What Becomes Of 35 Year Old Shortstops?

With all the recent talk about Derek Jeter's future with the Yankees, I thought it might be interesting to look at the history of 35 year old shortstops in baseball. While every player is unique and it shouldn't be assumed that they will follow the same patterns as their predecessors, it may at least give us some idea of the different paths Jeter's future could follow.

So first, I ran a query for every player who played most of his innings at shortstop at age 35. I'm not excluding anyone, so even players with one PA will get included. First, I'll mention that there have been 50211 unique player seasons, excluding pitchers at all positions, including pinch-hitting, pinch-running and DHing. Of those 50211 seasons, 321 have been a player aged 35 or older who have played most of their innings at SS. Of those, 107 were for a player who was exactly 35 (using season minus birth year to calculate age).

While I don't think data from the late 1800s - early 1900s tells us anything useful in regards to modern day player aging, I kept those players in on the hope that I may stumble upon another Birdie Cree.

Here's the full list of those 107 players.

player	year	tm	lg	age	pos	pa	avg/obp/slg	wOBA	wOBA+	BRAA
Honus Wagner	1909	PIT	NL	35	SS	564	.339/.420/.489	.401	142	54
Joe Cronin	1941	BOS	AL	35	SS	601	.311/.406/.508	.398	123	36
Derek Jeter	2009	NYA	AL	35	SS	712	.334/.406/.465	.386	115	36
Eddie Joost	1951	PHA	AL	35	SS	665	.289/.409/.461	.387	120	35
George Davis	1905	CHA	AL	35	SS	614	.278/.353/.340	.318	116	27
Candy Nelson	1884	NY4	AA	35	SS	515	.255/.375/.310	.325	123	27
Dave Bancroft	1926	BSN	NL	35	SS	519	.311/.399/.384	.358	112	23
Alan Trammell	1993	DET	AL	35	SS	443	.329/.388/.496	.385	117	23
Bobby Wallace	1908	SLA	AL	35	SS	541	.253/.327/.324	.298	111	14
Miguel Tejada	2009	HOU	NL	35	SS	673	.313/.340/.455	.344	106	12
Barry Larkin	1999	CIN	NL	35	SS	682	.293/.390/.420	.363	108	12
Pee Wee Reese	1953	BRO	NL	35	SS	610	.271/.374/.420	.355	108	12
Bill Dahlen	1905	NY1	NL	35	SS	594	.242/.337/.337	.309	107	9
Tony Lazzeri	1938	CHN	NL	35	SS	142	.267/.380/.433	.363	116	6
Walt Weiss	1998	ATL	NL	35	SS	412	.280/.386/.343	.339	104	5
Omar Vizquel	2002	CLE	AL	35	SS	656	.275/.341/.418	.333	101	5
Jack Glasscock	1892	SLN	NL	35	SS	617	.267/.327/.348	.305	105	4
Luke Appling	1942	CHA	AL	35	SS	609	.262/.342/.341	.312	101	4
Ozzie Smith	1989	SLN	NL	35	SS	653	.273/.335/.361	.313	104	4
Luis Aparicio	1969	CHA	AL	35	SS	671	.280/.352/.362	.323	105	4
Joe Tinker	1915	CHF	FL	35	SS	80	.269/.388/.328	.336	114	4
Mike Bordick	2000	BAL/NYN	AL	35	SS	640	.285/.341/.443	.341	99	3
Art Fletcher	1920	NY1/PHI	NL	35	SS	575	.284/.315/.396	.312	104	3
Jimmy Johnston	1924	BRO	NL	35	SS	343	.298/.356/.365	.326	101	3
Nomar Garciaparra	2008	LAN	NL	35	SS	181	.264/.326/.466	.340	104	3
Phil Rizzuto	1951	NYA	AL	35	SS	603	.274/.350/.346	.318	99	1
Greg Gagne	1996	LAN	NL	35	SS	483	.255/.333/.364	.314	97	1
Ed Caskin	1886	NY1	NL	35	SS	4	.500/.500/.500	.450	157	1
John Morrill	1890	BSP	PL	35	SS	9	.143/.333/.143	.260	80	-1
Lou Boudreau	1952	BOS	AL	35	SS	2	.000/.000/.000	.000	0	-1
Fred Pfeffer	1895	LS3	NL	35	SS	50	.289/.360/.311	.313	93	-1
Chick Keating	1926	PHI	NL	35	SS	2	.000/.000/.000	.000	0	-1
Ernie Johnson	1923	CHA/NYA	AL	35	SS	96	.297/.333/.385	.319	97	-1
John Valentin	2002	NYN	NL	35	SS	242	.240/.339/.356	.316	97	-1
Dave Altizer	1911	CIN	NL	35	SS	85	.227/.318/.307	.289	93	-1
Lou Merloni	2006	CLE	AL	35	SS	21	.211/.286/.263	.256	76	-2
Nolen Richardson	1938	CIN	NL	35	SS	103	.290/.311/.330	.288	92	-2
Ivan DeJesus	1988	DET	AL	35	SS	18	.176/.222/.176	.190	60	-2
Roger Peckinpaugh	1926	WS1	AL	35	SS	175	.238/.360/.299	.313	95	-2
Bill Almon	1987	PIT/NYN	NL	35	SS	83	.230/.313/.284	.279	86	-3
Marty Marion	1952	SLA	AL	35	SS	206	.247/.320/.339	.299	96	-3
Paul Popovich	1975	PIT	NL	35	SS	44	.200/.273/.225	.238	76	-3
Tim Foli	1985	PIT	NL	35	SS	41	.189/.268/.189	.224	73	-3
Billy Klaus	1963	PHI	NL	35	SS	19	.056/.105/.056	.085	29	-4
