Injection here. Defensive metrics vary greatly from year to year and have many components that are not as a result of defensive skill sets.
Examples
Granderson 2007
16 DRS .924 RZR 11 rPM 14.6 UZR/150
Granderson 2008
-7 DRS .924 RZR -6 rPM -11.9 UZR/150
I. Suzuki 2004
30 DRS .708 RZR 19 rPM 19.2 UZR/150
I. Suzuki 2005
7 DRS .726 RZR 6 rPM 4.1 UZR/150
I would also point out, as a rule, defensive metrics favor CFers over LFers or RFers. Large outfields with deep CF, like Comerica, also skew these stats. HR saving catches are part of these stats. How does a LFer in Fenway get a HR saving catch over the Green Monster? How does Granderson leap a 20 foot CF fence in Yankee Stadium, yet Swisher gets a 3.75 foot fence in RF?
Speed allows an OFer to get to the ball. But is it really a defensive skillset? Speed is desired for a WR in football, but route running and catching play just as big a part, IMHO.
Like most stats, you can only really compare players using about 3 years worth of data and UZR (UZR/150) is certainly one of those. Using one isolated year is a bad idea. And certainly, you need to take into account any home park biases. Yes, I have used UZR/150 as a comparison stat, but just recently I have started using either career or last 3-year totals as part of that.
Regress a little.....
Alan Trammell BAVG
1980 = .300
1981 = .258
1982 = .258
1983 = .319
1984 = .314
1985 = .258
1986 = .277
1987 = .343
1988 = .311
1989 = .243
.300 or better 5 of the 10 years, below his career average of .285 the other 5 years. As you can see, a hitting stat like BAVG can vary greatly from year to year. Sure, some players, like Miguel Cabrera are constant, but they are the exception. If you took a snapshot of Trammell during a 3-year period, depending on the 3 years, they probably will be inline with his career average.
Rey Ordonez won 3 GG, despite being a lousy hitter. Of course, he played in NY at the time. Still, he had a very short career due to his lack of hitting. Then there is Adam Everett. In his prime, he was probably the best defensive SS in the last 20 years. Again, lack of hitting is/was his downfall.
Gary Pettis and his 5 GG come to mind.
Alan Trammell won 4x GG. He was not flashy nor would he been considered to have great range. You probably would not seen him on "Web Gems". However, he rarely, if ever, threw the ball away. I do not remember him ever "rushing" a throw and had seen him many times just "put the ball in his back pocket". If today's defensive metrics where available when he played, I would bet it would show he was average to below average defensively. Those that had the pleasure to see him play, day-to-day, would argue differently
Bottom line...Gold Gloves are one award that is hard to define and qualify. Even the latest stat metrics are vulnerable to large biases, so can they really be used?
