Introducing GUTI Posted by The Duke of GaGa |

Fans of the site have been asking us about defensive metrics for quite a while now. And we can now say that we have completed our study of defense and have come up with a great new system, GUTI. For those of you familiar with defensive metrics already, most notably UZR, GUTI is quite a bit different. Whereas metrics like UZR can seem difficult for the uninitiated, GUTI is extremely simple. It perhaps lacks the power of some of these other metrics, but after extensive comparison, we believe that GUTI comes extremely close to both other defensive metrics and a player's true defensive talent.

Now let's compare UZR to GUTI: Jacboy Ellsbury, for example, had a -18.6 rating last season in center field. Meanwhile, Mike Cameron, who will take over CF duties for the Red Sox this year, put up a 10.0 rating last season in CF. So, what does this mean? Other than Cameron is pretty good and Ellsbury seems really bad, we have no idea. That's why we read Dave Cameron. Also, in order to argue about a player's defensive worth in terms of UZR, you really need 3 seasons worth of data. So how good is Michael Saunders? Nobody really knows.

And here is the brilliance of GUTI. GUTI is an integer-based system, so none of this 5.5, 4.7 or -18.6 business. GUTI's ratings range from 0-1 and are extremely easy to understand. Franklin Gutierrez is a 1. Everyone else is a 0. Some people have said that this system is not as precise as UZR or Dewan. We disagree. Franklin Gutierrez is precisely 1 point better than everyone else. Bang, let's move on. We recently sat down with Gutierrez and asked him how he felt about being the top-rated defensive player based on our metric.

DoG: "So Franklin, GUTI rates you at 1 and everyone else at 0, what do you think?"
FG: "Honestly, it just quantifies what I've felt for a long, long time. I'm just a one, living in a world of zeroes."
DoG: "Wow, good answer. And may we just say that you are incredibly good looking."