Who is the best shortstop in New York?

The real answer to this question is almost certainly Alex Rodriguez. But since he'll be playing third base for the Yankees, once again, let's look at Jose Reyes vs. Derek Jeter.

Jose Reyes is a young rising star who will turn 26 in June. Derek Jeter is an old fading star who will turn 35 in June. Derek Jeter's numbers look as though he is in decline. Jose Reyes's numbers look as though he is in ascent, or at the very least at a plateau - certainly not in decline. You might think that this is enough to say that Reyes is more valuable - in 2009 - than Jeter is, but some persistent Yankee fans have been hard-headed enough to lead me to pull some numbers out.

2008 Numbers

Reyes vs. Jeter
.833 OPS .771
113 Runs 88
37 Doubles 25
19 Triples 3
16 HR 11
56 SB 11
15 CS 5
9 GDP 24

Jose Reyes beats Derek Jeter in almost every major offensive category. Jeter does manage to squeak by Reyes in batting average and on-base percentage but those few points are nothing compared with the huge difference in their power numbers. Jeter also produces more outs, with many more double plays and has a significantly worse stolen base percentage.

On the fielding side of things, Reyes fielder much more balls than average for his position in the National League, while Jeter fielded fewer than AL average. So, while Jeter had a better fielding percentage than Reyes, he also made fewer plays. It is not worth having a fielder with no range and few errors over one with good range and more errors. Reyes, playing with a variety of second basemen, also turned many more DPs (89 to 69) than Jeter, playing essentially with Robinson Cano.

Overall, I (and the Mets) will go with Reyes.