Major League Baseball announced its finalists for the 2026 Rawlings Gold Glove Awards on Wednesday. Neither Manny Machado nor Fernando Tatis Jr. were nominated despite both having excellent defensive seasons. Ty France and Freddie Fermin got the nod.
Machado gets robbed
Third baseman Manny Machado, 34, finished the 2026 regular season with a +12 Outs Above Average in the National League. It was the top rating of any third baseman in the NL. After making 16 errors in 2025, Machado made three errors in 2026 and had his highest OAA since 2023.
The three finalists are Alex Bregman (Chicago Cubs) with a +9 OAA, Javier Sanoja (Miami Marlins) with a +6 OAA and Max Muncy (Los Angeles Dodgers) with a -1 OAA.
Fielding Run Value is a stat used by analysts to put a value on a player’s overall defensive performance by calculating how many runs they save or cost their team compared to an average player.
Atlanta Braves first baseman Matt Olson leads all of baseball’s corner infielders with a +12 FRV, followed by Ty France with a +10 FRV and then Machado with an +8 FRV. Bregman is tied with multiple other players at +7 FRV.
Apparently, analytics don’t weigh heavily with these finalists.
Tatis Jr. sacrifices for the team
Fernando Tatis Jr. is the recipient of two Gold Glove and two Platinum Glove Awards over the past three seasons as a right fielder in the National League. During the 2026 season, Tatis started 104 games in right field. He also started 50 games at second base. Some could argue he would not be a candidate for the Gold Glove because he was essentially a utility player.
But the nominating committee gave third baseman Javier Sanoja a nomination as a finalist despite playing multiple positions for the Marlins during the season.
Carson Benge, right fielder for the New York Mets, had a +1 OAA while Seiya Suzuki of the Cubs had a +5 OAA, and Corbin Carroll of the Arizona Diamondbacks had a +10 OAA.
Tatis ended with a +4 OAA.
Tatis comes in behind all three in FRV, finishing with a +3 rating just behind Carroll at +4 FRV. Both Benge at +8 FRV and Suzuki at +8 FRV are tied at the top for corner outfielders.
Splitting time between two positions seems to have cost Tatis a chance at another Gold Glove nomination.
Jackson Merrill loses out again
Padres center fielder Jackson Merrill finished 2026 with a +7 OAA for his position, losing out as a finalist. Pete Crow-Armstrong of the Cubs leads all of baseball with a +26 OAA. The other two finalists are Michael Harris II of the Atlanta Braves with a +14 OAA and Andy Pages of the Los Angeles Dodgers with a +9 OAA.
Ty France and Freddie Fermin make the final list
Padres first baseman Ty France led in almost all defensive categories for first basemen through the season. Atlanta first baseman Matt Olson came on strong as the season developed and finished with a +12 OAA to France’s +7 OAA. Olson also had a +12 FRV compared to France’s +10 FRV. The third nominee was TJ Rumfield for the Colorado Rockies.
Catcher Freddie Fermin joined Gabriel Moreno of the D-backs and Luis Torrens of the Mets as nominees for 2026.
Fermin excels in defensive metrics, accumulating a +9 FRV, while Moreno has +7 FRV and Torrens has a +10 FRV. Catchers aren’t assigned OAA ratings, as those are just for position players and reflect range as part of the assessment.
Fermin also finished with a +10 in blocks above average and +6 in caught stealing above average. His 1.88 pop time ranks in the 86th percentile.
Awards are given on Sunday, November 1
The winners will be announced on Nov. 1 and broadcast on ESPN.
Padres News:
- Padres president of baseball operations and general manager A.J. Preller and manager Craig Stammen met with the media on Wednesday and talked about the 2026 season and provided insight about what the offseason will look like.
- Joe Musgrove enters the offseason with an undefined role but Preller and Stammen know he will contribute in 2027.
- Dennis Lin of The Athletic provides his takes from the Padres’ end of season news conference and tries to decipher what it all means.
Baseball News:
- The Milwaukee Brewers are one game away from a trip to the World Series after beating the Los Angeles Dodgers in the first game at Dodger Stadium to take a 3-0 series lead.
- Here are the updated game times for the NLCS and ALCS games today.
- Here is the full list of Gold Glove Award nominees from the American League and National League.