Angels shortstop Andrelton Simmons and catcher Martin Maldonado have been named winners of a 2017 American League Gold Glove Award®. The announcement was made Tuesday by the Rawlings Sporting Goods Company on ESPN. This marks the third career Gold Glove for Simmons (also, 2013 & 2014) and first for Maldonado.
Simmons, 28, becomes the fourth Angels shortstop to win a Gold Glove, joining Jim Fregosi (1967), Orlando Cabrera (2007) and Erick Aybar (2011). The Mundo Nobo, Curacao native posted a .980 fielding percentage, committing just 14 errors in 685 total chances. According to FanGraphs, Simmons led the Majors with 32 defensive runs saved, the second-highest total of his career, and ranked second in the Majors with a 15.5 Ultimate Zone Rating. Simmons is just the third shortstop to ever win the award in both leagues, joining Omar Vizquel (1993-01 in A.L. and 2005-06 in N.L.) and Orlando Cabrera (2001 in N.L. and 2007 in A.L. with the Angels).
Maldonado, 31, joins Bob Boone (1982, 1986, 1987 & 1988) and Bengie Molina (2002 & 2003) as the only players in franchise history to win a Rawlings Gold Glove Award as a catcher. The former Angels draft pick returned to the organization this year after being acquired in the offseason from Milwaukee. In a Major League leading 137 games behind the plate, Maldonado led the A.L. with a 38.7 caught stealing percentage (min. 100 G) and a .998 fielding percentage. The .998 mark was the second-best by a backstop in franchise history, trailing only Bengie Molina's .999 showing in 2002.
2017 represents the sixth time in franchise history the Halos have captured multiple Gold Gloves in the same season and first since Darin Erstad (OF) and Bengie Molina (C) in 2002. Simmons and Maldonado become the 19^th and 20^th different players in franchise history to win the award and push the franchise's all time Gold Glove total to 37. A listing of all Angels Gold Glove winners can be found on page 451 of the 2017 Angels Media Information Guide.
Since 2013, Gold Glove Award results are calculated based on a combination of votes from American League managers and coaches and the SABR Defensive Index (SDI). The SDI combines measures from five different defensive data sources and is a measure of the number of runs saved by a player's defensive performance over the course of a season.