Dickey Pearce	1871	NY2	NA	35	SS	167	.270/.287/.301	.265	87	-4
Hank Schreiber	1926	CHN	NL	35	SS	18	.056/.056/.111	.069	21	-4
Frankie Crosetti	1945	NYA	AL	35	SS	510	.238/.341/.293	.299	99	-4
Alvin Dark	1957	SLN	NL	35	SS	620	.290/.326/.381	.313	98	-5
Dal Maxvill	1974	PIT/OAK	NL	35	SS	84	.189/.286/.189	.236	77	-5
Eddie Bressoud	1967	SLN	NL	35	SS	76	.134/.237/.224	.219	73	-5
Mick Kelleher	1982	DET/CAL	AL	35	SS	56	.160/.250/.180	.212	66	-5
Alan Strange	1941	SLA	AL	35	SS	127	.232/.323/.268	.280	86	-5
John McDonald	2009	TOR	AL	35	SS	155	.258/.271/.384	.283	85	-6
Ed McKean	1899	SLN	NL	35	SS	297	.260/.310/.339	.292	93	-7
Frank Shugart	1901	CHA	AL	35	SS	445	.251/.301/.345	.288	93	-7
Ossie Bluege	1935	WS1	AL	35	SS	358	.263/.341/.325	.307	92	-7
Leo Durocher	1940	BRO	NL	35	SS	172	.231/.285/.319	.271	87	-7
Rabbit Maranville	1926	BRO	NL	35	SS	260	.235/.312/.312	.286	89	-7
Chris Speier	1985	CHN	NL	35	SS	237	.243/.295/.349	.286	93	-7
Billy Rogell	1939	DET	AL	35	SS	200	.230/.330/.333	.304	90	-7
Dickie Thon	1993	ML4	AL	35	SS	272	.269/.324/.331	.295	90	-8
Gil English	1944	BRO	NL	35	SS	85	.152/.212/.228	.202	66	-8
Jose Valentin	2004	CHA	AL	35	SS	498	.216/.287/.473	.322	95	-8
Jose Vizcaino	2003	HOU	NL	35	SS	199	.249/.281/.365	.283	86	-9
Cal Ripken	1995	BAL	AL	35	SS	612	.262/.324/.422	.324	96	-9
Wayne Tolleson	1990	NYA	AL	35	SS	81	.149/.210/.189	.188	59	-9
Alvaro Espinoza	1997	SEA	AL	35	SS	75	.181/.213/.194	.190	56	-9
Craig Reynolds	1987	HOU	NL	35	SS	412	.254/.303/.348	.289	89	-10
Alfredo Griffin	1992	TOR	AL	35	SS	161	.233/.273/.280	.251	79	-10
Roy Hughes	1946	PHI	NL	35	SS	296	.236/.287/.283	.261	85	-11
Germany Smith	1898	SLN	NL	35	SS	182	.159/.275/.204	.236	78	-11
Sparky Adams	1929	PIT	NL	35	SS	212	.260/.316/.311	.287	83	-11
Alex Grammas	1961	SLN	NL	35	SS	191	.212/.293/.282	.266	83	-11
Don Kessinger	1977	SLN/CHA	NL	35	SS	282	.237/.309/.281	.273	85	-12
Billy Jurges	1943	NY1	NL	35	SS	538	.229/.310/.279	.276	91	-13
Fred Stanley	1982	OAK	AL	35	SS	258	.193/.287/.250	.255	79	-13
Orlando Cabrera	2009	MIN/OAK	AL	35	SS	702	.284/.316/.389	.309	92	-14
Ed Holly	1914	PTF	FL	35	SS	367	.246/.281/.294	.260	85	-14
Rabbit Warstler	1938	BSN	NL	35	SS	515	.231/.303/.270	.268	85	-14
Ozzie Guillen	1999	ATL	NL	35	SS	250	.241/.284/.323	.271	80	-15
Royce Clayton	2005	ARI	NL	35	SS	563	.270/.320/.351	.301	92	-15
Joe Boley	1931	PHA	AL	35	SS	241	.228/.282/.295	.262	80	-15
Leo Cardenas	1973	CLE	AL	35	SS	208	.215/.264/.236	.233	74	-16
Mark Christman	1948	WS1	AL	35	SS	435	.259/.303/.318	.281	86	-16
Dick Groat	1965	SLN	NL	35	SS	651	.254/.316/.315	.288	95	-16
Freddie Patek	1979	KCA	AL	35	SS	328	.252/.293/.317	.274	84	-16
Garry Templeton	1991	SDN/NYN	NL	35	SS	289	.221/.246/.304	.242	79	-16
Bert Campaneris	1977	TEX	AL	35	SS	608	.254/.314/.341	.295	91	-16
Bill Russell	1983	LAN	NL	35	SS	490	.246/.302/.286	.271	87	-16
Wally Gerber	1926	SLA	AL	35	SS	454	.270/.339/.290	.294	89	-17
Monte Cross	1904	PHA	AL	35	SS	556	.189/.266/.256	.243	89	-18
Mark Belanger	1979	BAL	AL	35	SS	231	.167/.273/.217	.237	72	-18
George Wright	1882	PRO	NL	35	SS	189	.162/.180/.189	.167	61	-18
Davy Force	1884	BFN	NL	35	SS	430	.206/.256/.253	.234	84	-18
Larry Bowa	1980	PHI	NL	35	SS	570	.267/.300/.322	.279	90	-18
Rafael Belliard	1996	ATL	NL	35	SS	145	.169/.179/.218	.175	54	-19
Bob Lillis	1965	HOU	NL	35	SS	435	.221/.267/.255	.241	80	-20
Tommy Corcoran	1904	CIN	NL	35	SS	599	.230/.257/.301	.248	88	-23
Dave Concepcion	1983	CIN	NL	35	SS	591	.233/.303/.280	.270	87	-23
Gene Michael	1973	NYA	AL	35	SS	445	.225/.270/.278	.249	79	-24
Ivy Olson	1920	BRO	NL	35	SS	658	.254/.278/.314	.264	87	-25
Roy McMillan	1964	ML1/NYN	NL	35	SS	412	.214/.248/.253	.228	76	-26
Mickey Doolan	1915	BLF/CHF	FL	35	SS	521	.200/.248/.273	.236	79	-28
George McBride	1915	WS1	AL	35	SS	506	.204/.251/.252	.231	78	-29
Herman Long	1901	BSN	NL	35	SS	544	.216/.254/.284	.241	81	-31
Bones Ely	1898	PIT	NL	35	SS	543	.212/.247/.270	.233	77	-32
Skeeter Webb	1944	CHA	AL	35	SS	534	.211/.242/.271	.230	76	-34

