What Orlando Hudson isn't saying...

First of all, Happy Jackie Robinson Day!

Here are just a couple of the many things one could accurately say in tribute to the man who was, undeniably, the most important player in baseball history:

1.) Jackie Robinson was a tremendously skilled athlete whose success as a baseball player also depended on his ability to gain and maintain the respect of his teammates, many of whom viewed him with extraordinary skepticism.

2.) Jackie Robinson was never afraid to tackle the difficult and uncomfortable issue of race and when he did, his answers, though often impassioned and sometimes unpopular, were always reasoned and articulate.

As it happens, although there is a difference in the degree of both their athletic skills and the acumen of their thoughts, both those statements could also be used to describe Torii Hunter and Orlando Hudson.

Neither Hudson nor Hunter is probably headed toward baseball immortality, but both are All-Star players who, like Robinson, have built their reputations not only with sheer talent, but also hustle, heart, and humility.  Even those who are narrow-minded and reductive enough to depend on such a cliche have to admit that these are guys who "play the game right."

Both Hunter and Hudson have recently and rather mildly expressed concern regarding the position of African-American players in the game 63 years after Jackie Robinson began its integration.

Their outspokenness, however mediated, has spurred an eruption of message board malice and twittering ignorance.  Surprise, surprise.

Reading and responding to the hateful verbiage being spilled on Orlando recently, even by major media outlets, will only lead to ranting and rage, which to some extent dignifies patently the undignified opinions.

I will merely point out, however, that both Hunter and Hudson are thoughtful, good-natured players, who have been popular, even beloved, on every team they've played for and seem to be regarded favorably even by their opponents.  Those who seek to characterize them as "angry brothers" and lump them together with Milton Bradley, Elijah Dukes, and other temperamental black athletes, even as they petulantly protest claims of racism, practice it.  They reveal their bigotry in a particularly insidious and ugly fashion.  Of such commenters I will say only this, in the words of Samuel L., "Yes they deserve to die and I hope they burn in hell."

The more intelligent and earnest men, like Rob Neyer and Tom Tango, who have sought to grapple with Hudson's statements by actually testing their validity, I offer some kudos.  I am persuaded, certainly, that many older players, including perhaps Jermaine Dye (who was Hudson's primary subject), bring with them a combination of injury risk, defensive inefficiency, positional inflexibility, and expense which make them an unwise investment for many teams.

I am all for general managers getting smarter, which I think they're doing, generally.  However, I'm not convinced that getting smarter always and necessarily requires closing the door on long productive (and, in some cases, legendary) players.  Certainly, one can understand how Orlando Hudson might wonder, what is it that Jim Edmonds and Jason Giambi possess that Jermaine Dye and Gary Sheffield don't?

When Rob Neyer notes (citing Peter Hjort) that black players make more money per WAR (Wins Above Replacement) than Hispanic players, he implies that it discredits Hudson's accusation.  In those statistics I see, however, a different set of implications.

1.) African-American stars are still and will always be in demand (as all stars are), but when it comes to more middle-of-road or fringe major-league talent, teams seem tempted to go in a different direction, which explains why there were only five contracts given to African-American players during the past offseason, while 18 went to Hispanics and 33 to Caucasians.  Ever since the 1960s there has been the impression - voiced by many black players, including Curt Flood and Jackie Robinson - that the guys at the end of the bench or the back of the bullpen are predominantly white because management likes it that way.

2.) Hispanic players are not getting paid enough.  This aspect of Torii Hunter's statements was widely suppressed during the hoopla following his "imposters" interview.  Facing worse poverty and with fewer bargaining chips that American citizens, Latin American players, especially those who are very young or are fringe talents sign for, as Hunter puts it, "a bag of chips."  One of the reasons why there are people calling for an international draft and for greater regulation of the international free agent market is to fix this imbalance, which would work both to help Latino players get paid on the level with their domestic counterparts and allow more Americans who are borderline professional talents compete on an even playing field with their Dominican or Venezuelan equivalents.

We need to remember that their is nothing evil about "getting paid."  To establish, understand, and demand a wage equal to one's market value is part of being a responsible citizen in a free market economy.  African-Americans in all fields are often more sensitive to this as both responsibility and pressure because a.) they were denied access to it until relatively recently, b.) it is at the foundation of much classic civil rights rhetoric, and c.) it remains at the forefront of their cultural aesthetic (Floyd Mayweather, Barack Obama, and Jay-Z would never sign a contract for less than they're worth.  Why should Gary Sheffield?).

So, with all that in mind, here are two reasons Orlando Hudson has to be suspicious.  I won't hazard a guess as to when exactly a conspiracy of coincidences becomes a trend, but here are the facts:

Let's start with what can't help but be foremost in Hudson's mind: his own experience.  Over the previous four seasons Orlando has an 803 OPS (106 OPS+), 10.7 WAR, three Gold Gloves, and two All-Star appearances.  He is 32-years-old.  During that same exact same timespan, Placido Polanco has a 762 OPS (98 OPS+), 12.5 WAR, two Gold Gloves, and one All-Star appearance.  He is 34-years-old.

