CLEVELAND, Ohio — Guardians defenders Andrés Giménez, Steven Kwan and José Ramírez were named Wednesday as finalists for 2023 Gold Glove Awards in the American League.
Center fielder Myles Straw, a Gold Glove winner last year, was a notable snub among the finalists in center field where Seattle’s Julio Rodriguez, Chicago’s Luis Robert Jr and Toronto’s Keven Kiermaier will compete for the award.
Giménez and Kwan will each be looking for their second straight Gold Glove after winning last year along with Straw and pitcher Shane Bieber. This year’s winners will be revealed at 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 5 on ESPN’s “Baseball Tonight.”
Marcus Semien of Texas and Mauricio Dubon of the Astros are the other finalists competing with Giménez at second base. Kwan is challenged by Toronto’s Daulton Varsho and Baltimore’s Austin Hays, while Ramírez must overcome Houston’s Alex Bregman and Matt Chapman of the Blue Jays.
Ramírez is now a five-time finalist, having missed out on the award in 2022, 2021, 2018 and 2017. Chapman, a three-time winner, took the honor in 2021 and 2018 over Ramírez.
The Guardians are again in position to claim their second AL Team Gold Glove since the award began in 2020. The Yankees took home the team honor last season, despite only winning two individual Gold Gloves.
Rawlings has handed out Gold Glove Awards in each league since 1957. The top three finalists at every position have been recognized since 2011. Managers and up to six of their coaches vote from a pool of qualified players in their league, and cannot vote for players from their own team.
Since 2013, the SABR Defensive Index has made up about 25% of the overall selection total, with the managers’ and coaches’ votes continuing to carry the majority.
Last year, Rawlings added a “utility” position in each league and created a specialized defensive formula separate from the traditional selection process used for picking specific position winners.
Giménez led AL infielders and was third in all of baseball with 23 defensive runs saved, trailing only San Diego right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr. (26) and Toronto center fielder Daulton Varsho (29). He topped all AL defenders with 400 assists, ranking second overall behind Nico Hoerner of the Cubs (411) in the National League.
Giménez said individual awards are nice, but they are not what motivates him each year.
“What really helped me this year was just being out there and playing healthy,” Gimenez said during Cleveland’s final series of the season in Detroit last month.
“The key is always try find ways to keep moving my feet, sometimes training, sometimes some dancing,” Giménez said. “I focus on working at shortstop because that position is the one that requires the most and is more demanding. When you’re able to move your feet properly at shortstop, that enables you to move well in the other positions.”