Since cross-era comparison is difficult, I chose to compare players to their league averages without position-adjusting. Variations in position-adjustments and replacement level in different seasons aren't consistent, but performance relative to league average is a slightly more consistent basis for comparison, even though the pool of available talent hasn't been the same throughout the years.

wOBA is the player's weighted on-base average with a park-adjustment. wOBA+ is simply player wOBA divided by the league wOBA times 100 for the season in question. So a wOBA+ of 100 is average, a wOBA+ greater than 100 is better than average. This is similar to OPS+, but I think it's better since it doesn't weigh OBP and SLG equally. BRAA are batting runs above average (not position-adjusted), calculated as (player wOBA minus league wOBA, divided by 1.15 times plate appearances). Because we don't have accurate CS numbers for the early period of baseball, this does not include SB.

What Derek Jeter did in 2009 was pretty impressive. If we add in SB he picks up another five runs and moves ahead of Joe Cronin in value. What's interesting to me is how few 35 year old shortstops were able to even be league average. Amongst guys who got at least 500 PAs, there are only 20 who were able to hit that mark. Keep in mind that this table is comparing shortstops to league average at all positions. Shortstops have typically been seven or eight runs below average offensively over a full season, and if we want to put this in terms of replacement level you can add another 20 or so runs over a full season. Unfortunately in Jeter's case, I'd project him to give away the positional adjustment defensively over the next few years if he follows the typical aging pattern.

Looking back is nice, but the real purpose for this post is to look at what has happened to shortstops as they go past age 35.

