The concept of “finalists” for awards is stupid, because it essentially means “these are the players that finished in the top three/five of the voting” rather than “here are the top three/five we arbitrarily decided you can vote on”.
Anyway, Rawlings announced the finalists for the 2015 Gold Glove awards on Thursday, and of course, there were snubs.
AL P: Mark Buehrle, Sonny Gray, Dallas Keuchel
NL P: Jake Arrieta, Gerrit Cole, Zack Greinke
AL C: Jason Castro, Russell Martin, Salvador Perez
NL C: Yadier Molina, Buster Posey, Wilson Ramos
AL 1B: Eric Hosmer, Mike Napoli, Mark Teixeira
NL 1B: Brandon Belt, Paul Goldschmidt, Adrian Gonzalez
AL 2B: Jose Altuve, Brian Dozier, Ian Kinsler
NL 2B: Dee Gordon, DJ LeMahieu, Brandon Phillips
AL SS: Xander Bogaerts, Alcides Ecobar, Didi Gregorius
NL SS: Brandon Crawford, Adeiny Hechavarria, Andrelton Simmons
AL 3B: Adrian Beltre, Evan Longoria, Manny Machado
NL 3B: Nolan Arenado, Matt Duffy, Todd Frazier
AL LF: Yoenis Cespedes, Brett Gardner, Alex Gordon
NL LF: Starling Marte, Justin Upton, Christian Yelich
AL CF: Kevin Kiermaier, Kevin Pillar, Mike Trout
NL CF: Billy Hamilton, Andrew McCutchen, AJ Pollock
AL RF: Kole Calhoun, JD Martinez, Josh Reddick
NL RF: Curtis Granderson, Bryce Harper, Jason Heyward
OK, so snubs? Anthony Rizzo should have gotten some love at first base in the NL, but the three selections at the positions aren’t bad ones. Dozier was an odd choice for second base in the AL, and Logan Forsythe likely would have been a better choice. Nick Ahmed got hosed at shortstop in the NL, but the field is incredibly strong in the league. Francisco Lindor also should have received consideration in the AL, but because of his late call-up, he fell victim to the absurd selection criteria for the awards. JJ Hardy is also someone who deserved a nod at shortstop in the AL.
Josh Donaldson was a noteworthy omission in a very strong crop of AL third basemen, while Martin Prado deserved some love in a similarly strong National League. Eddie Rosario of the Twins also fell victim to the eligibility rules in left field, while Mike Trout getting a nod in center field over Lorenzo Cain is based on reputation and not much else. There’s also no reason for Andrew McCutchen to even be sniffing a Gold Glove, and Odubel Herrera would have been a vastly superior choice. Gregory Polanco was the Pirates outfielder that should have received the second nod behind Starling Marte, but again, can’t quibble too much with the choice of Bryce Harper.
All in all, not a bad job done by the committee, but as usual, there were a couple of snubs and a couple of finalists that shouldn’t have been there. The winners will be announced on Tuesday, November 10th on ESPN.
