Many Red Sox Win Many Awards

Despite the way things ended, it turns out that the Red Sox were pretty good last year. Some of them enough to win awards--even multiple ones.

First, in a surprisingly reasonable (see: Jeter-free) set of Golden Gloves, the Sox were named three times. Adrian Gonzalez and Dustin Pedroia were named the best at first and second base, while Jacoby Ellsbury grabbed one for his work in the outfield. 

By both the numbers and simple observation, all three seem like the right choice. All three players led the league in UZR at their positions (though DRS begs to differ in each case), and were clear defensive stalwarts throughout the season. Even Ellsbury, who had come under fire for bad reads in seasons past, seemed to have put everything together. The mistakes became noticeable due to their rareness rather than their egregiousness, leaving his quick feet free to cover large amounts of ground in the outfield. There seemed to be somewhat fewer dives than in years past, but in many ways that's a good thing.

Two of those names also earned themselves a silver slugger, though arguably all three should have. Ellsbury and Gonzalez became the first pair of teammates to win both awards (hat tip to Pete Abe), while David Ortiz made his much-deserved return to the top of the heap with a year reminiscent of the Papi of yore.

For once, there's not much complaining for us to do regarding this award. Yes, Pedroia's wOBA was higher than Robinson Cano's, but it was a small difference and Cano had the big power numbers which draw votes. Really, the Sox can't be ones to make noise given how badly Gonzalez robbed Miguel Cabrera.

Now to wait for the MVP. Can Jacoby Ellsbury make it a clean sweep?