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As the MLB free-agent market continues to play out, shortstop Alexei Ramirez finds himself starting to generate interest from clubs.   

Per Ken Rosenthal of FoxSports.com, citing Bruce Levine of 670 The Score in Chicago, the San Diego Padres are “still talking” with Ramirez about a possible deal. 

Continue for updates. 

Examining Ramirez’s Market

Friday, Jan. 8

Ramirez’s name has been floated around a few times this offseason, though nothing has come of it thus far.

Levine reported on Dec. 28 the Chicago White Sox had not “completely closed the door” on bringing Ramirez back for a ninth season after they already acquired infielders Todd Frazier and Brett Lawrie in separate trades. 

Ramirez became a free agent after the White Sox declined his $10 million option in November 2015. Levine did note most insiders felt the White Sox were likely to invest whatever money they had left in upgrading their outfield.

The Padres are in need of an upgrade at shortstop. Alexi Amarista played 118 games for the team in 2015, hitting a dismal .204/.257/.287 and had the worst FanGraphs‘ wins above replacement (minus-0.8) among shortstops with at least 300 plate appearances. 

Ramirez was actually the second-worst shortstop in terms of FanGraphs’ WAR (minus-0.5), yet he still managed to be a superior offensive performer compared to Amarista (.249/.285/.357).

His defense is in decline, which has cost the White Sox 10 runs at shortstop combined over the last two seasons, but the offensive upgrade over Amarista could make him a worthwhile risk for the Padres. 

Stats per FanGraphs.com.

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Sifting through the 2015-2016 MLB free-agent market, there’s just no one quite like Bartolo Colon.

Simply put, the right-hander is an ageless wonder.

Even with his 43rd birthday looming in May, Colon is still a viable free-agent option for a club that is aiming to round out its rotation. And, Colon isn’t the only big league vet who proved in 2015 that his tank isn’t empty just yet.

On the list that follows, there’s also room for a couple of position players who are primed for rebounds in 2016 and a couple of relievers who put together stunning comebacks during the season that was.

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Shortstop Alexei Ramirez has spent his entire career with the Chicago White Sox, but that may soon change, as the team declined to pick up his contract option Wednesday.

According to the team’s official Twitter account, it instead opted to exercise a $1 million buyout, thus making the Cuban veteran a free agent.

Per Colleen Kane of the Chicago Tribune, it would have cost the White Sox $10 million to pick up the option and retain the 34-year-old star for 2016.

Ramirez has long been the subject of trade rumors, and while it seemed as though the Sox might move him during the 2015 season with his contract set to expire, they decided to hang on to him.

That suggested they had plans to pick up his option, but they ultimately went in another direction. While Ramirez could still re-sign with Chicago, it appears as though the White Sox are on the verge of letting him walk with nothing coming back in return.

Although Ramirez has been a solid contributor for the White Sox over the years, the organization’s decision-makers may have been influenced by his inconsistent 2015 season, as he hit a career-worst .249 with 10 home runs and 62 RBI after making the All-Star Game in 2014.

Ramirez almost didn’t make it to 2015 as a member of Chicago’s roster, as there were rumblings regarding an offseason trade. Had one occurred, the former All-Star shortstop claimed he was ready to pack his bags, per White Sox broadcaster Hector Molina (via MLB.com’s Scott Merkin).

“It was OK for me. I was motivated because there were four to five teams interested in me. I was getting ready and prepared for what was coming. But it doesn’t bother me—something that’s out of my control. It’s part of the business, but I was ready for it.”

The White Sox held on to Ramirez for the time being, but they may have simply delayed the inevitable now that his option hasn’t been picked up.

He has been an extremely valuable and versatile player since entering the league both at the plate and in the field. He’s clubbed 15 or more home runs in a season five times, and he has stolen 20 or more bases three times. He also flashed his glove, with a positive defensive runs saved above average number on five occasions, per Baseball-Reference.com.

While Ramirez is approaching his mid-30s, he hadn’t shown many signs of slowing down until this past season. There is risk involved with letting him go, but it makes sense for a White Sox team that needs a youth movement in order to reach the next level.

Ramirez has been vital to Chicago’s success since entering the league in 2008; however, a potential change of scenery may be precisely what he needs in order to get back on track in 2016 and beyond.

Follow @MikeChiari on Twitter.

