Shortstop FWS FWAA Cabrera 8.0 1.2 Young 7.3 2.0 Peralta 6.7 0.5 E.Aybar 6.1 1.0 Aviles 5.5 0.3 Crosby 5.3 -0.7 Bartlett 5.3 -0.6
Last year's winner, Juan Uribe, moved to third base. Orlando Cabrera finished second, so he glides into the top spot. Cabrera's replacement in LA, Erick Aybar, also made the list, as did rookie Mike Aviles.
And how about Michael Young, whose defense has been consistently derided over the years? Those are days of the past. He was terrible from 2003-2005...possibly the worst in the league. But he had a great 2006, and average 2007, and another really good 2008. Got to give him props for improving.
Using the composite method with 4.8 as the average WS for a shortstop, Michael Young wins this. Holy crap. Cabrera finishes second, perhaps masking for the White Sox how much he fell off at the plate. Aybar comes in third.
Last year the Iron Glove went to Brendan Harris because he was a disaster for Tampa Bay (problem solved with Jason Bartlett). This year he split time between positions, and generally played a solid shortstop. Not so for Yuniesky Betancourt, who was awful by all measures. Far worse than the next worst shortstop, Edgar Renteria. (Aside, I thought Renteria was old, but he's only 33 next season. Guess than happens when you are playing full time at age 20).
