The most overrated baseball player of all-time finally got into the Hall of Fame. Yes, I’m talking about Derek Jeter. Is there even any other answer besides for Bryce Harper? For some reason, people have become quite mad at the fact that Jeter did not become a unanimous Hall of Famer. Not sure why considering Mariano Rivera is the only one to become unanimous. Regardless, I don’t really care about the Hall of Fame. I’m out on the whole thing. Wake me up when Barry Bonds gets in. Otherwise, I don’t care. Here is what I do know. Prime Nomar Garciaparra was better than prime Derek Jeter.
Derek Jeter Vs Nomar Garciaparra. Prime Nomar Was Better.
Don’t ask me why people put Jeter on this pedestal. Jeter was a good baseball player. Great? That depends. Do you consider Nomar Garciaparra great? If you compare the career averages of Derek Jeter and Nomar Garciaparra, it’s pretty obvious that Nomar was the more dangerous force at the plate.
I won’t debate legacy because Jeter wins that one. He did it for longer and will be remembered for memorable postseason plays. That’s not what I’m debating. I’m debating that at their best, Nomar was the better player. Garciaparra’s career was cut short because of injuries. He also suffered bad wrist injuries that hurt him at the plate. If you take just their single season career highs, it’s hard to find a category Jeter wins.
The biggest myth in Jeter’s legacy is trying to argue he was a good defender. The former Yankees shortstop won 5 gold gloves and never deserved any of them. All of which oddly came from age 30-36 where it’s pretty odd he become a better fielder at a demanding position as he aged? Makes no sense does it? It’s because it never made sense.
From 2004-2010 FanGraphs gave him a defensive rating of 7.7 which ranked 18th out of the 24 qualified shortstops. That kind of information wasn’t embraced like it is today. No Jeter didn’t make a ton of errors, but that’s also not the best way to quantify defense. It would be like saying Isaiah Thomas deserves defensive player of the year because he doesn’t commit a lot of fouls. It’s not a smart way to do it.
Defensive runs saved became a real stat in 2003. Jeter entered the league in 1995 so we’re missing a few years. From 2003-2014 when Jeter retired, he posted the worst defensive runs saved mark for a shortstop ever with -152. Hanley Ramirez was the next worst during that stretch with -72 defensive runs saved. Jeter wasn’t just a bad defender. There’s an argument to be made that he was THE worst defender at his position.
Nomar wasn’t the best defender either. He finished his career with -11 defensive runs saved. He also was forced off his position for a reason and often played first base when he got older.
If Jeter played for the Reds, you probably wouldn’t care about him. He would be another Bary Larkin. No disrespect to Larkin because he was terrific. We have just taken Jeter’s ability to a place it never was. He wasn’t even the best shortstop on his team for a good stretch. Alex Rodriguez was SIGNIFICANTLY BETTER. I don’t even have to start with ARod because he’s the best shortstop ever. BUT… Nomar Garciaparra was better than Jeter too.
Jeter will always be remembered for the rings and championship moments. That shouldn’t be taken away. We get it. I should however also mention that Garciaparra finished his career with a higher average, on base, and OPS than Jetes in postseason play. A lot less at bats, for sure, but Nomar was no slouch.
At the end of the day, Nomar Garciaparra beats Derek Jeter in average, OPS, WAR7, 162 WL%, and basically any defensive metric you want to use. Oh, and Nomar won two batting titles. Jeter never won one. Cry all you want about Jeter not being a unanimous Hall of Famer. He wasn’t nearly as good as you think he was.
