Texas Rangers third baseman Adrian Beltre and first baseman Mitch Moreland have been selected as winners of 2016 Rawlings Gold Glove Awards at their respective positions in an announcement this evening by the Rawlings Sporting Goods Company on ESPN.
The Rawlings Gold Gloves are presented for defensive excellence in voting conducted by American League managers and coaches. Staff members may not vote for players on their own teams.
This year marks the first time for the Rangers to have multiple Gold Glove Award winners since 2005 (P Kenny Rogers and 1B Mark Teixeira), the 9th such instance in club history. This is the first time for Texas to have multiple players selected in a season without one of the two award-winners being either a pitcher or catcher.
Beltre has now won a Gold Glove Award five times, all in the American League: 2007, 2008, 2011, 2012, and 2016. The five awards are tied for 7th-most all-time among third basemen, joining just 4 other A.L. players with as many wins at the position: Brooks Robinson (16), Buddy Bell (6), Eric Chavez (6), and Robin Ventura (5). Beltre has received each of his 5 awards in the last 10 seasons beginning 2007, the 2nd-highest total of any major league player in that span to only Yadier Molina (8).
Beltre becomes just the 5th infielder to win a Gold Glove at age 37-or-older (age as of June 30 in a given season). According to STATS LLC, the other 4 infielders to do it are Brooks Robinson (1974-75), Ozzie Smith (1992), Wade Boggs (1995), and Omar Vizquel (2005-06). He is the first player in baseball history to win a Gold Glove Award in his age-37-or-older season while also posting at least 30 home runs and 100 RBI.
The only other Texas player to win a Gold Glove Award at third base was Rangers Hall of Famer Buddy Bell, who took the honors in six consecutive seasons from 1979-84. Beltre is just the 5th different player to win at least 3 Gold Glove Awards with Texas (2011, 2012, 2016), joining Bell as the only Rangers to do it at a position other than pitcher or catcher.
Beltre led all A.L. third basemen with an .821 Zone Rating, finishing third with a .976 fielding percentage (10 E/415 TC). He ranked second in the league in total chances, assists (301), and double plays (43). Beltre also won the A.L.'s Platinum Glove Award in both 2011 and 2012, the first two years that the honor was issued. He joins Yadier Molina (4) as the only players honored multiple times (see below).
Moreland becomes the 12th different Ranger to win a Gold Glove Award and the third Texas first baseman to be honored, joining Mark Teixeira (2005-06) and Rafael Palmeiro (1999). He is the first Rangers player other than Beltre to win the award since Michael Young took shortstop honors in 2008. Moreland led the American League with a .998 (2 E/1103 TC) fielding percentage in 2016, the 2nd-highest figure by a first baseman in Rangers history to Jim Spencer's .999 (1 E/1069 TC) figure in 1973. He finished the season with a 52-game errorless streak.