In a week where the baseball news has been dominated (and rightfully so) by the World Series, a pair of positive stories emerged from Flushing. The first being the Mets hiring of Kevin Long as their new hitting coach, and the second being Juan Lagares being nominated for a Gold Glove after being snubbed in 2013.
Long comes to the Mets after spending the past eight seasons with the crosstown rival New York Yankees as their hitting coach. For the most part under Long, the Bombers offense flourished, though down years in 2013 and 2014 ultimately led to his departure. That is hardly his fault, though, just look at who the Yankees have had in their lineup the past two years.
The Long hire should be a good one for the Mets, as his approach seems to be in stride with what the front office wants, and he has had good results in getting the lineups to generate power. Johnny Damon, Robinson Cano, and Curtis Granderson all set career highs in home runs under Long’s tutelage, though some of that could be contributed to Yankee Stadium.
He’s the Juan
In what was mostly a formality at this point, Juan Lagares was announced as one of the final three candidates for the NL Gold Glove for centerfielders. He is joined by Denard Span of the Washington Nationals and Billy Hamilton of the Cincinnati Reds.
The metrics indicate that Span did not have a very good year (-4.5 UZR/150), though that doesn’t take away from the fact that he’s been a terrific fielder for the majority of his career. -3 Defensive runs saved this year doesn’t necessarily merit him the Gold Glove this year, though.
Hamilton could pose an interesting challenge to Lagares. He collected a 21.7 UZR/150 and 14 DRS in his rookie campaign, and stole 56 bases. Unfortunately that is relevant despite the Gold Glove being a defensive award.
Lagares was simply a cut above the rest, both by the eye test and by the metrics. He had a 25.3 UZR/150 and 28(!) DRS. If Lagares doesn’t win the Gold Glove, it is highway robbery. Nobody deserves it more.
I don’t think Lagares is the outright deserving winner of the gold glove this year. Not because he wasn’t the best, he was, but because he wasn’t on the field long enough. Personally, i’m very biased because i give 90% weight to UZR and mostly discount the others.
While Lagares had a higher UZR/150 compared to Hamilton, on a counting stats basis, Hamilton had a higher UZR than Lagares, because Lagares played 250 innings less than Hamilton.
If you think about it, Lagares only played 944 innings. That equates to around 105 9-inning games. For what other award would a player be able to win with just 105 games played? I don’t think his excellence at the position is able to overcome his 30 game deficit in games played to Hamilton.
So yes, i’d vote for Hamilton this year, and i think i have a good case.
But, I’d be shocked if Lagares didn’t win though. He’s rightfully earned that reputation among players/coaches, which still account for 75% of the voting.
As usual, a very thought provoking argument. I respect your thought process.
So defensive runs saved … that is irrelevant?
I said in the beginning of my post that i was heavily biased and overwhelmingly favor UZR over the over defensive metrics
I must have Jacob deGrom on my mind. When I first read this, I thought it said: “Long haired” and I was trying to figure out what that had to do with Lagares.
FWIW – My nephew the Yankees fan is thrilled to be rid of Long. He was also happy to be rid of Granderson and on the day he signed the contract he told me we would regret it.