Carlos Correa’s claim last week that Yankees legend Derek Jeter “didn’t deserve” any of his Golden Gloves wouldn’t be controversial if Correa wasn’t one of the hottest freelance workers on the planet. market this season and will address the Yankees’ current shortstop issues. God knows, he wasn’t the only one who said that.
Correa, 27, won the Rawlings Platinum Glove this year as the best boxer, regardless of position, in the American League. He also collected a Golden Glove (his first). He has scored 21 successful saves, the most in the MLB of short tackles and seven more than runner-up Andrelton Simmons. He is not lazy in this area.
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In fact, DRS was a big part of Correa’s seemingly anti-Jeter show on an episode of “Me Gustan Los Deportes” (“I Like Sports”), a Facebook Live show hosted by former MLB star Carlos Organized by Baerga. Correa used Jeter’s career numbers to illustrate the point that the assessment of defense has changed over the years due to the rise of advanced stats like DRS.
“Derek Jeter. How many Golden Gloves has he won? Five. I think he’s won five. Derek Jeter doesn’t deserve any of those,” said Correa, a Jeter fan. in Spanish. “You know how many Derek Jeter’s have [DRS was] in his career? Negative 160 [actually, negative 162, per Fangraphs]. In his career. But your eyes can lie to you. Your eyes can lie to you. His popularity. . . “
In particular, that excerpt is a scene from “The Captain”. And it comes at a time when the Yankees could put a bid on Correa, who reportedly turned down a recent offer of five years and $160 million from his former club, the Astros.
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Jeter’s popularity served him during his two decades with the Bronx Bombers, but that’s not why AL managers and coaches voted him a Golden Glove winner this year. 2004, 2005, 2006, 2009 and 2010 when he turned 30. (Critics might say his jumps and solid shots are the reason why.) He had an active DRS in his entire career, plus 3 in 2009. However, Sabermetrics did not help in deciding the awards afterwards; The eye test is still king.
Jeter passed the test. Correa notes that eyes can lie.
Jeter’s enduring popularity prompted some Yankees fans to flock to his defense on Monday against Correa, a sworn enemy in parts of New York because he played for the Astros cheating in 2015. 2017, when they beat the Yankees in the ALCS.
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But other fans – and most importantly, the Yankees leadership – know that Correa will be a major upgrade over Gleyber Torres, Tyler Wade or any other insider contender. The Yankees finished in 25th place in the pro leagues this year with a DRS of minus 14. Adding a top player in this position is the top priority of the season.
And Correa is top. He topped a fully loaded free agent class that included Corey Seager, Javier Baez, Marcus Semien, and Trevor Story. The Yankees wouldn’t turn him down because a quote might have been taken out of context. They will be happy if he plays Jeter’s position – and happy if he plays better than Jeter.
Simon Borg contributed to this report.
