No Padres Among Finalists for Major End of Season Award

Maren Angus-Coombs | Oct 18, 2024

Oct 9, 2024; San Diego, California, USA; San Diego Padres third baseman Manny Machado (13) in the dugout before game four of the NLDS for the 2024 MLB Playoffs against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Denis Poroy-Imagn Images / Denis Poroy-Imagn Images

Rawlings announced the 2024 Gold Glove finalists on Tuesday and the San Diego Padres were completely snubbed.

Each league has three finalists per position, including the utility spot, which was awarded for the first time in 2022.

According to a press release, the winners at the nine standard positions are determined by the 30 MLB managers and up to six coaches from each team vote from a pool of players in their league, excluding players from their own team. These votes comprise 75 percent of the selection total, with the SABR Defensive Index counting for the other 25 percent.

For the utility position, Rawlings collaborated with SABR to create a specialized defensive formula separate from the traditional selection process.

When it comes to the Padres, Fernando Tatis Jr. and Ha-Seong Kim are the two most sure-handed defensive players and both missed significant time with injuries.

If there was a favorite to be a finalist this season it would have been third baseman Manny Machado but instead, San Diego has to deal with seeing former Padres outfielder Juan Soto potential win a Gold Glove with the New York Yankees.

Soto was a surprising finalist after registering minus-four Outs Above Average, which was tied for 37th among qualified right fielders. His minus-one Defensive Runs Saved were tied for 13th among right fielders who played at least 500 innings.

However, Soto’s nine assists were tied for the most in the majors by a right fielder.

“I’m not surprised,” Soto's manager Aaron Boone said before the Yankees’ 6-3 win in Game 2 of the ALCS. “Because I vote on that — you can’t vote for your own guys — but we get that [ballot] two or three weeks ago, it pops on your desk. They give you numbers in there to reference. He was

Soto also surprised Boone with his defensive play this season.

“But I also heard that he cared about it,” Boone said. “So you get a young, athletic guy that cares about doing it out there, they got a chance to be good. … He had a couple games where he struggled going back on a ball against the wall, but he’s also made a lot of plays out there too.”