Rawlings’ announcement on Wednesday finally settled the Gold Glove finalist picture for the Texas Rangers, and the club came away with four names in the mix: Jacob deGrom, Wyatt Langford, Evan Carter and Ezequiel Duran.
Those four finalists leave Texas tied for the second-most in the American League with Kansas City, trailing only Toronto, which has five. The Gold Glove Award goes to the top fielder at each position in each league, with managers and coaches responsible for 75% of the vote and the SABR Defensive Index making up the other 25%.
For the Rangers, though, the finalist tag does not mean equal odds. Some of these races look a lot tighter than others.
Jacob deGrom enters the pitcher race with the longest shot of the group, but not no shot at all. He sits behind Tanner Bibee of the Cleveland Guardians and José Soriano of the Toronto Blue Jays in Defensive Runs Saved, with deGrom at +2, Bibee at +5 and Soriano at +3. That makes Bibee the clear statistical favorite, though deGrom’s reputation and veteran status could still carry some weight with voters who don’t lean purely on numbers.
Wyatt Langford’s case is tougher for a different reason: he simply didn’t have the volume. He played 87 games in left field, and that likely dents his chances despite a strong defensive line of +9 DRS and +5 Outs Above Average over 750 innings.
The problem for Langford is that the competition was louder. Cody Bellinger of the New York Yankees put together a massive +21 DRS in left field across 1,008 2/3 innings and added +6 OAA.
Chandler Simpson of the Tampa Bay Rays also finished ahead of Langford in both key metrics, posting +8 DRS and +8 OAA. Langford had a very good year in left; the others just had better ones.
Evan Carter faces a similar uphill climb in center field. His numbers were solid - +6 DRS and +11 OAA over 1,009 2/3 innings - but Ceddanne Rafaela of the Boston Red Sox delivered a monstrous season at the position, stacking up +21 DRS and +16 OAA in 1,174 1/3 innings. Steven Kwan of the Guardians, the other finalist, finished with +6 DRS and +6 OAA over 637 innings.
So while Texas got four finalists, the road to an actual Gold Glove looks much clearer for some than for others.
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Rangers Suddenly Have A Real Shot At Dodgers Talent This Winter
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Rushing is the most intriguing of the group because he offers a path for Texas to address a catching situation with upside, while Phillips brings late-inning relief value after working back from Tommy John surgery. Call, meanwhile, gives the Rangers another potential outfield option if they decide to shop in a familiar sort of bargain lane. None of this is guaranteed to turn into a deal, of course, but the connection is strong enough that the Rangers suddenly have a real reason to watch what happens in Los Angeles once the winter meetings chatter begins. [Read more 🡒]