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The second the Los Angeles Dodgers hired Andrew Friedman as their president of baseball operations and jettisoned former general manager Ned Colletti into a role untied to player personnel, the team was without a shortstop for 2015. 

The new front-office regime wanted nothing to do with Hanley Ramirez, the team’s full-time shortstop the previous two seasons, and allowed him to walk in free agency. While it wasn’t probable that Colletti would have pursued Ramirez as a shortstop, it certainly wasn’t out of the question.

What is certain as of now is that Ramirez is with the Boston Red Sox, and the Dodgers are without a shortstop they are comfortable with going into next spring. The in-house options are steady defensively but have nowhere close to the offense Ramirez provided, which means if the Dodgers want more than a glove at the position, they will have to explore trade options.

The top target is Chicago White Sox shortstop Alexei Ramirez, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today Sports.

The #Dodgers are aggressively pursuing #Whitesox shortstop Alexei Ramirez in trade talks.

— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) November 18, 2014

Corey Seager is a shortstop and one of the Dodgers’ top prospects. Between Single-A Rancho Cucamonga and Double-A Chattanooga, Seager hit a gaudy .349/.402/.602 with a 1.004 OPS and was deemed one of the team’s untouchables in trade talks last July. But Seager is 20 and won’t be ready for the big leagues for at least one more season, and that is assuming he will stay at shortstop. He is 6’4″, and while the front office is going to allow him to play the position for now, that’s no promise he will stick there long term.

Until Seager is ready, the Dodgers have to fill the need. Ramirez would fit the role nicely.

Ramirez is 33 years old and an average hitter with medium pop—.273/.305/.408 with a .713 OPS, 15 home runs and a 101 OPS-plus—and while he isn’t an elite defender, he would be an upgrade from Hanley Ramirez. Also appealing is that Alexei Ramirez has played 158 games in each of the previous four seasons, a long way from Hanley Ramirez’s seemingly day-to-day availability.

Alexei Ramirez is owed $10 million next season and has a $10 million club option for 2016 with a $1 million buyout. That means his deal would be up right around the time the Dodgers would be ready to bring up Seager.

The monetary price is not an issue for the flush Dodger organization, but the price in players is high. Aside from winning at the major league level, one of the Dodgers’ stated goals is to replenish the farm system so they don’t have to rely on gargantuan payrolls year after year.

The White Sox are said to not be shopping Ramirez, but they are willing to listen to offers. The catch is that any trade involving Ramirez is going to call for some high-end prospects in return.

Rival evaluators say the White Sox asking price on Alexei Ramirez is steep, to the degree that you’d want to be buying in for 2-3 years.

— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) November 21, 2014

Part of the reason for the high price is that the White Sox are not actively shopping Ramirez, and trading him would put them in a similar bind as the Dodgers. If they move Ramirez, the White Sox would then immediately be in the market for a shortstop since their top prospect at the position, Tim Anderson, is still at least two years away from the majors.

The only way the White Sox would want to put themselves in that market is if they got a strong return for Ramirez.

“We are certainly open minded on all of our players,” White Sox general manager Rick Hahn told Doug Padilla of ESPNChicago.com without addressing Ramirez specifically. “It’s our obligation to listen. At the same time we have what feel are some very valuable commodities in the game right now and we’re certainly not looking to move any of them without feeling very good that we are not only improving our competitiveness for 2015 but for ’16 and beyond as well.”

While the fit is perfect for the Dodgers as they wait for Seager, trading for Ramirez at that price is unlikely. For the White Sox, moving Ramirez for anything less is pointless. Plus, he is relatively inexpensive, making him appealing to both teams.

That leaves the teams at a stalemate. For now. Friedman and Hahn have a good working relationship, and they may exhaust every avenue to make a deal work before the end of the winter.

It just doesn’t make a lot of sense for either team to pull the trigger at this point.

That means the Dodgers could fish in the free-agent pond and come out with a one- or two-year deal for Jed Lowrie or Stephen Drew. They could also explore different trade opportunities as the Philadelphia Phillies are willing to deal Jimmy Rollins. Rollins has 10-and-5 rights, though, and can veto any trade because he has 10 years in the majors and five with the same team.

Aside from the Dodgers needing to make a trade in their outfield, their shortstop situation is the top priority this offseason. More than likely they will wait out the markets and hope for prices to drop on short-term options. If they don’t and the free-agent pool doesn’t work for them, one of their own guys—Erisbel Arruebarrena, Miguel Rojas and/or Justin Turner—will have to fill the hole.

