in terms of the selections.  Five of the winners in 2013 led the league in dWAR for their respective positions.  However, only one of the winners led the league in terms of fielding percentage, this being Manny Machado.  This was the best year in terms of legitimate winners, for five of them truly deserved it.  These players being Salvador Perez, Dustin Pedroia, Manny Machado, Alex Gordon, and Shane Victorino.  In fact, Manny Machado put forth debatably one of the greatest defensive seasons for a third baseman, especially in statistical terms.  His 4.6 dWAR is pretty much untouchable, seeing as the majority of players struggle to reach an overall WAR of 3.0.  Biggest snubs for the 2013 season include various first basemen and center fielders.

The following chart contains a statistical summary of the aforementioned material.

Year	% of Winners with Best dWAR	% of Winners with Best Fielding %	Best CS
2013	62.5%	12.5%	No
2012	37.5%	37.5%	No
2011	25.0%	37.5%	No

Examining the chart above, you can see that of the Gold Glove winners during the previous three seasons, on average, did not really hold the best defensive statistics.  The only respectable statistic above was from the 2013 season, when 62.5% of the winners were leaders for their position at dWAR.  In the past three years, a catcher who lead the league in Caught Stealing percentage never won a Gold Glove.  I feel as if the ability to throw out base runners is an integral component of a catcher's defensive game.  With consideration of the data above, I am convinced the award selection committee (comprised of managers and coaches) does not truly consider the most valuable defensive players and has some sort of popularity or offensive bias.

Lastly, I will provide a statistical analysis for the 2014 season thus far and provide my insight on who the true winners should be, as of this date.

	Position	Def. War Leader	Fielding % Leader	CS % Leader
2014	Catcher	Salvador Perez	Ryan Hannigan, Chris Ianetta	Caleb Joseph
	First Base	Chris Davis	Chris Davis
	Second Base	Dustin Pedroia	Dustin Pedroia
	Third Base	Josh Donaldson	David Freese
	Shortstop	J.J. Hardy	Erick Aybar
	Left Field	Alex Gordon	Dustin Ackley, Michael Brantley, Brett Gardner
	Center Field	Lorenzo Cain, Jackie Bradley Jr.	Jackie Bradley Jr., Desmond Jennings
	Right Field	Collin Cowgill	Nick Markakis, Ichiro Suzuki

Considering the information above, I firmly believe that any of these players, for their respective positions would be deserving candidates.  However, there are a couple of exceptions to that statement, due to lack of playing time such as Collin Cowgill and Caleb Joseph.  With that being said, due to the unknown bias of the selection committee, the deserving players who I could see being snubbed include Ryan Hannigan, David Freese, Dustin Ackley, Jackie Bradley Jr., and Lorenzo Cain. As I stated above, the Gold Glove selections for some reason seem to have an offensive and popularity influence and unfortunately these players do not have the offensive numbers and/or popularity to win this award.  Bradley Jr., if he does not win the award like I assume, will be one of the most cheated players for this award.  His defense abilities are among some of the greatest in the game, in terms of the center field position.  However, his lack of offensive numbers will unjustly sway the voters away from him.

With my belief of an offensive influence behind the selection of the Gold Glove Winners, I sought to find statistical evidence that would corroborate my hunch.  Thus, I decided to record the batting average of all of the winners for the 2011-2013 seasons.  The data is as follows:

	Position	Winner	B.A.
2013	Catcher	Salvador Perez	0.292
	First Base	Eric Hosmer	0.302
	Second Base	Dustin Pedroia	0.301
	Third Base	Manny Machado	0.283
	Shortstop	J.J. Hardy	0.263
	Left Field	Alex Gordon	0.265
	Center Field	Adam Jones	0.285
	Right Field	Shane Victorino	0.294
	Overall		0.286
2012	Catcher	Matt Wieters	0.249
	First Base	Mark Teixeira	0.251
	Second Base	Robinson Cano	0.313
	Third Base	Adrian Beltre	0.321
	Shortstop	J.J. Hardy	0.238
	Left Field	Alex Gordon	0.294
	Center Field	Adam Jones	0.287
	Right Field	Josh Reddick	0.242
	Overall		0.274
2011	Catcher	Matt Wieters	0.262
	First Base	Adrian Gonzalez	0.338
	Second Base	Dustin Pedroia	0.307
	Third Base	Adrian Beltre	0.296
	Shortstop	Erick Aybar	0.279
	Left Field	Alex Gordon	0.303
	Center Field	Jacoby Ellsbury	0.321
	Right Field	Nick Markakis	0.284
	Overall		0.299

Looking at the averages of all the winners batting averages, one can discern that all of these numbers are very good.  In 2011, this average batting average reached 0.299, which is well above the league average.  I tried to look for any anomalies, however all of these winners put forth above average to superior offensive numbers.  You can try to make the argument for J.J. Hardy and Josh Reddick, whose averages were not great.  However, both Reddick and Hardy accumulated great power numbers, especially in 2012, when Hardy hit 22 home runs and Reddick hit 32 home runs.  With the consideration of these significant offensive numbers, I am inclined to believe that in fact offensive performance has some influence.  Not one of these players had a sub-par offensive season, which is fine, however an overwhelming majority of these players did not record the greatest defensive statistics for their respective positions.

Overall, despite the varying forms of statistical analyses for defensive performances implemented by myself and Adam, we once again reached a general consensus.  This agreement being that, in fact, there is an offensive/ popularity bias, taken into account when choosing the Gold Glove winners.  Thus, a majority of the more deserving players, due to their poor offensive performances and/or lack of popularity, get cheated.  We hope that this article helped illuminate or strengthen any prior opinions you may have had regarding this award.