Richard Castle - contributing reporter
The Cobbfather Gazette started a new look into ranking players by defensive value. As a first look we are omitting catchers for now, until we can find a better way to include passed balls, and all things related to stolen bases. Bold names indicate Gold Glove winners. Majority of the time they will be top of the list, and rightfully so, but sometimes a player in another league who was runner up might have been better than the opposing league. To make the lists easier, we'll list top 10 and bottom 10. If you guys are interested in a full list, let me know; perhaps we do that next year.
First Base - Top 10
- 7.51 - Geronimo Nunez - Boston
- 6.32 - Yusmeiro Troncosco - Austin
- 6.21 - Gary Halladay - Salem
- 6.10 - Keith Halter - New Orleans
- 5.63 - Quincy Bates - Pittsburg
- 4.69 - Carlos Soto - Houston
- 4.66 - Bendard Morton - Washington DC
- 2.54 - James Kondou - Vancouver
- 1.99 - Steve Lalli - Montreal
- 1.16 - Emilio Molina - OKC
First Base - Bottom 10
- -26.57 - Leo Wood - Dover
- -15.22 - Alex Perez - Hartford
- -13.28 - Fritz Grahram - Augusta
- -12.82 - Raul Fernandez - Montreal & Mickey Barmes - Helena
- -11.65 - Ryne Truman - Tacoma
- -8.75 - Chuck Rupe - Philadephia
- -8.28 - Ehire Cruz - Salt Lake City
- -7.78 - Omar Gonzales - Toyo
- -6.81 - Nomar Rodgers - Atlanta
- -5.84 - Chuck Brinson - Chicago
Second Base - Top 10
- 16.31 - Brad Vernon - Vancouver
- 5.32 - Ed Watanabe - Chicago
- 5.14 - Alberto Castillo - Boston
- Likely an inning or game min above what we used
- 4.49 - Wayne Brow - Colorado Springs
- 4.14 - JP Avilan - Tokyo
- 4.17 - Willie Martin - Buffalo
- 3.90 - Vin Pirela - Philadelphia
- 3.52 - Phillip Burnett - New York
- 3.33 - Javier Quevedo - New Orleans
- 2.34 - Yohan Nova - Houston
Second Base - Bottom 10
- -17.63 - Charley Rhymes - Jacksonville
- -13.22 - Tike Crosby - Milwaukee
- -13.15 - Alex Kennedy - Tacoma
- -12.19 - Damion Ni - Huntington
- -11.35 - Brennan Howard - Montreal
- -9.77 - Nicholas Cornely - Pittsburgh
- -8.07 - Wandy Latos - Mexico City
- -7.83 - Miles Cookson - Minnesota
- -7.30 - Ronald Wilson - Washington DC
- -6.80 - Roger Stinnett - Salt Lake City
Shortstop - Top 10
- 6.74 - Marshall Banks - Colorado Springs
- 5.57 - Christian Seung - Charleston
- 3.62 - Yusmeiro Del Rosario - Philadelphia
- 2.36 - Matty Doubront - Milwaukee
- 2.24 - Michael Woo - Houston
- 2.14 - Esteban Castro - Milwaukee
- 2.08 - Brooks Jarvis - New York
- 2.02 - Sammy Beltre - Minnesota
- 1.79 - Howie Baltz- Huntington
- 1.58 - Bart Higley - Minnesota
Shortstop - Bottom 10
- -34.49 - Wayne Chatwood - Pittsburgh
- -19.80 - Benji Astacio - Austin
- -17.68 - Victor Abad - Vancouver
- -12.23 - Jhonatan Castro - Salem
- -11.60 - Norberto Martinez - Anaheim
- -10.84 - Nestor Merced - Dover
- -7.21 - Junior Wang - Mexico City
- -6.44 - Mark Durrington - Washington DC
- -4.55 - Enos Haas - Buffalo
- -3.35 - Lazy Bigbie - Tacoma
