Baseball Hall of Fame 2017: How new-age metrics view Pudge Rodriguez's defense

Rodriguez won 13 Gold Gloves during his career

With longtime Texas Rangers catcher Ivan Rodriguez set to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, this is as good of a time as any to reflect upon his career. This is also a great time to ask the question: just how do all those new defensive metrics paint Rodriguez's defense, anyway?

For those not in the know, the public has gotten better at evaluating catchers' work behind the plate since Rodriguez retired following the 2011 season. Specifically, Baseball Prospectus has a firmer grasp on how to judge catchers' abilities to frame and block pitches. Rodriguez was best known for his ability to throw out baserunners -- and hey, there's a fancy new metric for that, too.

We'll begin with framing, however, since it's the skill catchers can flex most often. Rodriguez, for his part, wasn't great at it for most of his career. In fact, he finished his career with -9.6 framing runs -- a total comprising a stretch from 2004-09 that saw him tally -26.9 runs. Ouch. The good news for Rodriguez is twofold: 1. That was by far the worst stretch of his career as a receiver; and 2. He finished on a high note, notching 15.6 framing runs over his final season-plus.

On a similar note, Rodriguez seldom graded well as a blocker. For his career, he checked in at -8.1 runs. As with his framing, Rodriguez saved his best for the end: his 4.6 framing runs in 2010 was a greater sum than all his other positive blocking seasons combined. Really.

We saved the best for last. Yes, predictably, Rodriguez graded well as a thrower. He earned roughly 68 runs with his arm over the course of his career. That includes five seasons where he notched at least five runs. He owns four of the top-five throwing seasons in BP's database. Sounds about right for a catcher who threw out 46 percent of attempted thieves in his career.

Add it all together, and Rodriguez was indeed an above-average defensive backstop -- even with the new metrics placing more emphasis on aspects he didn't excel at. BP has Rodriguez down for roughly 73 fielding runs above average over his career. Add in the unquantifiable aspects -- like how he handled a pitching staff -- and it's fair to say that Rodriguez passes both the eye test and the numbers test as an impact-level defender.