Derek Jeter won a Gold Glove award on Tuesday joining two teammates, first baseman Mark Teixeria and second 
baseman Robinson Cano. Many are questioning this award going to the All-Star shortstop who is in negotiations with the Yankees for a new contract.
Jeter, 36 years old, is a shortstop without another natural position to play and with a hitting percentage that declined this year.
ESPN.com New York writer Wallace Matthews suggested that if you use traditional stat measurements then Jeter should win the award.
For those that opt to include how many balls he booted or couldn’t catch up to on a weekly basis because of that limited range, Jeter ranks near the bottom in the MLB at his position.
As Sports Climax MLB writer Brett Kettyle explained, “Jeter may be the player that stands out most as an undeserving winner. He 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.”
Since the award is determined by calculating votes by coaches and managers of MLB teams, there would be no reason to think a fix was in. Will the hardware add a little icing on the cake in the form of a million or two per year, or get him a longer term deal? Probably not since all it does is balance out the batting average that dipped last season after his impressive year in 2009.
Jeter knows he can’t go anywhere else, he’s a Yankee forever and he should be. The Yankeess aren’t ready to face the disdain of fans if Jeter isn’t on the field on Opening Day 2011.
Used with permission of the author.
Paula Duffy is a national sports columnist for Examiner.com and the Huffington Post and regularly comments on sports/legal matters for radio affiliates of ESPN and Fox Sports. She founded the sports information site, Incidental Contact, is the author of a line of audio books designed for sports novices and in her spare time practices law in Los Angeles.
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