Until then, the Dodgers will leave the “HELP WANTED” sign on the window and make moves elsewhere.

Anthony Witrado covers Major League Baseball for Bleacher Report. He spent the previous three seasons as the national baseball columnist at Sporting News and four years before that as the Brewers beat writer for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Follow Anthony on Twitter @awitrado and talk baseball here.

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Chicago White Sox All-Star shortstop Alexei Ramirez is reportedly at the center of trade inquiries from at least a few prominent MLB clubs.    

This revelation comes from CBSChicago.com’s Bruce Levine, who offered more details on the high demand regarding the 33-year-old veteran:

The interested teams include the Mets, Yankees and Dodgers. All of these franchises are looking for a reliable shortstop to anchor their infields. The Mets have been the most aggressive in their pursuit of a shortstop over the past 12 months. General manager Sandy Alderson has had his top scouts looking at shortstops such as Ramirez.

Ramirez is a valuable asset in the infield with his strong arm and defensive ability. He also has some pop at the plate, evident in his two Silver Slugger Awards from 2010 and 2014.

The latter of those accolades was just announced Thursday, per ESPNChicago.com’s Doug Padilla:

Despite somewhat advanced age in MLB terms, there is plenty of incentive for a team needing a quality shortstop to attempt to land him in a trade.

Only two years remain on Ramirez’s current contract (h/t Spotrac.com), and he’s owed a rather modest $10 million in salary in each of the next two seasons. Considering how vital of a position shortstop is and Ramirez’s strong 2014 form, the Mets or another team could be looking at a great deal.

Newsday‘s Marc Carig weighed in on the speculation that Ramirez could wind up in a Mets uniform:

The Mets are an intriguing destination, as Ramirez would join an infield that already features seven-time All-Star third baseman David Wright. However, the lure of the Big Apple’s pinstripe powerhouse in the Bronx or the glamor of L.A. may be even more suitable.

Chicago also has to take its future outlook into account after two straight losing seasons before shipping a prized commodity in Ramirez out of town. Selling the fanbase may be difficult if the White Sox trade away Ramirez or any of their other valuable contributors.

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In reality, it only takes one team to overvalue, and, thus, overpay for a player on the trade market. But there’s always a group of players that’s viewed as having a certain value based on certain numbers, reputation and trade-market depth.  

For those reasons, certain players will be overrated, and some team will be taking a risk by acquiring them, even at fair market value.  

Unless the price somehow goes way down in the next 12 days, here are five overrated players whom your team should avoid acquiring before the trade deadline.

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As a way to both identify sleepers and help prepare owners in case they miss a player they were targeting, this is another new series of articles that I am going to be doing on the site. Let me know what you think; if you have any suggestions let me know either here or via e-mail.

With that, let’s get going.

Shortstop is one of the thinner positions for fantasy owners to try and fill in 2011.  There are two premier options then a series of question marks.  One of the mid-level players owners may target is Alexei Ramirez, who has proven that despite a consistent slow start in April, by year’s end his numbers will be more than usable.

For a more in depth look at my thoughts on Ramirez, click here for an article I previously wrote.

The bottom line with Ramirez is while he has shown 20/20 potential, he isn’t quite up to that level.  At 29-years-old (he’ll turn 30 in September), there is a good chance that what we’ve seen is exactly what we are going to get:

• He seems to be about a 20 HR hitter, though there is room for potentially a few more
• He has the potential to score runs, as he’s improved in all three seasons in the Major Leagues and could potentially find a spot in the No. 2 hole of the White Sox lineup (though, a better walk rate would certainly help)
• He doesn’t appear to have great potential on the base paths, as he has been successful on just 40 of 62 attempts over his Major League career
• He is a solid average hitter with a good eye at the plate, but he’s not likely to be a .300 plus hitter

There’s no arguing that, given the lack of true top tier fantasy options, Ramirez is going to be a solid option in all formats.  However, are you willing to use a fifth, sixth or seventh round pick on someone who appears to be around a .280, 20 HR, 15 SB option?

If not, the answer for you is to wait until significantly later in your draft, where a potential steal sits in the Nationals’ Ian Desmond.  In his first full Major League season, he hit .269 with 10 HR, 65 RBI, 59 runs and 17 SB in 525 AB.

