MLB teams
Doug Mittler, ESPN.com 10y

Cheap leather

MLB, Detroit Tigers, New York Mets, Milwaukee Brewers, San Francisco Giants, Arizona Diamondbacks, St. Louis Cardinals, Atlanta Braves, Chicago Cubs, Kansas City Royals, Tampa Bay Rays

MLB execs claim to value defense, yet the big contracts, like Miguel Cabrera's $292M deal, routinely go to sluggers, not glovemen. Last year Cabrera had the worst Ultimate Zone Rating -- a metric that measures how many runs a player saved through his fielding -- among all qualifying third basemen. No matter. Says Mets GM Sandy Alderson, "The market is established by offense because defensive numbers are difficult to ascertain." But that's changing. Stats like UZR are gaining traction, and this season MLB is debuting technology that tracks every defensive play in glorious, granular detail. By 2015, the system will be in every MLB park. Until then, catch these defensive bargains.

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