T.R. Sullivan confirms that Michael Young has won the gold glove for shortstop in the A.L. this year.
Over at the DMN blog, Evan Grant doesn't understand why Rangers fans are complaining about this rather than celebrating it.
My response to that question is that, quite simply, the award is a joke. It is hypocritical to bitch about Nate McLouth winning a gold glove, or for Derek Jeter to win a gold glove, and then not do the same thing if Young wins it.
Yes, it wasn't a great year for shortstops, and yes, Young wasn't bad this year. He wasn't good, either, but he wasn't terrible, and appears to grade out to be average to a little below-average.
A player who, generally speaking, has been a bad defensive shortstop, and who this year improved to average, does not deserve a gold glove award. And if I were to ignore the merits of the decision and just say it is great because Young is a good guy and a Ranger, then I forfeit any right to ever criticize the people who voted for Shannon Stewart for MVP a few years ago, or who voted for Rafael Palmeiro as the gold glove first baseman a few weeks back.
The reality is, this award is often given to either 1) whomever has a good reputation who has won it before, or 2) someone with good offensive numbers who didn't embarrass himself defensively out there.
Young won the award because he is a recognizable name with a good reputation around baseball who had a great fielding percentage this year, not because he's the best defensive shortstop in the A.L.