Defensive Rankings

Defense is hard to measure in Major League Baseball but the boys at the baseball Think Factory (www.baseballthinkfactory.org) do a pretty good job with their runs saved above an average fielder stat. In it I found a lot of interesting tidbits…For the 9 players listed for the team, the Jays have the third best defense in the league as their defense has saved them 20 runs

-Bengie Molina has of yet cost the team 6 defensive runs, Glaus is right behind as he has cost the team 5 defensive runs
-Lyle Overbay is not an above average defensive first baseman…he is exactly average as he has not cost the team a run nor has he gained the team a run with his defense
-Aaron Hill is the best second baseman in the American League! As of yet he’s saved the team 16 runs more than an average player would have. Even more interesting, Gold Glover Orlando Hudson has actually cost his Diamondbacks 2 runs above an average player with his defense. So the debate rages on…
-McDonald’s great glove has only saved one run this season
-The LF platoon works on defense too, Reed has gained the team 4 defensive runs while Cat has cost the team 3 defensive runs
-Vernon Wells, Gold Glover? As of yet, he’s saved the team 7 runs, third amongst centre fielders
-Rios is a superb defensive outfielder and is ranked second amongst Right Fielders by having saved 6 runs above an average player

I personally wish they had Zaun's defensive stats to continue comparing him against Bengie. Again, I think Molina was a waste of $5 million