Article: Andrés Giménez Is Going To Lose the Gold Glove on a Technicality

[Leo Morgenstern]

Andrés Giménez is the best defensive second baseman in the American League. He has been for years. That's why the Blue Jays were willing to part with Spencer Horwitz to acquire him last offseason. It's why they were happy to take on the nearly $100 million remaining on his contract over the next five years. It's why FanGraphs and Baseball Reference agree he's been worth 1.2 WAR despite missing more than two months with injuries and producing some of the worst offensive numbers of his career. 

Yet, Giménez won't be taking home a fourth consecutive Gold Glove Award this year – and it's not because he won't deserve it. 

Although he's only played 75 games at the keystone this season, Giménez leads AL second basemen in OAA (Outs Above Average) and DRP (Deserved Runs Prevented). He ranks second in DRS (Defensive Runs Saved), FRV (Fielding Run Value), and fielding percentage (min. 400 innings). The only players who lead him in any of those metrics are Marcus Semien, who will most likely miss the rest of the season with a foot injury, and Mauricio Dubón, who has only played 40 games at second base. Giménez has plenty of time to usurp Semien atop the DRS and fielding percentage leaderboards. Meanwhile, Dubón is a strong candidate for the utility Gold Glove but unlikely to earn votes as a second baseman.

All that to say, there is a strong statistical case for Giménez to take home yet another Gold Glove. Unfortunately, he won't even be eligible. 

To be eligible for a Gold Glove in either the infield or the outfield, a player must have taken the field for at least 698 innings (at any position) through his team’s 138th game. Rawlings claims this is to ensure that "only full-time players are considered" for the honor. However, the real effect is privileging players who might miss time later in the season over those who miss time earlier on. 

As I sit and write this piece on Wednesday afternoon, the Blue Jays have played 133 games. Presuming Giménez starts and finishes each of Toronto's next five contests (and presuming no extra-inning affairs), he will have played 669.1 innings through his team's 138th game. That's 28.2 fewer innings than he needs to be Gold Glove eligible. That's just over three games. That's it. 

I understand wanting to prioritize full-time players who play full seasons. But a strict cutoff point like this one leaves no room for nuance.

Giménez has played more innings than all but six AL second basemen in 2025. Five of them – Jackson Holliday, Gleyber Torres, Brandon Lowe, Luis Urías, and Lenyn Sosa – have negative defensive metrics across the board. That leaves only a few real contenders for the Gold Glove at second base. Semien currently looks like the favorite, though Jazz Chisholm Jr. is another name to keep in mind. He doesn't have the necessary 698 innings at second, but he's played enough third base to cross that threshold. 

Luis Rengifo is another player with strong defensive metrics at second base and enough innings combined between second and third. Yet, because he has played third base slightly more often this season, he will most likely be eligible to receive votes at the hot corner, not the keystone.

So, I'm not even sure I could identify three eligible, deserving candidates to be the finalists this year. Semien and Chisholm make two, but after them, the next-best name I can come up with is Daniel Schneemann of the Guardians, who is really more of a utility player. He's played more often at second base than anywhere else this year, but he's also spent time at third base, shortstop, and all three outfield positions. More to the point, he hasn't started a game at second in almost four weeks.

It would be one thing if there were several full-time second basemen with solid defensive numbers to consider. This season, however, Giménez is likely to finish with more innings at second than any serious Gold Glove contender except for Semien. Giménez will almost surely have the most impressive metrics of anyone to play the position. There's no question he'll pass the eye test with flying colors. None of that will be enough. 

Maybe Semien would win even if Giménez were eligible. Or maybe the award is Chisholm's to lose; the flexibility he's shown moving back and forth between second and third base is no doubt impressive. Yet, I can't help but think that Giménez would soon be adding a fourth Gold Glove to his mantle if he had only returned from each of his IL stints a couple of days earlier. Now, we'll never know.

Stats updated prior to games on August 27.

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