Although you may prefer one to the other, you must admit they are pretty similar players.  Yet Polanco got 3 yr./$18 Million deal (plus an option) this past offseason and has made upwards of $50 Million for his career, while Hudson has had to settle for consecutive one-year deals of $5 Million or less and has earned just about $20 Million for his career.  Setting aside whatever explanations and preferences you might have, ask yourself simply, is Placido Polanco more than twice as good as Orlando Hudson?

Let's also look past this years crop of unemployed black thirty- and forty-somethings.  This is not the first set of former All-Stars who have been unceremoniously and unwillingly ushered into retirement.  The list also includes, in just the two previous offseasons, Barry Bonds, Tony Clark, Royce Clayton, Ray Durham, Cliff Floyd, Tom Gordon, Kenny Lofton, Dave Roberts, Reggie Sanders, Shannon Stewart, Frank Thomas, Rondell White, and Preston Wilson.  I'm certainly not claiming that all of these players are/were still good enough to contribute, but that's a lot of players with a lot of history being told to hang up their spikes before they're ready.   Many of them - Bonds, Durham, Lofton, Sanders, etc. - were coming off season in which they had proven they could still be quite productive.

Hopefully, you can begin to see what Orlando might understandably construe as a pattern.  I am certainly not ready to accuse MLB of "collusion" in the case of Jermaine Dye or Gary Sheffield, nor do I think that is what O-Dog is suggesting.  However, the kneejerk urge to discredit his statements and the lack of imagination regarding how he and Hunter arrived at their conclusions reveals a racial taboo still ingrained deep within the sport.  Our national past-time has since Jackie Robinson (and even before, to be honest) provided an insightful synecdoche into the most tortured and the most definitive aspect of our nation: or racial heteronomy.  Their has been a growing inclination since the election of our first black president to believe we are entering a so-called "post-racial" America.  All O-Dog is requesting is that you look closer.

The Gold Gloves are Meaningless, Laughable (Part 2)

As I discussed yesterday, it is often very difficult to distinguish between the top tier of defenders. That's why I'm not going to bicker with a choice like Jimmy Rollins or Michael Bourn, because while I might prefer Mike Cameron or Rafael Furcal, there is no denying that Bourn and Rollins are in the upper echelon of NL defenders at their respective positions. In other cases, unfortunately, bickering is not only possible, but relatively easy. Here are the five most unfortunate aspects of this week's Gold Glove announcements:

5. The Gold Gloves are not without material consequences.

Yesterday I argued that the Gold Glove voters are uniquely unqualified to make the evaluations the award asks of them. Sad as this may be, one could easily argue that the individual awards presented every November should be regarded generally as meaningless, as players should be focused on team achievements anyway. Before making that argument, however, consider that many of the veterans who routinely win Gold Gloves, despite mediocre production, cost their teams money in the process. Torii Hunter will make an extra $100,000 for each Gold Glove he earns as an Angel. If he brings one home in every year of his contract, and the voters seem prone to making his award routine, than the Angels will pay out half a million dollars, more than the league minimum for rookie players, to subsidize Hunter's trophy case, despite the fact that one could easily argue that they are actually paying for the defense the Hunter played during his years in Minnesota (Hunter hasn't posted a positive UZR since 2005 and hasn't been among the league leaders at his position since 2003).

4. Do we really need to exaggerate the quality of Derek Jeter?

For years, Derek Jeter has been at the center of controversies regarding fielding statistics. Baseball Prospectus led the way in demonstrating that not only was Jeter not worthy of his Gold Gloves, but was, in fact, from 2004 until 2007 (during which time he won three Gold Gloves), the worst everyday shortstop in all of baseball. Eventually, this incredible discovery made its way into the mainstream media and even to the proud ears of Jeter himself. Many started speculating that a position change would be demanded, and soon. Even the Gold Glove voters denied him the award in '07 and '08, although at least one of their choices, Michael Young in '08, was arguably even worse.

The Yankee captain should be commended, however, because instead of becoming angry and belittling the evidence, as players are prone to do, he set about making himself better. He hired personal trainers and dedicated his offseason to improving his agility, quickness, and range. In 2008 he was an average AL shortstop defensively, which, of course, combined with his superior offensive talents, made him a very valuable commodity. And in 2009, he was even better. His 6.6 UZR* was the best of his career, as was his .986 fielding percentage. We should all note this as persuasive evidence that Derek Jeter is, in fact, deserving of his "Captain Intangibles" legacy. What it doesn't make him, however, is the best defensive shortstop in the AL. As the answer to that question, I would have accepted Elvis Andrus (10.7 UZR, .968 F%), Cesar Izturis (10.8 UZR, .985 F%), Adam Everett (8.9 UZR, .969 F%), or Erick Aybar (7.8 UZR, .983 F%). Unlike Jeter, each of these guys gets paid primarily for his glovework. It would be nice to see their dedication to that facet of the game get acknowledgement. After all, Derek Jeter takes home plenty of other hardware (see, in 2009 alone, Roberto Clemente Award, Hank Aaron Award, World Series ring, and probable Silver Slugger).

