Derek Jeter
By: Layne Gladden
Early Life
Jeter has won five Gold Glove Awards, trailing only Vizquel Dave Concepción, and Mark Belanger for most by a shortstop. He is credited with positing himself well and for a quick release when he throws the ball. One of his signature defensive plays is the "jump-throw", by which he leaps and throws to first base while moving towards third base.
Despite this, Jeter's defense has been the subject of criticism from a number of sabermetricians, including Rob Neyer and the publicationBaseball Prospectus. The 2006 book The Fielding Bible by John Dewan contains an essay by Bill James in which he concludes that Jeter "was probably the most ineffective defensive player in the major leagues, at any position" over his entire career. A 2008 study by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania found that, from 2002 through 2005, Jeter was the worst defensive shortstop in MLB. Two sites that rely on advanced defensive statistics, FanGraphs.com and FieldingBible.com, rated Jeter below middle-of-the-pack status in 2010, despite his receiving his fifth Gold Glove Award that season.Jeter committed 18 errors in 2007, his highest total since finishing with 24 in 2000. After the season, Cashman and his staff saw Jeter's defense as an area that needed to be addressed. At the Yankees' request, Jeter embarked on a rigorous training program to combat the effects of age, by focusing on lateral movement and first-step quickness. Jeter's ultimate zone rating (UZR) improved from worst in the AL for shortstops in 2007 to close to league average in 2008