And the Derek Jeter BS machine starts up

Gregg Doyel, who's often pretty full of teh stupidz at CBS, weighs in on Derek Jeter's greatness by saying The Cap'n was one of the five best shortstops ever.

He openly and gleefully bases this only on offensive stats. And, even claims he was top 3 or 4.

Reality? Jay Jaffe's JAWS system puts him at No. 12, though I Tweeted Doyel that I'd put him in the top 10, graciously.

Among those ranking higher if you actually count defense, which is, of course, a big part of shortstop? Which Doyel ignores.

Ozzie Smith, as I noted in this blog post, just beats him, flat out.

Or, as I recently noted on a Jeter legacy piece, the Reds' Barry Larkin is in the same neighborhood. So is Alan Trammell.

But, let's play along with Doyel.

Offense? Easy snapshot is career OPS+.

And, ahead of Jeter? Honus Wagner,  Alex Rodriguez, George Davis of dead ball days, Arky Vaughn,
Ernie Banks, Lou Boudreau, and Joe Cronin. Larkin is just a point behind and may pass you as a result of your final season.

So, that's No. 8 for Jeter right now on offense alone, possibly No. 9 by retirement. And, all of them with the exception of A-Rod are HOFers.

So, Gregg, just stop the bullshit. 

Update, Feb. 24: You too, Buster Olney.

Buster appears to be smoking Doyel's crack. This is why I would never pay to read ESPN Insider bullshit. Matthew Pouliot, fortunately, did, and takes Buster to the woodshed.