At 25-years-old, however, there is certainly room for growth in these numbers.

He’s never shown elite power, so it’s hard to imagine him developing into a 18-24 HR hitter, much like Ramirez currently is.  Still, he hit 10 last season with a HR/FB of 7.7 percent.  In 2008 at Double-A he hit 12 HR in 323 AB, so maybe, just maybe, he can add a few more HR as he gets older and stronger. 

Basically, he’s probably a 13-16 HR hitter, which is close enough to Ramirez.  If he could improve on a 52.7 percent groundball rate, more power would certainly come, but at this point it’s hard to expect that.

The speed is something he has already shown, and he does have the potential to reach 20 plus.  He’s had as many as 33 in a season (back in 2005) and had 22 in 2009 between Double-A, Triple-A and the Majors. 

He spent a lot of time at the bottom of the Nationals order, but they also gave him 184 AB hitting second (.326, four HR, 19 RBI, nine SB).  They clearly are going to let him run, but if the Nationals opt to hit him second, I would say 20 SB is a given.

The average is a slight concern, hitting .269 despite posting a BABIP of .317.  Last season he posted a strikeout rate of 20.8 percent, which when coupled with the lack of excessive power, is a problem. 

Over his minor league career he posted a strikeout rate of 21.9 percent, though in 2009 between Double and Triple-A he did post a 20.4 percent mark.  It is possible that, at his age, he continues to improve there, but it would appear that .280 may be his upside.

Obviously, the comparison is not perfect.  If Desmond hits his highs, it looks like he could match Ramirez, but let’s not consider Ramirez a lock to replicate his 2010 success either.  Remember, in 2009 he hit .277 with 15 HR and 14 SB.

Let’s look at it statistic-by-statistic:

• Average: Ramirez has more upside, though it wouldn’t be surprising if both hit around .275
• Home Runs: Ramirez definitely has the advantage, with his floor (probably around 16) around Desmond’s apparent ceiling.  Still, Ramirez at 20 and Desmond at 15 is not a drastic difference, especially from a position where many of your competitors won’t get much power.
• RBI: Ramirez has never had more then 77 in a season, so there’s no reason to think that he’ll surpass 85 in 2010; Desmond had 65 in his rookie season and could easily be in the 70-75 range depending on where he hits
• Runs: For both Ramirez and Desmond, their team’s offseason moves and where they ultimately hit in the lineup will go a long way in determining this, but like the RBI the two should be pretty close
• Stolen Bases: This is the area that Desmond has the advantage, as he could be in the 20-25 range while Ramirez will be around 15

Ramirez certainly has the higher upside overall, but there is a fairly good chance that at the end of 2011 the two could be virtually even in value.  Ramirez is going to have a little more power, Desmond a little more speed.

Would I rather have Ramirez?  Absolutely, as displayed by my initial shortstop rankings (click here to view), but if that doesn’t work out I wouldn’t be upset grabbing Desmond and pairing him with someone like Stephen Drew or Rafael Furcal (or, if you are really lucky, Starlin Castro).  Basically, another high upside gamble and hope that one of them pays off.

What about you?  Is Desmond someone you wouldn’t mind as a fallback option?  Why or why not?

Make sure to check out our early 2011 rankings:

• Top 15 Catchers
• Top 15 First Basemen
• Top 15 Second Basemen
• Top 15 Third Basemen
• Top 15 Shortstops
• 2011 Fantasy Draft First Round Breakdown

THIS ARTICLE IS ALSO FEATURED ON WWW.ROTOPROFESSOR.COM

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Year after year, baseball’s end-of-season awards are usually room for debate and arguments.  The last few years the argument has shifted around the Cy Young, with topics ranging from “How important is wins to a pitcher’s stats (my answer is “not at all”), and Can a pitcher pitch in both league’s (a la CC Sabathia with the Indians and Brewers in 2008), and still be eligible for the award (yes, but I believe in a case-by-case study for that one). 

This time, however, the debate is based around the Gold Glove, and the Captain, Derek Jeter.

Let me get a few things out of the way: I am a Tampa Bay Rays fan and a New York Yankee hater, so it’s fair to call me biased if you don’t agree with this column.  BUT I have nothing but the utmost respect and admiration for Jeter, who is one of the greatest shortstops to ever play the game, and one of the greatest Yankees ever.  He’s a first-ballot Hall-of-Famer, and a guy I hold no ill will against. 