3. If you thought Mark Texeira was good this year, wait until you see what he's actually capable of.

Remember when Rafael Palmeiro won a Gold Glove at first base even though he'd spent the entire season at Designated Hitter. It wasn't quite that egregious, but it was a little odd that Texeira's fielding reputation grew to new proportions in the spotlight of New York, even though it appeared to anybody that had been paying attention to his career throughout his tenure with Texas, Atlanta, and Anaheim that Texeira was struggling (I guess this is what happens when you follow Jason Giambi). He posted career lows in assists, range factor, and UZR. Perhaps nursing some nagging injuries, he was reluctant to throw the ball or move away from the bag. His numbers actually and embarrassingly resembled those of well-known stick-in-the-muds and DH-types, Billy Butler and Russell Branyan. He recorded less assists as a first baseman (49) than Kevin Youkilis (52), despite the fact that Youk played less than half as many innings at the position. Albert Pujols played a similar number of innings and recorded 185 assists.

Texeira will probably get better and likely will earn some Gold Gloves over the course of his career. Too bad he stole one this season from Miguel Cabrera, Kendry Morales, or Lyle Overbay.

2. Why do NL managers hate Albert Pujols and Chase Utley?

One of the grand ironies of this year's Gold Gloves is that while Jeter, Texeira, Joe Mauer, and Shane Victorino earned Gold Gloves largely based on their offensive contributions, two MVP-caliber sluggers who were actually dominant on both sides of the ball missed out, yet again. Chase Utley has now led NL 2B in UZR (by a significant margin) for five consecutive seasons. Here are his stats compared with 2009 winner Orlando Hudson and 2008 winner Brandon Phillips (who also has a case for being gypped this season):

Utley - 1357 INN, .985 F%, 408 A, 86 DP, 10.8 UZR

Phillips - 1332 INN, .988 F%, 409 A, 95 DP, 6.9 UZR

Hudson - 1272 INN, .988 F%, 359 A, 68 DP, -3.3 UZR

Hudson, certainly not a bad defender, was probably at best the fifth or sixth best second-baseman in the NL this season. Utley was the best and Phillips has been his only near competition for a long time now. For anybody else to win is frankly atrocious.

The Pujols case isn't quite as bad. Adrian Gonzalez is a very solid defender, but Pujols has in some ways changed how first base is played. He has led the league in range by a long shot in each of the last two seasons, mainly because he continues to play deeper and further from the bag than anybody else, without giving up a greater number of hits down the line. He changes the whole infield dynamic by giving converted outfielder Skip Schumaker some leeway to protect up the middle. He also gives himself the opportunity to range deep into foul territory to catch pop-ups, thus allowing Ryan Ludwick to play deeper and further off the line. Pujols dominance shows up in range factor (10.4 when the next best guy is at 9.7), assists (185 when the next best guy is at 136), double plays (140 when the next best guy is at 135), and putouts (1473 when the next best guy is 1387), as well as the more substantial and complicated metrics. It's a wonder the NL voters haven't noticed.

1. There was no acknowledgement for the single most valuable defender in all of baseball, Franklin Gutierrez.

This is a true tragedy. My qualm is not some much with the fact the AL voters recognized Torii Hunter, Ichiro, and Adam Jones, all of whom are fine defenders, but that they failed to noticed Gutierrez is an absolute travesty. In his first year as a full-time centerfielder, Gutierrez posted a ridiculous 29.1 UZR, the best by any player since Andruw Jones posted a 30.0 in 2005. Like Jones, Gutierrez has deceptive speed, gliding effortlessly to balls which many, seemingly faster players have to dive for, and via extraordinary route choices expands his range to cover almost two thirds of the outfield. Unlike Jones, he will never hit 50 HR, and therefore may never catch the eye of Gold Glove voters.

Here are my Gold Glove choices:

NL:

C - Yadier Molina

1B - Albert Pujols

2B - Chase Utley

3B - Ryan Zimmerman

SS - Rafael Furcal

LF - Matt Kemp

CF - Mike Cameron

RF - Randy Winn

P - Adam Wainwright

AL:

C - Gerald Laird

1B - Miguel Cabrera

2B - Placido Polanco

3B - Evan Longoria

SS - Elvis Andrus

LF - Carl Crawford

CF - Franklin Gutierrez

RF - David DeJesus

P - Mark Buehrle

*Ultimate Zone Rating is a defensive metric from FanGraphs which combines for infielders analytical metrics for range, double play efficiency, and general efficiency (errors, etc.) and for outfielders arm strength, range, and general efficiency.