player	year	tm	lg	age	pos	pa	avg/obp/slg	wOBA	wOBA+	BRAA
Luke Appling	1943	CHA	AL	36	SS	676	.328/.419/.407	.376	126	45
Honus Wagner	1910	PIT	NL	36	SS	620	.320/.390/.432	.367	122	30
Candy Nelson	1885	NY4	AA	36	SS	484	.255/.353/.310	.310	114	27
Pee Wee Reese	1954	BRO	NL	36	SS	653	.309/.404/.455	.380	116	26
Eddie Joost	1952	PHA	AL	36	SS	667	.244/.388/.415	.363	117	24
George Davis	1906	CHA	AL	36	SS	529	.277/.338/.355	.314	113	18
Luis Aparicio	1970	CHA	AL	36	SS	611	.313/.372/.404	.346	111	18
Barry Larkin	2000	CIN	NL	36	SS	445	.313/.389/.487	.383	113	16
Jack Glasscock	1893	SLN/PIT	NL	36	SS	539	.320/.384/.412	.357	109	15
Bill Dahlen	1906	NY1	NL	36	SS	557	.240/.357/.297	.311	111	14
Ernie Johnson	1924	NYA	AL	36	2B	131	.353/.412/.597	.429	128	11
Monte Cross	1905	PHA	AL	36	SS	277	.266/.332/.349	.309	113	8
Joe Cronin	1942	BOS	AL	36	3B	94	.304/.415/.494	.399	130	7
Tony Lazzeri	1939	BRO/NY1	NL	36	3B	102	.289/.422/.458	.394	123	6
Phil Rizzuto	1952	NYA	AL	36	SS	650	.254/.337/.341	.309	100	5
Bobby Wallace	1909	SLA	AL	36	SS	445	.238/.310/.278	.275	100	4
Chris Speier	1986	CHN	NL	36	3B	172	.284/.349/.452	.349	112	4
Frankie Crosetti	1946	NYA	AL	36	SS	68	.288/.382/.339	.336	108	1
Cal Ripken	1996	BAL	AL	36	SS	707	.278/.341/.466	.349	100	1
Ed Holly	1915	PTF	FL	36	SS	48	.262/.354/.310	.311	105	1
Jimmy Johnston	1925	BRO	NL	36	3B	480	.297/.369/.355	.331	99	1
Alan Strange	1942	SLA	AL	36	3B	40	.270/.325/.324	.296	96	-1
Nolen Richardson	1939	CIN	NL	36	SS	3	.000/.000/.000	.000	0	-1
Roger Peckinpaugh	1927	CHA	AL	36	SS	239	.295/.360/.350	.324	98	-1
Dal Maxvill	1975	OAK	AL	36	SS	10	.200/.200/.200	.180	57	-1
Leo Durocher	1941	BRO	NL	36	SS	43	.286/.302/.310	.276	90	-1
Joe Tinker	1916	CHN	NL	36	SS	11	.100/.182/.100	.147	52	-1
Mickey Doolan	1916	CHN/NY1	NL	36	SS	131	.223/.282/.322	.271	96	-2
Rabbit Maranville	1927	SLN	NL	36	SS	31	.241/.290/.276	.261	81	-2
Marty Marion	1953	SLA	AL	36	3B	7	.000/.000/.000	.000	0	-2
Bill Russell	1984	LAN	NL	36	SS	289	.267/.329/.321	.297	97	-2
Ossie Bluege	1936	WS1	AL	36	2B	363	.288/.375/.342	.332	96	-2
Bill Almon	1988	PHI	NL	36	3B	29	.115/.207/.192	.191	64	-3
Mike Bordick	2001	BAL	AL	36	SS	255	.249/.314/.397	.312	94	-3
Larry Bowa	1981	PHI	NL	36	SS	387	.283/.331/.339	.303	99	-3
Craig Reynolds	1988	HOU	NL	36	SS	169	.255/.290/.317	.273	91	-3
Leo Cardenas	1974	TEX	AL	36	3B	94	.272/.287/.304	.266	86	-3
Nomar Garciaparra	2009	OAK	AL	36	DH	169	.281/.314/.388	.308	92	-3
Alvin Dark	1958	SLN/CHN	NL	36	3B	570	.295/.337/.364	.314	97	-4
Joe Boley	1932	PHA/CLE	AL	36	SS	39	.211/.231/.263	.221	66	-4
Freddie Patek	1980	CAL	AL	36	SS	291	.264/.302/.392	.303	94	-4
Gene Michael	1974	NYA	AL	36	2B	192	.260/.313/.311	.284	92	-4
Jose Valentin	2005	LAN	NL	36	3B	184	.170/.326/.265	.286	87	-6
Mark Christman	1949	WS1	AL	36	3B	121	.214/.273/.313	.263	80	-7
Rafael Belliard	1997	ATL	NL	36	SS	73	.211/.219/.296	.223	68	-7
Dave Bancroft	1927	BSN	NL	36	SS	419	.243/.322/.307	.290	90	-7
Ozzie Guillen	2000	TBA	AL	36	SS	113	.243/.283/.336	.276	80	-7
Omar Vizquel	2003	CLE	AL	36	SS	280	.244/.321/.336	.299	90	-7
Alex Grammas	1962	SLN/CHN	NL	36	SS	82	.205/.244/.244	.224	70	-7
Sparky Adams	1930	SLN	NL	36	3B	616	.314/.365/.409	.345	98	-7
Alan Trammell	1994	DET	AL	36	SS	309	.267/.307/.414	.314	92	-8
Billy Rogell	1940	CHN	NL	36	SS	61	.136/.164/.186	.159	51	-8
Bones Ely	1899	PIT	NL	36	SS	549	.278/.313/.352	.297	95	-8
Davy Force	1885	BFN	NL	36	2B	266	.225/.263/.257	.238	88	-8
Bob Lillis	1966	HOU	NL	36	2B	173	.232/.260/.268	.239	78	-9
Alfredo Griffin	1993	TOR	AL	36	SS	98	.211/.235/.242	.216	66	-10
Ozzie Smith	1990	SLN	NL	36	SS	585	.254/.330/.305	.293	94	-10
Jose Vizcaino	2004	HOU	NL	36	SS	380	.274/.311/.374	.302	91	-11
Dick Groat	1966	PHI	NL	36	SS	633	.260/.311/.320	.286	93	-11
Greg Gagne	1997	LAN	NL	36	SS	550	.251/.298/.354	.290	89	-12
Herman Long	1902	BSN	NL	36	SS	471	.230/.282/.269	.254	90	-12
Walt Weiss	1999	ATL	NL	36	SS	321	.226/.315/.323	.291	86	-13
Don Kessinger	1978	CHA	AL	36	SS	468	.255/.312/.309	.284	90	-14
Rabbit Warstler	1939	BSN	NL	36	SS	366	.243/.292/.292	.267	83	-14
Billy Jurges	1944	NY1	NL	36	3B	269	.211/.279/.240	.244	79	-15
Dave Concepcion	1984	CIN	NL	36	SS	592	.245/.307/.320	.284	92	-15
Dickey Pearce	1872	NY2	NA	36	SS	210	.194/.210/.223	.195	68	-15
George McBride	1916	WS1	AL	36	SS	494	.227/.271/.283	.252	86	-17
Royce Clayton	2006	WAS/CIN	NL	36	SS	495	.258/.307/.341	.290	87	-17
Fred Pfeffer	1896	NY1/CHN	NL	36	2B	401	.241/.292/.337	.281	86	-18
Roy McMillan	1965	NYN	NL	36	SS	558	.242/.280/.292	.259	86	-19
Tommy Corcoran	1905	CIN	NL	36	SS	629	.248/.277/.329	.268	93	-19
Mark Belanger	1980	BAL	AL	36	SS	280	.228/.261/.276	.243	75	-19
Bert Campaneris	1978	TEX	AL	36	SS	294	.186/.245/.238	.223	71	-24
Ivy Olson	1921	BRO	NL	36	SS	684	.267/.301/.345	.288	89	-25
Wally Gerber	1927	SLA	AL	36	SS	475	.224/.284/.295	.264	79	-30
Skeeter Webb	1945	DET	AL	36	SS	437	.199/.254/.238	.229	76	-31

Looking at the same set of players and what they did the following season, we get a list of 77 players. Four players drop from the list because their age 35 season was 2009 (Jeter, Miguel Tejada, John McDonald and Orlando Cabrera), but that's still a pretty big chunk of players who dropped out of the league. On this list, only ten players who got 500 PAs were able to hit at a league average level. Twenty of these players played more games at a position other than shortstop as well, which likely indicates a defensive decline.

