Bill James who is as venerated and respected as they come, especially from MLB statisticians, analysts and baseball junkies everywhere, just unveiled his selections for the 2008 Baseball Fielding Awards.
Carlos Beltran was named the best fielding centerfielder in baseball for the second time in his career. Here is what Bill James had to say…
Center Field – Carlos Beltran, New York Mets
Like Carl Crawford in left, Carlos Beltran won the award for center fielders in 2006, but he finished second to Andruw Jones in a close battle in 2007. Now he wins his second Fielding Bible Award with 82 points. Minnesota’s rookie speedster Carlos Gomez (74 points) finished second. Unlike Crawford, Beltran played injury free in 2008, starting 158 games in center field for the Mets, the highest total of his career.
Interesting to note is who finished in second place behind Beltran… Former Met, Carlos Gomez!
The only other Mets to finish in the top ten were David Wright who ranked sixth, and Jose Reyes who ranked tenth.
Congratulations to Carlos Beltran on this small, but distinguished achievement.
