Posted by Brian Joseph on Tuesday, August 4, 2009 at 2:11 am

Today’s segment of Diggin’ In The Defensive Dirt covers short stops which rounds out our defensive review of the infield. Who will join Casey Kotchman, Craig Counsell and Andy LaRoche in the National League and Paul Konerko, Ian Kinsler and Joe Crede in the American League? Keep reading to find out how Major League Baseball’s short stops “rank out” in nine different defensive metrics.

Before that, if you’ve missed the previous parts of the series, follow the links below to see what’s been covered so far:

• Diggin’ In The Defensive Dirt (Part 1) — First Basemen 
• Diggin’ In The Defensive Dirt (Part 2) — Second Basemen
• Diggin’ In The Defensive Dirt (Part 3) — Third Basemen

Now that you’re caught up, here’s each league’s short stops:

NATIONAL LEAGUE

1. Jack Wilson, Pittsburgh Pirates
2. Brendan Ryan, St. Louis Cardinals
3. J.J. Hardy, Milwaukee Brewers
4. Troy Tulowitzki, Colorado Rockies
5. Rafael Furcal, Los Angeles Dodgers
6. Alex Gonzalez, Cincinnati Reds
7. Stephen Drew, Arizona Diamondbacks
8. Jimmy Rollins, Philadelphia Phillies
9 (tie). Ryan Theriot, Chicago Cubs
9. (tie). Yunel Escobar, Atlanta Braves
11. Hanley Ramirez, Florida Marlins
12. Alex Cora, New York Mets
13. Miguel Tejada, Houston Astros
14. Everth Cabrera, San Diego Padres
15. Cristian Guzman, Washington Nationals
16. Edgar Renteria, San Francisco Giants

ANALYSIS: Jack Wilson “ranked” as the best of the best which agrees with his top UZR/150 of 17.5. Wilson was also the top player in DPR, RZR, Fielding Value and +/-. Wilson’s fielding percentage of .980 is fairly mediocre but Pittsburgh’s scorekeeper was spoiled by Wilson for years so there’s a good chance Wilson was expected to make a few plays a normal short stop wouldn’t. Just a theory.

Beyond Wilson is Brendan Ryan who has been known for his glove since high school. Then a big gap between 2 and 3 down to J.J. Hardy and Troy Tulowitzki (#4) who are both considered excellent.

Age and short stop don’t mix and that is reflected in Edgar Renteria’s fall from grace, now ranking as the worst short stop in the National League. Although UZR/150 holds him in a little higher regard (#11), Renteria just doesn’t deliver the goods in any other category and is dead last in +/- and DPR. Cristian Guzman isn’t much better and sits at #15.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

1. Marco Scutaro, Toronto Blue Jays
2. Elvis Andrus, Texas Rangers
3. Cesar Izturis, Baltimore Orioles
4. Erick Aybar, Los Angeles Angels
5. Derek Jeter, New York Yankees
6. Alexei Ramirez, Chicago White Sox
7. Nick Green, Boston Red Sox
8. Mike Aviles, Kansas City Royals
9. Nick Punto, Minnesota Twins
10. Adam Everett, Detroit Tigers
11. Asdrubal Cabrera, Cleveland Indians
12. Jason Bartlett, Tampa Bay Rays
13. Yuniesky Betancourt, Seattle Mariners
14. Orlando Cabrera, Oakland Athletics

ANALYSIS: Maybe UZR/150 doesn’t see it that way but Marco Scutaro ranks as the AL’s best short stop. He’s a human highlight film in the field (and has 48 OOZ plays and a +22 to prove it) and his 7.0 UZR/150 is still very strong. Behind Scutaro is rookie defensive sensation Elvis Andrus at #2 and former Gold Glover Cesar Izturis at #3. Erick Aybar and Derek Jeter round out the top 5 and while Jeter draws a lot of love/hate, his UZR/150 is 9.0, second highest in the AL.

Jason Bartlett at 12 seems a bit harsh but he’s been battling injury all year and that has definitely impacted defense throughout this exercise.

It’s hard to believe YuBet isn’t at the bottom of the rankings but O-Cab’s defensive statistics are horrible — just look at that -30 +/-! — so it’s like comparing the smell of one dump to another. One thing that is clear is that both YuBet and O-Cab are significantly inferior to the rest of the options in the American League at SS.

Next Up: Left Field!