player	year	tm	lg	age	pos	pa	avg/obp/slg	wOBA	wOBA+	BRAA
Honus Wagner	1911	PIT	NL	37	SS	546	.334/.423/.507	.408	132	43
Ozzie Smith	1991	SLN	NL	37	SS	635	.285/.380/.367	.342	112	20
Bobby Wallace	1910	SLA	AL	37	SS	558	.258/.324/.323	.296	106	13
Phil Rizzuto	1953	NYA	AL	37	SS	488	.271/.383/.351	.340	107	11
Billy Jurges	1945	NY1	NL	37	3B	200	.324/.405/.403	.367	118	9
Pee Wee Reese	1955	BRO	NL	37	SS	639	.282/.371/.403	.347	107	9
Joe Cronin	1943	BOS	AL	37	3B	88	.312/.398/.558	.409	137	8
Willie Keeler	1909	NYA	AL	37	OF	394	.264/.327/.319	.297	108	7
Jose Valentin	2006	NYN	NL	37	2B	427	.271/.330/.490	.349	105	7
Eddie Joost	1953	PHA	AL	37	SS	222	.249/.401/.384	.361	113	7
George Davis	1907	CHA	AL	37	SS	517	.238/.313/.288	.280	102	4
Chris Speier	1987	SFN	NL	37	2B	363	.249/.342/.394	.329	102	4
Alvin Dark	1959	CHN	NL	37	3B	538	.264/.342/.386	.325	102	3
Candy Nelson	1886	NY4	AA	37	SS	479	.225/.332/.252	.282	100	3
Omar Vizquel	2004	CLE	AL	37	SS	631	.291/.353/.388	.331	100	2
Barry Larkin	2001	CIN	NL	37	SS	185	.256/.373/.372	.341	103	0
Sparky Adams	1931	SLN	NL	37	3B	652	.293/.340/.390	.325	100	0
Frankie Crosetti	1947	NYA	AL	37	SS	1	.000/.000/.000	.000	0	0
Ossie Bluege	1937	WS1	AL	37	SS	141	.283/.355/.370	.328	96	-1
Bill Russell	1985	LAN	NL	37	SS	189	.260/.333/.308	.296	96	-1
Rafael Belliard	1998	ATL	NL	37	SS	20	.250/.250/.250	.225	69	-2
Dickey Pearce	1873	BR2	NA	37	SS	270	.275/.296/.305	.271	93	-2
Paul Richards	1945	DET	AL	37	C	254	.256/.315/.355	.300	99	-2
Leo Cardenas	1975	TEX	AL	37	3B	116	.235/.328/.284	.288	91	-3
Freddie Patek	1981	CAL	AL	37	2B	48	.234/.250/.298	.242	78	-3
Ernie Johnson	1925	NYA	AL	37	2B	178	.282/.315/.412	.317	93	-3
Alex Grammas	1963	CHN	NL	37	SS	27	.185/.185/.185	.167	56	-3
Jimmy Johnston	1926	BSN/NY1	NL	37	OF	142	.238/.324/.270	.281	88	-4
Bob Lillis	1967	HOU	NL	37	SS	83	.244/.253/.256	.230	77	-5
Alan Trammell	1995	DET	AL	37	SS	252	.269/.345/.350	.316	93	-5
Cal Ripken	1997	BAL	AL	37	3B	686	.270/.331/.402	.322	96	-5
Walt Weiss	2000	ATL	NL	37	SS	224	.260/.353/.313	.310	91	-6
Fred Pfeffer	1897	CHN	NL	37	2B	129	.228/.318/.246	.271	83	-7
George McBride	1917	WS1	AL	37	SS	155	.191/.265/.213	.229	79	-8
Jose Vizcaino	2005	HOU	NL	37	2B	204	.246/.299/.337	.284	87	-8
Monte Cross	1906	PHA	AL	37	SS	502	.200/.291/.272	.263	95	-8
Art Fletcher	1922	PHI	NL	37	SS	422	.280/.325/.409	.322	97	-8
Don Kessinger	1979	CHA	AL	37	SS	121	.200/.264/.282	.249	76	-8
Dick Groat	1967	PHI/SFN	NL	37	SS	106	.156/.236/.188	.205	68	-9
Mike Bordick	2002	BAL	AL	37	SS	407	.232/.302/.365	.296	90	-9
Roy McMillan	1966	NYN	NL	37	SS	243	.214/.284/.277	.259	84	-9
Craig Reynolds	1989	HOU	NL	37	2B	208	.201/.274/.254	.247	82	-9
Royce Clayton	2007	TOR/BOS	AL	37	SS	213	.246/.296/.333	.281	85	-10
Gene Michael	1975	DET	AL	37	SS	154	.214/.253/.290	.243	77	-10
Bill Dahlen	1907	NY1	NL	37	SS	519	.207/.291/.254	.257	93	-11
Jack Glasscock	1894	PIT	NL	37	SS	367	.280/.349/.361	.322	90	-11
Rabbit Warstler	1940	BSN/CHN	NL	37	2B	234	.222/.282/.264	.253	81	-11
Mark Belanger	1981	BAL	AL	37	SS	153	.165/.242/.237	.224	72	-11
Dave Concepcion	1985	CIN	NL	37	SS	617	.252/.314/.330	.292	95	-12
Rabbit Maranville	1928	SLN	NL	37	SS	403	.240/.310/.342	.293	90	-13
Skeeter Webb	1946	DET	AL	37	2B	178	.219/.258/.237	.229	74	-14
Bert Campaneris	1979	TEX/CAL	AL	37	SS	272	.230/.290/.278	.262	80	-14
Davy Force	1886	WS8	NL	37	SS	259	.182/.236/.211	.209	73	-16
Herman Long	1903	NYA/DET	AL	37	SS	332	.213/.244/.260	.228	80	-16
Larry Bowa	1982	CHN	NL	37	SS	540	.246/.302/.305	.276	90	-16
Dave Bancroft	1928	BRO	NL	37	SS	576	.247/.326/.303	.292	89	-17
Ivy Olson	1922	BRO	NL	37	2B	578	.272/.306/.347	.291	88	-21
Wally Gerber	1928	SLA/BOS	AL	37	SS	351	.217/.291/.245	.253	78	-21
Luis Aparicio	1971	BOS	AL	37	SS	532	.232/.284/.303	.265	87	-23
Tommy Corcoran	1906	CIN	NL	37	SS	450	.207/.242/.249	.224	80	-24
Bones Ely	1900	PIT	NL	37	SS	493	.244/.272/.282	.250	80	-27

Of those 36 year olds, 61 were still in the league in their age 37 season (Nomar Garciaparra drops as his age 36 season was 2009). Eight were able to hit at league average level with 500 or more PAs.

