Familiar names, a few surprises are the top finalists for the MLB Gold Glove Award

When MLB announced its finalists for the Gold Glove Award on Tuesday, most were the names you'd expect. Cleveland Guardians left fielder Steven Kwan, San Francisco Giants third baseman Matt Chapman, Chicago Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson – and then there was an interesting finalist, New York Yankees right fielder Juan Soto.

Rating Soto, one of the best hitters in the game, as one of the top three defensive right fielders in the American League this season doesn't seem to match the defensive stats. According to FanGraphs, he finished the game with minus-1 defensive runs saved (DRS) and minus-5 outs averaged (OAA) in right field. The other finalists Wilyer Abreu and Jo Adell posted positive numbers in the same categories: Abreu with 18 DRS and 7 OAA and Adell with 6 DRS and 1 OAA.

But Soto is a contender again, according to MLB and its 75-25 formula — the votes of all 30 managers and up to six coaches from each team account for 75 percent of the selection process, while the SABR defensive index accounts for the remaining 25 percent. Soto has been a finalist in right field once before, in 2022, when he lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers' Mookie Betts.

Your AL 2024 @RawlingsSports The Gold Glove Award finalists are here! 🤩

Who will take home the gold? pic.twitter.com/EuUxejcaEu

– MLB (@MLB) October 15, 2024

In the middle infield, second baseman Nicky Lopez made the cut for the Chicago White Sox, the worst team in modern baseball history and one of the worst defensive teams in recent memory. Baseball Savant ranked Lopez, a sophomore Gold Glove finalist, in the 74th percentile in fielding run percentage and in the 88th percentile in outs above average, with minus-0.5 defensive WAR, minus-1 DRS in second place and minus-9 DRS at shortstop.

And he probably still pushed up the averages for the White Sox, who finished with the fewest defensive runs above average (Def) on FanGraphs since 2017: minus-47.1. The Oakland A's were the only other team with a Def below minus-30 at minus-37.7.

Present your NL 2024 @RawlingsSports Gold Glove Award finalists 🌟 pic.twitter.com/hi1Wzg5dLE

– MLB (@MLB) October 15, 2024

Behind the plate, five-time Gold Glove winner Salvador Perez saw his backup, Freddy Fermin, emerge as a finalist for the first time in his young career. Fermin collected 16 DRS in his third season with the Kansas City Royals, tying Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh – also a first-team finalist – for the AL lead.

In the group consisting of Fermin, Raleigh and Jake Rogers of the Detroit Tigers, the AL will crown another first-time Gold Glove Award winner at this premium position. That parity was quite a change after only three different catchers — Perez, Martín Maldonado and Roberto Pérez — took home the award in the AL from 2013 to 2020.

(Photo by Soto: Mike Stobe/Getty Images)