Brandon Inge, defensive wizard?

According to Peter Gammons, in a survey of 50 GMs, scouts, executives, and managers, Brandon Inge was listed as the 5th best defensive infielder in the majors. Scott Rolen was the only thirdbaseman that rated higher.

Now I know he has a ton of potential at D with his quick feet and cannon arm, but he's not there yet. He has been charged with 13 errors on the season. That only rates him ahead of David Wright and Troy Glaus in the majors. Though his fielding percentage of .950 does rank ahead of 6 other third sackers in the majors. The interesting stat is that his range factor (putouts+assists/innings played) is far and away #1 in the majors at his position which means he gets to a lot of balls.


What does this all mean? I think it means that professional talent evaluators know that Inge has fabulous defensive potential. I don't think they realize that he isn't there yet. Hopefully he can cut down on the errors, because he might have some gold gloves in the future.