player	year	tm	lg	age	pos	pa	avg/obp/slg	wOBA	wOBA+	BRAA
Honus Wagner	1912	PIT	NL	38	SS	623	.324/.395/.496	.389	123	40
Ozzie Smith	1992	SLN	NL	38	SS	578	.295/.367/.342	.326	107	14
Luke Appling	1945	CHA	AL	38	SS	69	.368/.478/.526	.443	147	9
Eddie Joost	1954	PHA	AL	38	SS	57	.362/.474/.489	.431	137	6
Joe Cronin	1944	BOS	AL	38	1B	226	.241/.358/.356	.328	108	5
Dickey Pearce	1874	BR2	NA	38	SS	261	.294/.310/.298	.276	101	4
Candy Nelson	1887	NY4/NY1	AA	38	OF	315	.243/.378/.270	.316	101	3
Bill Dahlen	1908	BSN	NL	38	SS	567	.239/.296/.307	.275	101	3
Monte Cross	1907	PHA	AL	38	SS	288	.206/.316/.282	.282	103	1
Willie Keeler	1910	NY1	NL	38	OF	13	.300/.462/.300	.374	125	1
Frankie Crosetti	1948	NYA	AL	38	2B	16	.286/.375/.429	.356	109	0
Chris Speier	1988	SFN	NL	38	2B	196	.216/.311/.333	.293	98	0
Herman Long	1904	PHI	NL	38	2B	4	.250/.250/.250	.225	80	0
Billy Jurges	1946	CHN	NL	38	SS	265	.222/.351/.281	.303	99	0
Leo Durocher	1943	BRO	NL	38	SS	19	.222/.263/.222	.227	75	-1
Sparky Adams	1932	SLN	NL	38	3B	142	.276/.352/.315	.310	97	-2
George Davis	1908	CHA	AL	38	2B	467	.217/.298/.255	.261	98	-2
Mark Belanger	1982	LAN	NL	38	SS	55	.240/.309/.260	.268	87	-2
Tommy Corcoran	1907	NY1	NL	38	2B	233	.265/.288/.323	.272	98	-2
Alvin Dark	1960	PHI/ML1	NL	38	3B	371	.265/.321/.351	.301	96	-2
Ossie Bluege	1938	WS1	AL	38	2B	206	.261/.340/.337	.310	91	-4
Jack Glasscock	1895	LS3/WSN	NL	38	SS	190	.276/.337/.333	.307	91	-4
Luis Aparicio	1972	BOS	AL	38	SS	469	.257/.299/.351	.288	99	-5
Jose Valentin	2007	NYN	NL	38	2B	182	.241/.302/.373	.298	90	-5
Mike Bordick	2003	TOR	AL	38	SS	379	.274/.340/.382	.323	97	-5
Bill Russell	1986	LAN	NL	38	OF	235	.250/.302/.301	.275	88	-6
Paul Richards	1946	DET	AL	38	C	162	.201/.315/.266	.276	89	-6
Skeeter Webb	1947	DET	AL	38	2B	86	.203/.267/.241	.238	76	-6
Jose Vizcaino	2006	SFN/SLN	NL	38	SS	159	.232/.314/.317	.289	87	-6
Dave Concepcion	1986	CIN	NL	38	SS	341	.260/.314/.344	.295	94	-7
Bert Campaneris	1980	CAL	AL	38	SS	227	.252/.300/.329	.282	87	-7
Cal Ripken	1998	BAL	AL	38	3B	658	.271/.331/.389	.320	95	-8
George McBride	1918	WS1	AL	38	SS	53	.132/.132/.132	.119	41	-8
Omar Vizquel	2005	SFN	NL	38	SS	631	.271/.341/.350	.314	96	-8
Rabbit Maranville	1929	BSN	NL	38	SS	611	.284/.344/.366	.320	93	-10
Larry Bowa	1983	CHN	NL	38	SS	538	.267/.312/.339	.292	94	-12
Bobby Wallace	1911	SLA	AL	38	SS	458	.232/.312/.271	.274	88	-12
Ivy Olson	1923	BRO	NL	38	2B	307	.260/.296/.315	.276	85	-13
Dave Bancroft	1929	BRO	NL	38	SS	387	.277/.331/.332	.302	88	-13
Pee Wee Reese	1956	BRO	NL	38	SS	633	.257/.322/.344	.301	95	-17
Phil Rizzuto	1954	NYA	AL	38	SS	351	.195/.291/.251	.257	81	-17
Barry Larkin	2002	CIN	NL	38	SS	561	.245/.305/.367	.297	91	-17
Alan Trammell	1996	DET	AL	38	SS	206	.233/.267/.259	.240	69	-19
Mickey Doolan	1918	BRO	NL	38	2B	330	.179/.233/.218	.210	73	-22
Bones Ely	1901	PIT/PHA	NL	38	SS	422	.212/.232/.265	.222	73	-31

Moving onto age 38, we're down to 45 players. Honus Wagner really was a player, huh? Still putting up forty runs above average at age 38. We're down to three full-time players who were able to hit at league average.