But Derek Jeter didn’t deserve to win the Gold Glove.  He didn’t even deserve to be in the discussion.  In fact, not only was Jeter wholly under qualified to win the Gold Glove, he was actually the WORST fielding SS in the AL this season.  And that’s not based off opinion—that’s based off facts.

The common fan looks at two stats when it comes to who deserves a Gold Glove: Fielding Percentage and Errors.  But these are very baseline stats, and don’t really work.  Why? Because fielding percentage doesn’t take into account difficulty of plays.  And errors are arbitrary—they’re decided by the official scorer at that particular game.  As a friendly scorer can rule what should be an error as a single.

People may not like hearing that, but the reality is this: Fielding Percentage only shows the plays made, NOT the plays NOT made.  Or to simplify it, it doesn’t show all the balls Jeter DID NOT get to because of his awful lack of range. 

But luckily for us, the fine folks at BaseballReference did run the stats on 59 shortstops this season using sabermetrics and advanced statistics to find out who was really deserving.  And in dead-last (and I mean dead-last) place was…you guessed it, Derek Jeter.  If you don’t believe me, check out the link here. 

To explain it in layman’s terms, these are the two key stats you should look at: Total Zone Total Fielding Runs Above Average and BIS Defensive Runs Saved Above Average.  These stats show:  The number of runs above or below average the player was worth based on the number of plays made (thanks to BaseballProjection.com).

In Total Zone Total Fielding Runs Above Average, Jeter came in at -10, or 59th place out of 59.  In 58th was Danny Worth of Detroit, with a -5.  So you can see the HUGE jump between Jeter and the second-worst fielder. 

The best fielder according to this statistic was Josh Wilson of Seattle.  Second and third were Cliff Pennington of the Oakland Athletics and Alexei Ramirez of the Chicago White Sox, respectively.  Wilson had a 12 rating, Pennington and 11, and Ramirez a 9—all superior scores to Jeter’s -12. 

For BIS Defensive Runs Above Average, Jeter did move up…to 58th, or second-worst in the AL.  He had a -13 rating, which was far superior than KC shortstop’s Yuniesky Betancourt’s -21 score, but still only one of three amongst AL shortstop’s to be in the negative double-digits (the third being Jason Donald, or the guy who was called safe at first in Armando Gallaraga’s perfect game). 

With this stat, Alexei Ramirez of the White Sox was first (16), followed by Cliff Pennington (9), and Alex Gonzalez of Toronto (9).  You see the recurring theme, and the recurring players.

This award has nothing to do with team success.  It has nothing to do with leadership or likability.  It solely has to do with fielding.  And any advanced statistic will show you that Derek Jeter was shockingly undeserving of this award. 

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When Derek Jeter was announced as the AL Gold Glove winner at shortstop Tuesday afternoon, I hit the roof. Many people had similar reactions to the article I wrote in response about why the Yankees’ captain was nowhere close to the best defensive shortstop in the American League.

Most of the criticism centered around the fact that I was a Red Sox fan writing an article about a Yankees player (and therefore anything negative I said was rooted in bias, not fact), or my use of Total Zone and Ultimate Zone Rating, statistics that assign a runs-saved value to a player’s defense, instead of traditional fielding percentage or the ol’ eyeball test. But to me, the fundamental gap was rooted in a fundamental misunderstanding of the way good defense is measured.

So forget the players, forget the teams, forget the statistics. Just imagine a hypothetical game in which one team’s shortstop is “Player A” and the other is “Player B.”

Over the course of the nine-inning game, each team’s hits go to roughly the same places on the diamond—five grounders are hit at or near the shortstop while three hard-hit balls are sent bouncing up the middle.

Player A cleanly fields all five of the balls hit to him—pick, throw, yerrrrrr out! But he doesn’t get to any of the hits that are out of the shortstop’s basic range. Maybe he’ll get close enough to dive for one of them, but he doesn’t have the ability to get to it in time.

Meanwhile, Player B makes four of the five routine plays but boots the last one and is charged with an error. However, due to his superior athleticism or speed or instincts or what have you, he saves three hits by getting to the balls that Player A couldn’t reach.

Who is the better fielder? Player A has a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage, while Player B’s error sinks his FLD percent to an amateurish .875. So Player A is clearly better, right?

