Elvis Andrews got shafted

Generally speaking, RP's are less valuable than position players and SPs. A relief pitcher logs significantly fewer innings than a hitter does at bats or fielder or starter does innings and even if they put up Joe Nathan-like numbers over 75 IPs, that's just 5.1% of a team's total innings played (assuming that no games go into extras).

Enter the Elvis Andrus-Andrew Bailey-Gordon Beckham debate.

Bailey had a fantastic 2009. He posted a 2.56 FIP and 91 Ks (3.79 K/BB) over 83.1 IPs. He was one of baseball's five most valuable relievers last year. But, because of his limited innings load, he was only worth +2.4 WAR. Gordon Beckham was almost as valuable, at +2.0 WAR, but his defensive struggles learning to play third reduced his value by quarter of a win.

Then there is Elvis Andrus. Andrus was not just a good shortstop last year. He was essentially tied for the honor of best defensive SS in the AL (Cesar Izturis was 1/10 of a win better at defense). Playing fantastic defense at short and slightly below average offense (-5.0 runs) over 1238 innings/541 PAs will make you a +3.0 win player. Defense is always undervalued and Elvis Andrus has a lot of it.

Baseball writers are always getting it wrong, so Andrus' failure to win ROY should come at no surprise. However, if I voted before today (the first time I ever looked at Andrus' specific fielding numbers), I too would have gotten it wrong and voted for Bailey. It just goes to show you just how underrated Andrus' defense truly was. Even amongst us baseball "stat guys."