player	year	tm	lg	age	pos	pa	avg/obp/slg	wOBA	wOBA+	BRAA
Luke Appling	1946	CHA	AL	39	SS	653	.309/.384/.378	.347	112	25
Cal Ripken	1999	BAL	AL	39	3B	351	.340/.368/.584	.402	117	20
Honus Wagner	1913	PIT	NL	39	SS	444	.300/.349/.385	.329	109	13
Dave Concepcion	1987	CIN	NL	39	2B	310	.319/.377/.384	.343	106	4
Dickey Pearce	1875	SL2	NA	39	SS	318	.248/.264/.286	.246	98	2
Bill Dahlen	1909	BSN	NL	39	SS	226	.234/.332/.305	.297	105	2
Omar Vizquel	2006	SFN	NL	39	SS	646	.295/.361/.389	.336	101	1
Joe Cronin	1945	BOS	AL	39	3B	11	.375/.545/.375	.442	146	1
Barry Larkin	2003	CIN	NL	39	SS	264	.282/.345/.382	.326	99	1
Phil Rizzuto	1955	NYA	AL	39	SS	168	.259/.369/.322	.324	101	1
Chris Speier	1989	SFN	NL	39	SS	42	.243/.333/.351	.311	103	1
Bobby Wallace	1912	SLA	AL	39	SS	367	.241/.332/.316	.300	98	0
Billy Jurges	1947	CHN	NL	39	SS	49	.200/.347/.325	.314	97	0
Ivy Olson	1924	BRO	NL	39	SS	30	.222/.300/.259	.263	82	-1
Bert Campaneris	1981	CAL	AL	39	3B	88	.256/.295/.341	.283	92	-2
George McBride	1919	WS1	AL	39	SS	43	.200/.256/.275	.241	78	-3
Ozzie Smith	1993	SLN	NL	39	SS	596	.288/.337/.356	.311	97	-3
Dave Bancroft	1930	NY1	NL	39	SS	19	.059/.158/.118	.141	40	-4
George Davis	1909	CHA	AL	39	1B	79	.132/.253/.147	.207	76	-4
Eddie Joost	1955	BOS	AL	39	SS	137	.193/.299/.336	.288	90	-5
Ossie Bluege	1939	WS1	AL	39	1B	66	.153/.242/.153	.199	59	-8
Sparky Adams	1933	SLN/CIN	NL	39	3B	616	.257/.315/.305	.284	94	-8
Skeeter Webb	1948	PHA	AL	39	2B	54	.148/.148/.185	.146	45	-9
Bones Ely	1902	WS1	AL	39	SS	402	.262/.301/.310	.277	89	-12
Rabbit Maranville	1930	BSN	NL	39	SS	611	.281/.344/.367	.320	91	-15
Luis Aparicio	1973	BOS	AL	39	SS	549	.271/.324/.309	.289	92	-17
Pee Wee Reese	1957	BRO	NL	39	3B	372	.224/.306/.248	.264	83	-21
Larry Bowa	1984	CHN	NL	39	SS	420	.223/.274/.269	.249	81	-25

Age 39 cuts us down to 28 players and two full-time league average performers.

player	year	tm	lg	age	pos	pa	avg/obp/slg	wOBA	wOBA+	BRAA
Luke Appling	1947	CHA	AL	40	SS	568	.306/.386/.412	.358	114	26
Barry Larkin	2004	CIN	NL	40	SS	384	.289/.352/.419	.340	103	4
Honus Wagner	1914	PIT	NL	40	SS	605	.252/.317/.317	.290	99	2
Bill Dahlen	1910	BRO	NL	40	#N/A	2	.000/.000/.000	.000	0	-1
Leo Durocher	1945	BRO	NL	40	2B	5	.200/.200/.200	.180	58	-1
Pee Wee Reese	1958	LAN	NL	40	SS	175	.224/.337/.381	.321	100	-1
Phil Rizzuto	1956	NYA	AL	40	SS	58	.231/.310/.231	.261	80	-3
Cal Ripken	2000	BAL	AL	40	3B	339	.256/.310/.453	.327	94	-3
George McBride	1920	WS1	AL	40	SS	43	.220/.256/.244	.230	70	-4
Dickey Pearce	1876	SL3	NL	40	SS	105	.206/.229/.216	.204	77	-5
Bobby Wallace	1913	SLA	AL	40	SS	164	.211/.293/.245	.256	86	-5
Ozzie Smith	1994	SLN	NL	40	SS	423	.262/.326/.349	.304	93	-8
Sparky Adams	1934	CIN	NL	40	3B	300	.252/.307/.317	.283	88	-9
Rabbit Maranville	1931	BSN	NL	40	SS	620	.260/.329/.317	.297	93	-10
Larry Bowa	1985	CHN/NYN	NL	40	SS	228	.234/.276/.304	.261	84	-12
Dave Concepcion	1988	CIN	NL	40	2B	215	.198/.265/.244	.238	79	-12
Omar Vizquel	2007	SFN	NL	40	SS	561	.246/.305/.316	.282	85	-25

Age 40 sees us down to 17 players, and only two above average performers. Even the great Wagner finally started showing the effects of age at this point, although he rebounded to put up 23 BRAA in his age 41 season and 17 BRAA in his age 42 season before his final season at age 43 where he put up 2 BRAA.

Here are the totals for everyone in this list from age 35 on.

