Yankees: Brett Gardner, Aaron Judge and Masahiro Tanaka named Gold Glove Finalists

Award season in Major League Baseball is nearing and on Thursday the Rawlings Gold Glove finalists from each league were announced. The Yankees have three finalists in RF Aaron Judge, LF Brett Gardner, and pitcher Masahiro Tanaka.

Not many would describe the Yankees defense in 2018 as a strength of the team, but the three names above should certainly be in the conversation to win a gold glove. It was at the corner infield positions and behind the plate where the Yanks really struggled over the course of the season.

The double play combo of Gleyber Torres and Didi Gregorius did a fine job in the middle of the infield and Aaron Hicks had another great season patrolling center field. It’s somewhat surprising to see that Hicks wasn’t a finalist to win his first Gold Glove even though Boston’s Jackie Bradley Jr. should be the clear favorite to win the award.

The same can be said for Didi who somehow missed out on being a finalist to Marcus Semien of the Oakland A’s. The other finalists are Francisco Lindor and Andrelton Simmons, two of the best shortstops in the games, but there is no way Semien is in the same league as Didi with the glove. Regardless of what the analytics might say.

Other than the snubs of Hicks and Didi I’d say Major League baseball got it right with the selections. Although, in the case of Judge and Gardner, I have a hard time believing they’re going to come away with the hardware even though they were so sure-handed this season. Gardner won his first and only Gold Glove back in 2016 and only committed three errors all season, but he faces some stiff competition. Five-time winner Alex Gordon won the award a season ago and Boston left-fielder and first-time finalist Andrew Benintendi is as good as it gets defensively in left field as we’ve all seen this postseason.

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The same goes for Judge going up against former winners Mookie Betts, also of the hated Red Sox and Kole Calhoun of the Angels. For a player his size Judge has proven to be an outstanding right fielder.

He has much better range than he’s given credit for and his arm is among the best in the game. He had nine outfield assists this season in just 90 games. Judge being named a finalist really speaks to how solid he is in right considering he missed over 40 games with that fractured wrist.

One day Judge will win his first gold glove however, there’s a slim chance it will be this season. As much as this pains me to say I think Betts is the safest bet of anyone in baseball to win a gold glove at his position. As great and deserving as Judge is Betts just might be the best all-around defender in the game today.

Judge and Gardner might come up short but the Yankee with the best chance at taking home a Gold Glove is Tanaka. Tanaka is as smooth as any pitcher in baseball with the glove. He’s such a good athlete, he can make all the plays and makes the most difficult ones look routine.

I’m not really sure what goes into choosing the pitcher who should win the Gold Glove but Tanaka definitely passes the eye test. He’s had strong defensive seasons every year since he’s come over to the Yanks and it’s time he gets rewarded with some gold.