Major League Baseball recently announced the winners of the Gold Glove Awards, which are presented to the best fielder in each league at each position. The Gold Glove Award has been around since 1957, but is often subject to some debate. While most people know that Josh Hamilton led the league in batting average, not many could tell you who led second basemen in UZR.

As with years past, there are many repeat winners, along with some first timers. As always, some of the choices are more questionable than others.

Without further ado, this year’s award winners (number of Gold Gloves in parenthesis):

Catcher:

Joe Mauer – Minnesota Twins (3)

Yadier Molina – St. Louis Cardinals (3)

It’s hard to argue with the choice of Molina. He led the majors in caught stealing percentage and had the highest zone rating of any National League catcher. Mauer on the other hand, may be a little undeserving. Matt Weiters allowed fewer past balls, caught a higher percentage of runners stealing and finished just below Mauer in zone rating.

First Base:

Mark Teixeria – New York Yankees (4)

Albert Pujols – St. Louis Cardinals (2)

We are at the second position and I already have problems with both choices. Tex was a terrible choice, as he actually had a negative UZR (ultimate zone rating) (-2.9) on the season. Although Pujols was alright (1.1 UZR), there were better choices available in the NL as well. The two guys who should have won, who far and away led their leagues in UZR, were Daric Barton (12.1) and Ike Davis (10.1). Adam LaRoche was the only other first baseman above 5 in UZR.

Second Base

Robinson Cano – New York Yankees (1)

Brandon Phillips – Cincinnati Reds (2)

Phillips is a deserving winner, even if Chase Utley had a slightly higher UZR (10.3 to 9.7). Although UZR is probably the best fielding metric around, it’s not perfect, so I won’t have any problems when fielders are that close. It’s similar to MVP voting, in that you can’t pick solely on stats, but you should be able to eliminate a large amount of players. Cano on the other hand, has no business winning this award with a -0.6 UZR. Mark Ellis (9.9) and Orlando Hudson (9.8) would have been much more deserving candidates.

Third Base

Evan Longoria – Tampa Bay Rays (2)

Scott Rolen – Cincinnati Reds (8)

Both Longoria and Rolen had fantastic seasons (11.1 and 10.6 UZR, respectively) so it’s hard to find fault with the voters’ choices. If we went strictly by the numbers, the awards would be going to Kevin Kouzmanoff (16.1) in the AL and Chase Headley (16.5) in the NL.

Shortstop

Derek Jeter – New York Yankees (5)

Troy Tulowitski – Colorado Rockies (1)

Jeter may be the player that stands out most as an undeserving winner. While a player like Teixeira has proven in the past he is a good defender, Jeter has exactly one season (2009) in the past eight years in which he had a positive UZR. This year, he ranked seventh (out of ten) in UZR among all AL qualified shortstops. Alexei Ramirez (10.8) or Cliff Pennington (9.9) would have been much more deserving. Tulowitski wasn’t the most deserving fielder in the NL (that would be Brendan Ryan, with a UZR of 11.5) but he at least was a better than average defender on the year (7.1 UZR).

Outfield

Ichiro Suzuki – Seattle Mariners (10)

Carl Crawford – Tampa Bay Rays (1)

Franklin Gutierrez – Seattle Mariners (1)

Michael Bourn – Houston Astros (2)

Shane Victorino – Philadelphia Phillies (3)

Carlos Gonzalez – Colorado Rockies (1)

Ichiro now trails only Roberto Clemente and Willie Mays (12 each) in Gold Gloves among outfielders. Both he and Carl Crawford deserved the award, as they were among the top 3 in UZR in the American League. Gutierrez is a good centerfielder (7.3 UZR) but Brett Gardner would have been a much better choice, as he led the Major Leagues in UZR this past year with a rating of 21.9.

In the National League, Michael Bourn is the only deserving player. Shane Victorino had a rather average year defensively (2.6 UZR) and Carlos Gonzalez cost his team runs in the field (-2.7 UZR). Andres Torres and Jay Bruce, the NL’s top two in UZR would have been more deserving candidates. Bourn was third in the NL.

Pitcher

Mark Buehrle – Chicago White Sox (2)

Bronson Arroyo – Cincinnati Reds (1)

It’s hard to make a case for or against pitchers, as they don’t have large enough sample sizes to reliable calculate UZR or many other defensive metrics. A case can be made for Buehrle, as he led the league in pick-offs. Arroyo wasn’t among the league leaders in pick-offs, stolen bases allowed or UZR. Arroyo’s teammate, Johnny Cueto, was in the NL top 5 in pickoffs and allowed just one stolen base all year.

