Yankees - Red Sox Comparison: Shortstop

All right, it's finally summer break in New Mexico, so hopefully now I'll be able to post with some regularity.

Now let's continue the Boskees comparison I've been doing. Today we have shortstops.

Derek Jeter vs. Jed Lowrie/Julio Lugo

Derek Jeter:

The Captain, one of the greatest Yankees in history. While he has been on a steady decline, he is still a solid shortstop. There has been some controversy concerning his defense lately. Some of the statistics come up with by Bill James to measure defensive prowess have rated Jeter as the worst defensive shortstop in the league, despite the fact that his peers voted him to win each of his 3 Gold Gloves. I don't buy into stats being everything, but I also think Jeter won his first Gold Glove off of one single catch, and possibly his second. You all know the catch. This one?

So my opinion of DJ's defense is that he's just about average. Maybe a teensy bit below, but not worst-shortstop-in-the-league below. Offensively I think Derek is, at this point, basically a singles hitter most of the time. He can tear it up every now and then, but overall at this point in his career he's a useful tool, but not a middle-of-the-lineup or offense leader type. He is one of the, if not the leader of the team. He brings invaluable experience and leadership skills to the team, which is why he is the captain, one of the three in the American League (Red Sox' Jason Varitek, White Sox' Paul Konerko). Tends to catch fire in key spots, and The Captain's incredibly clutch in the playoffs.

Jed Lowrie/Julio Lugo:

The two JL's will be sharing shortstop this year with the majority of the time going to Lowrie once he comes off the disabled list. Lowrie is in his second year, and while he has strong potential, he's unpolished and inexperienced at this point. He played just about exactly half a season last year (double his stats and it comes to 162 games, 520 at-bats, 144 hits, a .258 average, 4 home runs, 92 RBIs, and an impressive 50 doubles (with a .258 average!). Julio Lugo, thus far, has been a bust and done very little to deserve his 4-year, multimillion dollar contract. The Red Sox signed him after one of the better years in his career (.276 average, 12 homers, 24 stolen bases). Since then he has been basically a one-dimensional player, with only speed. Lugo is filling in for the rehabilitating Lowrie, which is kinda -- um -- a bad starting shortstop to have. Once Lowrie's back, it will be solid but unpolished still, with Lugo providing speed off the bench.

Advantage: Yankees

Likely you Yankee fans know what has happened lately, so I actually won't be reviewing those games. Today we're in Texas with Andy Pettitte starting. I'll be reviewing that game later on, I suppose.

Thanks for reading. I'll be posting more often.

UPDATE: My bad, last night's game was in New York. Yes, I knew that, I just screwed up.