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Yadier Molina, Alex Gordon 2014 MLB Platinum Glove Winners

ByEd Carroll|
Oct 15, 2014; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas City Royals left fielder Alex Gordon crashes into the wall after catching a fly ball hit by Baltimore Orioles shortstop J.J. Hardy (not pictured) during the fifth inning in game four of the 2014 ALCS playoff baseball game at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Peter G. Aiken-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 15, 2014; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas City Royals left fielder Alex Gordon crashes into the wall after catching a fly ball hit by Baltimore Orioles shortstop J.J. Hardy (not pictured) during the fifth inning in game four of the 2014 ALCS playoff baseball game at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Peter G. Aiken-USA TODAY Sports

MLB announced its Platinum Glove winners, given to the best defender in each league, with Yadier Molina of the St. Louis Cardinals and Alex Gordon of the Kansas City Royals taking home the honors.

MLB and Rawlings award the Gold Gloves annually, supposedly to the best defender at a position in each league, although the methodology for determining the winners is often problematic at best (and downright wrong at worst), essentially becoming a popularity award. Well the Platinum Glove award winners have been announced, and yup, these are a complete popularity award:

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Caveat time, as both Gordon and Molina are considered elite defenders and advanced metrics mostly back this up, although catchers are a tricky bunch to evaluate, particularly in pitch framing, which we don’t have great ways to measure yet. But you’d be hard-pressed to find too many stats, scouts or fans that don’t think these two players are great defenders.

That said, don’t put too much stock into the Platinum Gloves; these are voted on by fans, and thus are a popularity contest. Still, no Royals player has ever won the award, and no outfielder has ever won the award, so it’s noteworthy in the sense that fans might be starting to pay attention to defense in MLB.

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