Snubbed or Saved? A Weird Perspective on Francisco Lindor
Just hear me out and give me 5 minutes
Well…the Rawlings Gold Glove finalists were announced today. Lo and behold, Francisco Lindor is not one of the NL shortstop finalists. Shocker, right? If you have been following the Mets closely this year, you are probably not surprised. I’m going to point out some inconsistencies, provide my rationale, break down the Gold Glove voting criteria, and conclude this article by offering a weird perspective on how Mets fans can choose to view this. It’s unlikely this will be well received (rightfully so) but hear me out anyway.
Inconsistencies?
Let’s break down the finalists first. With Dansby Swanson leading the pack, Ezequiel Tovar & Masyn Winn round out the trio. It’s been brought up before that Defensive Runs Saved (DRS) is heavily involved in the Gold Glove voting process. That argument holds a good bit of water considering all three finalists are the top 3 NL shortstops in DRS (minimum 1000 innings played at SS). Winn is tops with 14, followed by Tovar with 9 & Swanson with 7. Lindor is 4th among NL shortstops with 2 DRS.
However, on the AL side of things, Brayan Rocchio, Anthony Volpe & Bobby Witt Jr. are the finalists. Rocchio (10) & Volpe (6) rank second & third amongst AL shortstops in DRS. Witt ranks sixth in the AL with 2 DRS…the same as Lindor. Zach Neto is the AL leader in DRS at 11, but he’s not a finalist over Witt.
My Rationale
Realistically speaking, I think Lindor should be a finalist over Winn, and the AL finalists are correct based on Ultimate Zone Rating (UZR) and Statcast’s Fielding Run Value. Both these metrics are clearly laid out in what determines their value and is easier to digest for fans where DRS is not. It doesn’t mean DRS is less valuable, but naturally, when fans can better understand the reasoning behind a comparable metric, it’s going to feel more credible.
Unfortunately, it seems voting goes largely off DRS (more on why later). Witt is clearly the outlier and should not be a finalist given this criteria, which brings up another issue. If fellow MVP candidate Witt is a finalist; up there with Lindor & Swanson as widely regarded top defensive shortstops, why isn’t Lindor? If anything, the AL has a deeper pool of shortstops from a DRS standpoint compared to the NL. As we’ve made clear, despite Lindor and Witt having the same DRS, Lindor (4th in NL) ranks better/more favorably in his own league compared to Witt (6th in AL). That makes Lindor’s “snub” even more perplexing.
Breaking Down GG Voting Criteria
As I mentioned before, I do believe the AL finalists are the correct ones. However, Masyn Winn is a clear outlier per other defensive metrics and should not be a finalist. Winn is the leading argument for why DRS is such an important factor in Gold Glove voting. Using the same qualifier of 1000 innings played at shortstop, there are 16 qualified shortstops across both leagues. Of them, Winn ranks 13th in UZR, 14th in UZR/150 (UZR per 150 games), 10th in Outs Above Average (OAA) and he ranks 9th in Fielding Run Value. For what it’s worth, Lindor ranks top 5 in all those categories excluding his T9th rank in DRS.
For each outlier, there’s a comparable player. Winn is a finalist as the NL leader in DRS, while being quite poor with other defensive metrics. Neto is the AL leader in DRS, is also poor in the other defensive metrics, similarly to Winn (but even worse), yet he is not a finalist. Witt matches up almost equally to Lindor in every metric (slightly worse in some) and is an AL finalist (again, in a deeper pool) while Lindor is not an NL finalist.
Closing Thoughts
A lot of this is probably considered noise, but there are two sides to every coin. Do I think Lindor got snubbed? Yes, but considering what seems to be the criteria, Zach Neto got snubbed worse in my opinion.
Some people think MLB, the media or whoever else are anti-Mets. Can’t say I blame them, Lindor was snubbed as an all-star, now as a gold glove finalist, and was not really talked about as an MVP finalist. Before I continue, I want to make it clear that Bobby Witt Jr. had a far better season than Lindor. I am not comparing them as players, strictly their situations.
Both MVP races were very close until the final couple weeks of the season. The situations were almost identical. Slugger’s historic season versus the all round, elite defensive shortstops. Except it felt like the media and MLB was pushing the AL MVP race between Judge & Witt, but not really compared to Ohtani & Lindor. There was a point in the beginning of September where Lindor started to pull ahead of Ohtani. Lindor cooled off a little, got hurt and missed ten games. Ohtani was on another planet while Lindor was hurt and ended any debate of who the NL MVP should be. Call me biased, but I’m calling it as I see it. Often I’d see Judge or Witt for MVP posts but only see Ohtani 50/50 & potential MVP posts without mention of Lindor.
A Weirdly Optimistic Perspective
Here’s where I stand. I don’t really care that much. It sucks there wasn’t the same level of media attention compared to the other MVP finalists at the time. But the season is over and Lindor should not win MVP, nor should he win a Gold Glove. Swanson deserves the Gold Glove over Lindor anyway, so the “snub” is nothing more than a minor annoyance in my opinion.
If Lindor does not win any awards, he can’t get an MVP curse, or Gold Glove curse, etc. If he is not on the cover of MLB the Show next year he can’t get that curse either. It sounds so stupid, but if that’s what works for people, or that’s what works for Lindor and the Mets, so be it. Who am I to argue that sentiment?
I’m choosing to look at it this way… The 2024 Mets are a team that is founded on good vibes. They feed on their own, and fans’ confidence. This is a resilient team that feels like the odds have been stacked against them for months…but they keep winning and defying those odds. So I’m going to stay positive, maintain confidence in my team no matter what, and choose not to get consumed by the media. Simply put, I’m not worried
*wink*.Mets fans, as I mentioned at the beginning of this article, I would not expect this perspective to be well received. I would love to hear your thoughts on this so sound off in the comments here or on X @McLovinOC8.