Third Base - Top 10
- 5.65 - Rafael Rodriguez - Oklahoma City
- 5.51 - Mariano Villano - Pittsburgh
- 5.19 - Banjo Urlaub - Salt Lake City
- 4.73 - Edwar Guerrero - Anaheim
- 4.72 - Chili Lawton - Montreal
- 3.43 - Vince Saarloos - Atlanta
- 3.29 - Bernie Mendez - Tokyo
- 3.00 - Charlie Hinojosa- Minnesota
- 2.90 - Leonel Martinez - Hartford
- 2.78 - Rip Bromberg - Huntington
Third Base - Bottom 10
- -27.68 - Carmen Buller - New York
- -24.30 - Chan Ho Jiang - Dover
- -21.79 - Gus Koh - Tacoma
- -20.25 - Jimmy Blaser - Milwaukee
- -19.30 - Lawrence Parrish - Augusta
- -14.00 - Jay Norton - Salem
- -3.68 - Erasmo Rodriguez - Austin
- -3.62 - Brett Caminiti - Columbus
- -3.39 - Rocky Steenstra - Washington DC
- -2.18 - David Quintana - Helena
Leftfield - Top 10
- 11.42 - Dicky Chang - Salem
- 9.99 - Ernest Clements - Austin
- 6.67 - Juancito Martin - New Orleans
- 5.77 - Tsubasa Maeda - Columbus
- 5.26 - TJ Christenson - Atlanta
- 4.65 - Julio Pascual - Pittsburgh
- 2.93 - Jeanmar Furcal - Charleston
- 2.42 - Warren Cobb - Hartford
- 2.33 - Jose Castro - Sante Fe
- 2.13 - Miguel Barrios - Boston
Leftfield - Bottom 10
- -41.72 - Yuniesky Tavarez - New York
- -23.91 - Cy Bettis - Dover
- -20.16 - Louie Weiss - Huntington
- -17.35 - Spud Campbell - Tokyo
- -7.11 - Jason McGuiness - Oklahoma City
- -6.31 - Earl Hawkins - Augusta
- -6.18 - Leury Barcelo - Washington DC
- -5.98 - Sammy Alou - Buffalo
- -5.62 - Tony Kwon - Milwaukee
- -5.26 - Dario Lester - Houston
Centerfield - Top 10
- 9.16 - Lewis Gaetti - New York
- 6.11 - JO Avila - Tokyo
- 5.65 - Tyrone Greer - Sante Fe
- 5.17 - Brian Lorick - Minnesota
- 4.24 - Leonys Guerrero - Charleston
- 3.53 - Gonzalez Liriano - Columbus
- 3.08 - TJ Nick - Washington DC
- 2.35 - Yu Iwamura - Augusta
- 2.13 - Adam West - Atlanta
- 1.66 - Bonk Burnett - Hartford
Centerfield - Bottom 10
- -22.89 - Storm Phelps - Dover
- -15.19 - Shea Crowe - Chicago
- -15.06 - Jordany Solarte - Pittsburgh
- -12.69 - Larry Schultz - Austin
- -10.03 - Jose Ontiveros - Anaheim
- -9.07 - Sal Judge - Augusta
- -6.82 - Alex Parrish - Milwaukee
- -6.40 - Esteban Amaro - Salem
- -5.63 - Brandon Stevens - Oklahoma City
- -5.47 - Roy Richards - Tacoma
Rightfield - Top 10
- 18.89 - Carl Conine - Austin
- 9.22 - Rich Rendon - Augusta
- 4.67 - Juancito Uribe - Boston
- 3.71 - Hugh McMillan - Pittsburgh
- 3.56 - Patsy Shipley - Vancouver
- 3.33 - Noe Lecuona - Hartford
- 3.30 - Leon Beck - Anaheim
- 2.74 - Reymond Balboa - Philadelphia
- 1.85 - Jonnie Daniels - Atlanta
- 0.85 - Benny Saez - Charleston
Rightfield - Bottom 10
- -26.38 - Roger Herman - New York
- -21.20 - Lewis Suggs - Tacoma
- -15.24 - Vic Nova - Colorado Springs
- -12.47 - Yovani Franco - Buffalo
- -12.28 - Aaron Piatt - Dover
- -11.88 - Eric Mashore - Tokyo
- -6.33 - Douglas Laxton - New Orleans
- -5.37 - Brace Lansing - Oklahoma City
- -5.07 - Max Escuela - Helena
- -5.03 - Avisail Gonzales - Milwaukee