All in all, it was another year of the same for the Gold Glove. While some deserving players got the recognition they deserved, fielding is still in the back of most people’s minds, leaving some players to get awarded for good offensive seasons (Carlos Gonzalez) or because of their name recognition (Derek Jeter).

Used with permission of the author.

Along with contributing to Sports Climax, Brett Kettyle is the Atlanta Braves Community Leader on Bleacher Report and maintains a Braves column for MTR Media. Follow Brett on Twitter.

Copyright ©2010 Sports Climax, LLC

In the turbulent economic times of today with few professions being safe from financial challenge, the top American athletes continue to find guaranteed financial success.

While the economy dips, the average salary of the top 50 highest-earning American athletes shows an increase of 11 percent from the 2009 average with an unprecedented $26.2 million.  Not only guaranteed of the salary agreed to in the terms of their contracts, today’s athletes are raking it in for various endorsements deals.

Golf actually topped the list with the top two American athletes in terms of overall earnings are golfers Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson.  Despite the recent troubles Tiger Woods has faced, as well as the loss of several endorsements, he still leads the way as the highest paid American athlete at over $90 million dollars.  Woods also remains the leader in endorsements at $70 million.

At nearly $30 million behind fellow golfer Tiger Woods sits Phil Mickelson at a total of over $61 million in earnings.  Mickleson is second in endorsements as well at $52 million.  Woods and Mickleson represent the only two members of the PGA on the list.

Surprisingly, the NHL is not represented on the list and the only boxer listed is Floyd Mayweather coming in third at just over $60 million.  Mayweather was not listed last year but the earnings from two successful fights propelled him near the top.

While racing is represented on the list, it is only represented by NASCAR with three competitors receiving mention.  Of those, Dale Earnhardt Jr. was highest at 16th.  Each of the NASCAR drivers were alike in that the endorsements they received outweighed their salary and winnings by millions.  Coincidentally, all three are currently under contract to Hendrick Motorsports with the other two NASCAR representatives, in order of earnings, being Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson.

The NBA had the most athletes on the list at 16.  Not surprisingly, the league leader in terms of earnings was LeBron James at 4th.  Of the nearly $46 million James received in earnings, $30 million came as endorsements.  James’ new teammate Dwyane Wade landed 10th on the list at nearly $28 million in earnings.  The majority of Wade’s earnings came from his salary and winnings.  The other new resident of South Beach, Chris Bosh, is not currently on the list.

The NFL was the second most represented league with a total of 15 representatives.  Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning led the way at 9th.  Of the nearly $31 million earned by Manning the split between salary and winnings along with endorsements was almost even.

The second representative of the NFL was Matthew Stafford at 11th.  Nearly all of the almost $28 million Stafford earned came from his record breaking contract following the 2009 NFL Draft.  Stafford received less than $1 million in endorsements.

MLB players occupied 13 spots on the list.  Of these, five were members of the New York Yankees with the top MLB representative Alex Rodriguez coming in at 5th with $37 million as he looks to hit his 600th career home run in the near future.

The Boston Red Sox represented three spots on the list while the Toronto Blue Jays held one which may mean, in terms of salary, the ultra-competitive AL East appears to be the place a free agent looking for a big payday might wish to land.  Between New York, Boston and Toronto, the division held nine of the MLB’s thirteen representatives.

The MLB also held the final spot on the list.  New York Yankees starting pitcher A.J. Burnett was listed as 50th at a total of just under $17 million.  Nearly all of Burnett’s earnings were due to his salary.

The list appears certain to change.  For instance, popular Yankee Derek Jeter is currently 8th on the list but may be destined to climb higher as his contract ends and negotiations are likely to guarantee a pay increase.  Though not currently on the list, one might estimate that the recent deals of Joe Mauer and the soon to be on-the-market Prince Fielder will be propelled into the top 50.

The average of $26.2 million among the top 50 seems like an amount that is meant to be overshadowed with these and many new deals looming.  As sports in the major four professional organizations seems to be more competitive than ever with late season pushes into the playoffs and ratings at all time highs one can safely assume that these deals are only likely to continue as markets fight to place a winning product onto their fields.

Used with permission of the author.

Cade Caldwell is an Atlanta-based sportswriter and contributor to Sports Climax.

Copyright ©2010 Sports Climax, LLC

The Minnesota Twins have signed catcher and local Joe Mauer to a massive eight year, $184 million contract, which includes a full no-trade clause. The contract is the fourth largest in Major League Baseball history in both value and average salary.

Mauer, who was entering the final year of his current contract with the Twins, got the new new deal that will cover him through the 2018 season, when he will be only 34.

