Gold Glove Winners Announced

The Gold Glove winners have been announced.

Baseball awards have begun to mean less and less to me over the years. From all-star selections to MVPs, the whole process seems to be more political than anything. Rarely do I agree with the players who are selected, but who says my opinion is law?

Jennifer Stewart-US PRESSWIRE

A total of nine players received the award for the first time in their career last night, including a tie for the AL pitching Gold Glove between Jeremy Hellickson of the Rays and Jake Peavy of the White Sox.

Matt Wieters (Catcher), J.J. Hardy (Shortstop) and Adam Jones (CF) combined to bring home three gold gloves to the city of Baltimore. If you haven’t caught on to my writing style by now, this is usually where I would insert my tirade on how upset I am that Mike Trout was snubbed. But I’ll save that firepower for the AL MVP.

Robinson Cano and Mark Teixeira won the right side of the infield in the American League. It worked out great for MLB, as both players had a case for being deserving as well as fit the criteria for “multiple Yankees must win any type of award given out to more than one player” that baseball prides itself on.

Adrian Beltre, Alex Gordon and Josh Reddick round out the winners in the American League.

Mark Buehrle of the Miami Marlins brought home the hardware at pitcher this year in the NL. In Marlins ownership logic, I am sure this most likely justified the hundreds of millions of dollars spent this off-season.

Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina won the award at catcher. Well deserved as he had a very solid year.

Adam LaRoche was the NL’s Gold Glove winner at first base this year. Which goes to show Washington that if you have talent and are allowed to play over 160 innings in a year, good things have the opportunity to happen.

Darwin Barney of the Chicago Cubs wins the award at second base and is also the most talented player on this list the casual fan has never heard of. His numbers this year were aided by how frequently the shift was on in Chicago, but you can’t argue with a .997 fielding percentage. Solid work by Barney.

Jimmy Rollins and Chase Headley claim the awards at SS and 3B this year for the Phillies and Padres respectively. I could make a case for David Wright at third base, but then again I could also make a case for Adam Everett every year he was in the league. Deep breath, and remember this is just the Gold Glove awards Brandon…

Carlos Gonzalez, Andrew McCutchen and Jason Heyward win at LF, CF and RF. It was the first time to win the award for both McCutchen and Heyward.

It is an honor that can’t be taken away from the players above, and I certainly don’t want to appear as if I think their talents are a fluke. This award is however one that doesn’t ever get me too excited. Most casual fans typically can not name most of the award winners from last year without a bit of help.

It is now the offseason, and we do need something to discuss. And I suppose this will aid in helping me make it to the winter meetings. Or at least until my head explodes after the AL MVP announcement.