If it's getting difficult for you to sort out the plethora of postseason awards being handed out these days, join the club.
Last night, the Wilson Defensive Player of the Year Awards were announced. Don't confuse them with the Gold Glove Awards, which are awarded by another prominent sporting goods company, Rawlings. And don't get the Gold Gloves confused with the Platinum Glove Award, which will be awarded tonight.
They're all different, but by the end of this post, you will hopefully be well-schooled.
Back to last night: It was a bit of a surprise to see Orioles third baseman Manny Machado miss out on the Wilson American League Defensive Player of the Year Award to Boston Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia, especially since the award was based heavily on sabermetric stats. It caused quite a roar among Orioles fans on Twitter, as well.
Machado led all AL defensive players in both defensive runs saved (35) and defensive wins above replacement (4.3), which together accounted for 50 percent of the award. Pedroia recorded 15 defensive runs saved and a 2.2 defensive WAR.
Pedroia had a higher fielding percentage (.993) than Machado (.973), but that accounted for only 10 percent of the award.
That means the remaining 40 percent made the difference for Pedroia. That portion came from fielding rankings (20 percent) and arm accuracy rankings (20 percent) from Inside Edge, a scouting service that provides data and reports to major league clubs. I haven't seen those rankings --they're not publicly available --but they had to favor Pedroia drastically, considering Machado's sabermetric stats were much better than Pedroia's.
The Wilson awards, which are in their second year of existence, are unique for the fact that they're mostly statistically based. In addition to the league awards, they also recognize one player on each team. Machado, unsurprisingly, won for the Orioles.
He could get redemption against Pedroia tonight when the Platinum Glove Awards are announced. The award, created in 2011, is given to the top overall defensive player in each league. Rangers third baseman Adrian Beltre has won the AL award the past two years. He won't win three straight because the award is selected from the pool of Gold Glove Award winners, and Machado beat him at third base this season.