Jeter Just Got More Expensive

When the Yankees and Jeter sit down to discuss Jeter's next contract the Yankees will now be trying to sign a 5-time Gold Glove winner.

You have to admit, that does look good, right?

That's right, Derek Jeter just won his 5th Gold Glove. 

If this keeps up, whatever ounce of respect that the award still has will be lost.  Maybe it's because I was a kid or maybe it's because the Award has carries a little less meaning now, but when I was younger I used to care about this sort of thing.  I loved that Don Mattingly had 9 Gold Gloves, or that Greg Maddux just kept on winning them.  It seems different now though, Ichiro Suzuki just won his 10th Gold Glove, and I hardly care. 

There should be only one qualification for winning the Gold Glove-- field your position really well.  Instead it's come down to this:

• Hitting.  To win a Gold Glove you have to hit.  Jimmy Rollins was always a solid fielder but he had to hit 20+ doubles, triples, and home runs to get noticed for his fielding in 2007.
• Familiarity.  If Player A was worthy last year, he has to be this year!  Contrary to what seems to be the popular belief, players have up and down years in the field just like they do at the plate.  
• Laziness.  Just a total lack of effort.  Derek Jeter is often "voted" the most overrated player in the league, by people in the league.  So, how can those people vote him for the best fielder, when everyone around baseball KNOWS that he's not?  They're lazy.
• Year(s)-After-Effect.  Franklin Gutierrez won the Gold Glove this year even though it was in 2008 and 2009 where he was truly magnificent.  It takes a while for the chatter about an under-the-radar fielder to make its way around, and often when he's finally selected he's not necessarily deserving.  Gutierrez deserved it in years passed, but this year Brett Gardner should have won it.  Expect Gardy to take the hardware home next year, regardless if he plays well in the field or not.
• Team Goodness.  Forgive my phrasing, but a team has to be good often times for someone to win the award.  The Yankees had 3 Gold Glove winners this year (Jeter, Teixeira, Cano) even though you can make a case that neither deserved it.  

I figured there was no chance that Jeter, after batting .270, would still get "credit" for his fielding this year, so I didn't think I would have to write about this "award".  But, since he did I had to mention , hopefully for the last time, how useless this award is.  Unless something drastic happens to this award, whether it is a newvoting process or having the voters actually taking their time (I don't buy it for one bit that the voters take this thing seriously, otherwise Jeter wouldn't have won) consider this the last time I write about this award, if that's what you even want to call it.