With Derek Jeter's Win, Gold Glove Awards Are Now Officially Irrelevant

Well, it was bound to happen eventually.

Maybe the events of today were foreshadowed years ago, but the official death knell for the integrity of baseball's Gold Glove awards occured today when New York Yankees short stop Derek Jeter won his fifth Gold Glove.

Jeter won the award, despite being possibly the worst fielding shortstop in the American League.

Apparently, no voters watched Elvis Andrus, Alexi Ramirez, or Cesar Izturis at any point this year. Understandable, seeing as how they only played 454 games between the three of them in 2010.

One can only assume the voting for these awards must not taken very seriously, with managers and coaches voting while on their way out to the links after a long season. So, voters will likely vote for those they think can play, whether not not they actually did that particular season.

The other winners of the award in 2010 are deserving (thus far at least, the NL results are released tomorrow), whether or not any were voted in based on reputation alone.

However, these awards can define a player's legacy and voting should be treated with more care. Not many people can rattle off Ozzie Smith's career UZR rating, but some can tell you he did win 13 Gold Gloves.

One thing is for sure, John Sterling may be saying "past a diving Jeter!" more often than his hokey catchphrases.