The Cleveland Guardians have a pair of Gold Glove finalists, and both names carry real weight for this club.
Before Game 3 of the American League Championship Series against the Tampa Bay Rays, MLB revealed the finalists for the 2026 AL Gold Glove Award. Cleveland is represented by outfielder Steven Kwan and pitcher Tanner Bibee, giving the Guardians a shot at adding another defensive honor this season.
Kwan has built a reputation on the glove already. He’s won the Gold Glove Award four times in his MLB career, and he’s in line for another after a season that saw him spend more time in center field than usual. Even with the position change, his defense stayed at a high level for Cleveland.
The trade chatter around Kwan has followed him over the last few years, and the Guardians are expected to revisit those rumors this offseason. A fifth Gold Glove would only strengthen his profile if Cleveland ever decides to move him.
Bibee is in a different spot, but he earned his place among the finalists too. He has never won a Gold Glove, though he did take home a fielding award during the 2024 season. This year, he logged 188.0 innings across 33 starts and posted a 4.36 ERA, giving the Guardians steady length in the rotation.
His postseason work has not gone as smoothly. In his one playoff outing this year, Bibee allowed two runs over 0.1 innings against the Chicago White Sox. Cleveland will have to decide how it wants to handle him the rest of the way, and Bibee will need to prove he deserves another look.
The Guardians and Rays are tied 1-1 in the series heading into Game 3, with the next three games set for Cleveland. If the home team keeps playing its way into the conversation, it could end up with a chance to celebrate more than one kind of hardware.
The Gold Glove winners will be announced on November 1, 2026, at 8:30 p.m. ET in New York City.
In Other News...
Guardians' Most Painful Trade Looks Even Worse After New Report
The 2021 swap that sent Junior Caminero from Cleveland to Tampa Bay has long lingered as one of the organizations toughest second guesses, and fresh reporting only adds another layer to the regret. The Guardians moved the then-rising prospect for pitcher Tobias Myers, a deal made with the hope of solving a pitching need while parting with a young hitter who was still far from the majors.
Now the sting is not just what Cleveland gave up, but how close the Rays came to asking for something else from the system before settling on Caminero. Xzavion Curry was among the minor leaguers Tampa Bay initially sought, and the fact that Caminero has developed into a top prospect while Myers and Curry have had quieter big league careers makes the trade look even harder to defend in hindsight. [Read more 🡒]
Guardians Schedule Change Created An Unusual MLB Playoff Ripple
MLBs postseason calendar picked up an odd little domino effect Wednesday, with the league moving Game 4 of the NLCS between the Dodgers and Brewers up an hour to 8 p.m. ET. The change did not come out of nowhere. It followed the earlier decision to shift ALCS Game 3 between the Guardians and Rays from 6 p.m. ET to 1 p.m. ET because of expected inclement weather, a reminder of how one playoff adjustment can ripple across the rest of the bracket.
For Cleveland fans, the practical part is simple: the team confirmed that tickets and parking passes will still work for the new start time. The bigger picture is a postseason schedule that can still bend quickly around weather, TV and the rest of the leagues needs, even as the Guardians try to stay focused on the field rather than the clock. [Read more 🡒]
Gavin Williams Is Giving Guardians Fans Another Reason To Believe
Gavin Williams has already done his share to fuel Clevelands October run, and now he is looking to add something else to the mix as the Guardians head into the next round. The young starting pitcher said he wants to be a more vocal leader as the club prepares for Game 3 of the American League Championship Series, a sign of how quickly he has grown from power arm to one of the voices in the room.
Williams backed up that confidence with his latest outing, throwing 5.2 scoreless innings with 12 strikeouts in the series-clinching win over the Chicago White Sox. Cleveland now turns to a Game 3 matchup with the Tampa Bay Rays, set for 1 PM ET Thursday after a weather-related delay from the original 6 PM start, and the Guardians will be hoping their emerging starter brings the same edge both on the mound and in the clubhouse. [Read more 🡒]