Player	PA	wOBA+	BRAA
Honus Wagner	4740	119	224
Luke Appling	3919	113	157
Eddie Joost	1748	116	66
Candy Nelson	2056	110	64
Joe Cronin	1020	122	58
George Davis	2206	107	43
Derek Jeter	712	115	36
Barry Larkin	2521	103	16
Bill Dahlen	2468	103	15
Miguel Tejada	673	106	12
Tony Lazzeri	244	119	12
Willie Keeler	407	109	8
Pee Wee Reese	3082	103	7
Ernie Johnson	405	105	7
Ozzie Smith	3901	101	6
Jack Glasscock	1713	101	4
Joe Tinker	91	107	2
Bobby Wallace	2763	98	1
Chris Speier	1010	101	1
Ed Caskin	4	157	1
Lou Boudreau	2	0	-1
John Morrill	9	80	-1
Jimmy Johnston	965	98	-1
Chick Keating	2	0	-1
Nomar Garciaparra	350	98	-1
John Valentin	242	97	-1
Dave Altizer	85	93	-1
Lou Merloni	21	76	-2
Ivan DeJesus	18	60	-2
Phil Rizzuto	2318	98	-2
Nolen Richardson	106	89	-3
Paul Popovich	44	76	-3
Frankie Crosetti	595	100	-3
Tim Foli	41	73	-3
Roger Peckinpaugh	414	97	-3
Billy Klaus	19	29	-4
Hank Schreiber	18	21	-4
Marty Marion	213	93	-5
Art Fletcher	997	101	-5
Eddie Bressoud	76	73	-5
Mick Kelleher	56	66	-5
Bill Almon	112	80	-6
Alan Strange	167	88	-6
Dal Maxvill	94	75	-6
John McDonald	155	85	-6
Ed McKean	297	93	-7
Alvin Dark	2099	98	-7
Frank Shugart	445	93	-7
Dickie Thon	272	90	-8
Gil English	85	66	-8
Paul Richards	416	95	-8
Wayne Tolleson	81	59	-9
Alan Trammell	1210	97	-9
Alvaro Espinoza	75	56	-9
Leo Durocher	239	86	-10
Roy Hughes	296	85	-11
Germany Smith	182	78	-11
Greg Gagne	1033	93	-12
Jose Valentin	1291	96	-12
Ed Holly	415	87	-13
Fred Stanley	258	79	-13
Orlando Cabrera	702	92	-14
Mike Bordick	1681	96	-14
Walt Weiss	957	95	-14
Billy Rogell	261	81	-15
Garry Templeton	289	79	-16
Monte Cross	1623	97	-17
Dave Bancroft	1920	95	-18
George Wright	189	61	-18
Billy Jurges	1321	94	-19
Joe Boley	280	78	-19
Alfredo Griffin	259	74	-20
Ossie Bluege	1134	92	-21
Leo Cardenas	418	81	-21
Ozzie Guillen	363	80	-21
Alex Grammas	300	77	-22
Dickey Pearce	1361	89	-22
Luis Aparicio	2832	99	-22
Craig Reynolds	789	88	-22
Mark Christman	556	85	-23
Freddie Patek	667	88	-23
Bill Russell	1203	91	-25
Cal Ripken	3867	97	-25
Fred Pfeffer	580	86	-26
Rafael Belliard	238	60	-28
Jose Vizcaino	942	88	-33
Bob Lillis	691	79	-33
Don Kessinger	871	86	-34
Dick Groat	1390	92	-36
Sparky Adams	2538	96	-37
Gene Michael	791	82	-39
Rabbit Warstler	1115	84	-39
Royce Clayton	1271	89	-42
Davy Force	955	82	-42
Mark Belanger	719	74	-50
Mickey Doolan	982	79	-51
Roy McMillan	1213	82	-54
Omar Vizquel	3888	94	-58
Herman Long	1351	84	-60
Bert Campaneris	1641	86	-63
Dave Concepcion	2666	92	-65
Tommy Corcoran	1911	89	-67
George McBride	1294	79	-67
Wally Gerber	1280	82	-68
Ivy Olson	2257	88	-84
Larry Bowa	2683	90	-86
Skeeter Webb	1289	74	-92
Rabbit Maranville	3741	88	-109
Bones Ely	2409	83	-110

One last list. Here are the totals from age 36 on.

Player	PA	wOBA+	BRAA
Honus Wagner	4176	116	170
Luke Appling	3310	115	153
Candy Nelson	1541	105	37
Eddie Joost	1083	114	31
Joe Cronin	419	120	22
George Davis	1592	103	16
Chris Speier	773	103	8
Willie Keeler	407	109	8
Ernie Johnson	309	108	8
Tony Lazzeri	102	123	6
Bill Dahlen	1874	102	6
Barry Larkin	1839	101	4
Ozzie Smith	3248	100	2
Frankie Crosetti	85	107	2
Monte Cross	1067	102	1
Ed Holly	48	105	1
Jack Glasscock	1096	100	0
Alan Strange	40	96	-1
Roger Peckinpaugh	239	98	-1
Dal Maxvill	10	57	-1
Joe Tinker	11	52	-1
Alvin Dark	1479	99	-2
Bill Almon	29	64	-3
Leo Durocher	67	83	-3
Phil Rizzuto	1715	98	-3
Nomar Garciaparra	169	92	-3
Jimmy Johnston	622	96	-4
Joe Boley	39	66	-4
Jose Valentin	793	97	-4
Pee Wee Reese	2472	102	-4
Leo Cardenas	210	89	-6
Billy Jurges	783	97	-6
Mark Christman	121	80	-7
Freddie Patek	339	92	-7
Ozzie Guillen	113	80	-7
Billy Rogell	61	51	-8
Art Fletcher	422	97	-8
Paul Richards	416	95	-8
Rafael Belliard	93	68	-8
Bill Russell	713	94	-9
Alfredo Griffin	98	66	-10
Alex Grammas	109	67	-10
Greg Gagne	550	89	-12
Craig Reynolds	377	86	-12
Bobby Wallace	2222	95	-13
Bob Lillis	256	78	-14
Ossie Bluege	776	92	-14
Gene Michael	346	85	-14
Cal Ripken	3255	97	-16
Mike Bordick	1041	94	-17
Dickey Pearce	1194	90	-18
Walt Weiss	545	88	-19
Dick Groat	739	89	-20
Don Kessinger	589	87	-22
Mickey Doolan	461	80	-23
Davy Force	525	81	-24
Jose Vizcaino	743	89	-25
Rabbit Warstler	600	82	-25
Fred Pfeffer	530	85	-25
Sparky Adams	2326	97	-26
Luis Aparicio	2161	98	-26
Royce Clayton	708	86	-27
Roy McMillan	801	85	-28
Herman Long	807	86	-29
Alan Trammell	767	86	-32
Mark Belanger	488	75	-33
George McBride	788	80	-38
Dave Bancroft	1401	88	-41
Dave Concepcion	2075	94	-42
Tommy Corcoran	1312	89	-44
Bert Campaneris	1033	83	-46
Wally Gerber	826	79	-51
Skeeter Webb	755	73	-58
Ivy Olson	1599	88	-59
Omar Vizquel	3232	93	-63
Larry Bowa	2113	90	-67
Bones Ely	1866	85	-78
Rabbit Maranville	3481	88	-101

Bones Ely must have had a hell of a glove. Great name too.

I'll reiterate again, these are not position-adjusted, or compared to replacement level. Over a full season, a shortstop who hit at a league average level would be worth somewhere around 25-30 runs above a replacement level shortstop.

Still, overall this isn't very encouraging in regards to the prospects of Jeter's remaining career, and I haven't really delved into the expected defensive decline of a player in their mid-30s. However, Jeter's already demonstrated the ability to defy expectations, so maybe he can continue to do so. I'll get into Jeter's specific CAIRO career forecast when I start up the season preview pieces.