In this final season of his current $33 million, four-year contract, Mauer will earn $12.5 million then under the extension agreed to yesterday, he will earn $23 million in each of the next eight years of his new contract.

Even Mauer’s teammates were impressed with the deal. Twins center fielder Denard Span reportedly tweeting, “184 million for Mauer! Wow.”

Mauer, 26, has won three American League batting titles and was last year’s American League MVP. He is considered one of the best defensive catchers in baseball.

The only contracts bigger than Mauer’s deal are the $275 deal Alex Rodriguez signed with the Yankees in December 2007, the A-Rod $252 deal he signed with Texas in 2000 and a $189 deal signed by Derek Jeter in 2001 with the Yankees. Roger Clemens’ $28,000 prorated deal in 2007 with the Yankees in which he actually received $17, 443, and the $25.2 million Rodriguez deal with Texas are the only two higher average salaries than Mauer’s. CC Sabathia, now with the Yankees, also has an average salary of $23 million.

This signing makes Mauer the highest-paid catcher, surpassing Jorge Posada’s four year $52.4 million with the Yankees.

Mauer was the Twins’ No. 1 overall pick in 2001. After sitting out the first month of last season, he hit 28 home runs and had 96 RBIs, helping propel the Twins in the AL Central Division champs.

A press conference will be held at the Twins spring training facility in Fort Myers, Florida, at 7pm this evening.

In addition to writing her Chicago Cubs column for Examiner.com, Miriam Romain has been published in several Cubs annuals by Maple Street Press and is a contributor to SportsClimax.com . She is also writing a book with the working title “Summers at Wrigley with my Dad.”

Copyright ©2010 Sports Climax™

ST. LOUIS – All the hype and speculation surrounding Matt Holliday’s destination since hitting the MLB free agent market can come to a close.

The 29-year-old slugger signed a 7 year, $120 million deal with the St. Louis Cardinals, the same team he played for at the end of last season.

“Well, I think first of all going into free agency I had in the back of my mind that I really liked my time in St. Louis and felt it was a good fit for me and my family,” Holliday said when interviewed on a Tuesday ESPN radio show. “At the end of the day we decided that was best for us.”

Holliday, a three-time All Star, joined the Cardinals from Oakland last July and batted .353, sent 13 over the wall and batted in 55 runs in 63 games for St. Louis.

Holliday pulled a bonehead Charlie Brown move during last year’s playoffs when he dropped a routine liner to left field that would have been the final out of Game 2. Instead, his error kept a Dodger rally alive and allowed the Dodgers to coast to a three-game sweep.

Holliday believes his chances of getting to the World Series with the Cardinals is as great as going anywhere else. “Obviously, with Albert Pujols on the team you have a great opportunity to have a great team,” said Holliday. “Albert is the best player in the history of baseball in my mind. Hopefully between the two of us we can help do our part to win a World Series.”

Holliday also reflected on the size of his new contract. “When you’re a little kid growing up hoping to be a professional baseball player and hoping to play in the major leagues, I don’t think you ever think about the money,” Holliday said. “Now that you look at it, it’s a little overwhelming.”

With Pujols also playing with an active contract over $100 million, the Cardinals become only the third team in Major League Baseball to invest in two $100 million players.

The New York Mets’ Johan Santana and Carlos Beltran are $100 million guys and the New York Yankees have four; Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, Mark Teixeira and C.C. Sabathia.

Copyright © 2010 – Sports Climax

NEW YORK – Derek Jeter staked a claim in New York Yankee history Friday night when he passed Bronx great Lou  Gehrig’s team record for most hits.

After a rain delay, Jeter provided the Yankee fans with what they came out to see when he singled off Orioles’ pitcher Chris Tillman in the third inning.

It was hit 2,722 for the Yankee infielder, beating Gehrig’s record that had survived seven decades.

After breaking the record, Jeter said, “The whole experience has been overwhelming. This is more than I could’ve imagined.”

Jeter was appreciative of the dedication of the fans to stick it out on a stormy night. “I didn’t expect that many people to be out there after the rain delay considering how hard it was raining when we started the game but the fans were incredible,” said Jeter.

“It says a lot about how they feel about their team and more importantly how they feel about the history of their team. I appreciate each and every one that was there.”

Yankee teammate Jorge Posada believes there’s a lot more to come from Jeter. “He’s going to be the only Yankee to ever hit 3,000 hits,” said Posada. “[With] all the players that came through here, he’s going to be the only one with 3,000 hits. He’s a special guy.”

Copyright © 2009 – Sports Climax