2013 AL Gold Glove Finalists: Third baseman

Alright ladies and gentleman let’s keep this show going! If you haven’t seen my previous posts, I’ve covered American League catchers, first base and second baseman so far. If you haven’t checked out these articles, they have links to one another in each post.

If you are interested in checking them out, please do so and click here. But make sure to come back and read up on the three finalists for third base!

Alright, you ready? Did you read the previous posts? Yes? No? Let’s get this show on the road.

Adrian Beltre, Texas Rangers – I have to be honest, Adrian Beltre is one of my favorite baseball players of all time. I don’t really know what it is, but it may be his follow through. How cool is it that he gets so much power in his follow through, he usually ends up on one knee. Talk about putting your back into it. Anyways, Beltre is still going strong despite being in the league for almost 16 years. The 34 year old veteran is set to be 35 next spring and could be on his way making a Hall of Fame ballot in the future. But that’s another article for another time. Anyways, Beltre still displayed some power as he hit 30 home runs and drove in 92 runs with a batting line of .315/.371/.509 this season. His fielding percentage has dropped a decent amount. In 2012 he managed to field .974 but only picked up a .959 percentage this season. It’s not the best, but it was enough to get him to the final three. He was charged with 14 errors this season while picking up 232 assists, 93 put outs and 25 double plays.

Evan Longoria, Tampa Bay Rays – No relation to Eva, alright that’s been used way too much so I apologize. Anyways, Longoria had the best defensive season he’s had in his seven year career. His highest was .970 during the 2009 season but he managed to top that this season with .972 with 11 errors. When it comes to the offensive side of things, Longoria launched 32 home runs with 88 runs driven in on top of a batting line of .269/.343/.498 across the board. He may not be the favorite to walk away with the Gold Glove, but he did just enough to make sure he made the final cut.

Manny Machado, Baltimore Orioles – Machado is one of the three Baltimore Orioles who are up for Gold Glove honors this year. This baseball club does have some great defensive players on this roster and the great thing about it, is most of them are young up and coming players. Machado is definitely the future of this organization. He just finished his first full season with the Major League club and hit 14 home runs with 71 RBI’s to help out offensively. The 21 year old third baseman posted a .973 fielding percentage with 13 errors charged, 355 assists, 116 put outs and 42 double plays. Not that bad, but he should get better defensively as his career continues on.