A fan or a coach watching the game would probably come away with the same impression. The image of Player B bobbling the ball would be far more powerful and enduring than the memory of Player A not getting to the out-of-range plays. In fact, if Player B managed to stay on his feet while chasing down the ball at second base, observers remembering Player A’s dive would praise him for his fruitless athleticism.

But common sense tells us that the guy who made more plays was the more valuable defender. It’s a safe bet that Player B helped his team more in the field because he made two more plays than Player A.

Therefore, the Gold Glove award shouldn’t go to the guy who’s the best at routine plays or makes the fewest errors. It’s not about fulfilling the literal duties of one’s position, it’s about stopping the batter from reaching base safely to the best of one’s ability.

That established, let us turn now to some real-life players: Derek Jeter, who won the AL Gold Glove (supposedly) because of his .989 fielding percentage and six errors—best among AL shortstops—and Alexei Ramirez, who led that same group in Ultimate Zone Rating despite his 20 errors thanks to his phenomenal range.

In our hypothetical example, Player B made two extra plays for each ball he flubbed. In the real world, Ramirez made 14 more errors than Jeter, but he also accumulated 67 more putouts and 134 more assists—201 in total. That’s an extra play-to-extra error ratio of over 14:1.

For every extra ball Ramirez booted, he successfully scooped up 14 additional grounders. For every throw he missed, he reached 14 balls that Jeter couldn’t have gotten to. Does anyone want to argue that the good Ramirez did in stopping those 201 balls from falling for hits was outweighed by the 14 times he failed to do his duty?

Don’t try to rationalize that by saying Jeter had fewer opportunities to make plays—regardless of the pitching staffs, these things tend to even out over 162 games. Yes, Ramirez played 73 more innings in the field than Jeter, but if we prorate The Captain’s performance over A-Ram’s innings, he still falls short by a whopping 180 plays.

When a ball is hit right at him, there are few better fielders in the game than Derek Jeter, but using that to rationalize his Gold Glove selection would be like saying Jose Lopez should be MVP because he’s great at hitting fastballs. To focus primarily on fielding percentage and errors when evaluating defense is to exhibit a fundamental misunderstanding of the game of baseball.

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The American League Gold Glove awards were announced on Tuesday and there were some old standards and a couple newer ones.  Ichiro Suzuki, that ever-consistent star for the Seattle Mariners, won his 10th Gold Glove award for his outfield prowess.

Sure to spark debate is Derek Jeter of the New York Yankees winning his fifth Gold Glove for his work in the 2010 season.  

It is often argued by followers of advanced baseball statistics that not only is Jeter not the top defensive shortstop, he is not even in the top echelon anymore.

This, of course, would be disputed by his teammates and various coaches and general managers who have seen him perform over the years, as he is held in the highest regard for both his play and his leadership.

But respecting his game and his historical contributions is one thing, and giving him the honour of the winning the top defensive prize is quite something else.

Granted, his traditional fielding statistics are impressive.  His six allowed errors were lowest among shortstops in the league and his .989 fielding percentage led the league as well.

As baseball acquires more and more statistics in the age of sabermetrics, it is argued that these prior categories don’t properly reflect a fielder’s prowess.  

It is argued that even though Jeter committed fewer errors than anyone else, it is only because his range didn’t allow him to get to balls that other shortstops might have made a play on.

So if you were to nominate another shortstop to win in his stead, why not Yunel Escobar, the acrobatic new fielder for the Toronto Blue Jays?  His plays regularly made the highlight reels of sports shows across North America.

His errors committed and fielding percentage are average, but he led the league, along with former Blue Jay Alex Gonzalez, in double plays with 104.

Also, likely the most important of the new stats that have emerged is the UZR (Ultimate Zone Rating), which is a complicated calculation that basically determines the fielder’s effectiveness.  

With a 4.3 rating, Escobar is in the top third of shortstops in the league while Jeter, with a -4.7 rating, ranks in the bottom third.

So if you were to compare Jeter to Escobar, you could make the case that Escobar deserves the Gold Glove just as much as Jeter.

Many sports commentators have argued though that Alexei Ramirez of the Chicago White Sox actually deserved the Gold Glove.  His stats in sabermetrics are right at the top of the leaderboard, as are his ratings in scouting.

But it is his average traditional stats that drag him down and out of consideration for the award, which causes some to question the integrity of the award.

As Jeter enters next year at 36 years old, he will have plenty of challengers to his title. Whether he can maintain his status remains to be seen.

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