In his interview with Paul DePodesta, Steve Henson of the Los Angeles Times writes that “Jeff Kent has been as advertised offensively and significantly better defensively at second.” The latter characterization is slowly becoming the conventional wisdom among the mainstream press. It expresses pleasant surprise at the slugger’s glove. Well, as of May 18, Kent trailed only Craig Counsell in fielding win shares among NL second basemen.
Meanwhile, Cesar Izturis stands alongside Clint Barmes and David Eckstein at the top of the league’s shortstop list. But the reigning gold-glove winner has been doing it more at the plate than at the hole. He’s the position leader in batting win shares (5.0). On defense, his 1.5 ranks fourth.
Lastly, as Studes points out, the Hee Seop Choi-Olmedo Saenz platoon has a combined 10 win shares, which tie MVP contenders Derrek Lee and Bobby Abreu (and exceed Albert Pujols). Of course, Saenz has logged some time at third, so some apples are mixed with the oranges. But we can say, at the very least, that the Dodgers’ problems do not lie at first. (It’s actually in the rotation.)