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A quick, necessary reminder: The Giants have the longest Gold Glove drought in baseball. The last player to win a Gold Glove for the Giants was Omar Vizquel in 2006. Or, to put it another way, the last player to win a Gold Glove for them did it in a season where Barry Bonds was in left field. It's been so, so long. I mean, it's not like we've had to wait since 1988 or anything, but it's still been a long wait.
Here's the chance, then. The Giants have four players represented as Rawlings Gold Gloves finalists: Buster Posey, Brandon Crawford, Matt Duffy, and Brandon Belt. Two of them aren't going to win. Two of them have a good shot.
Duffy isn't going to win because Nolan Arenado is basically a latter day Brooks Robinson who deserves a special defensive award created just for him. He's outstanding. Duffy's defense was Gold Glove worthy, though, and in another year, he could have been a favorite. Pretty outstanding for someone with just a couple dozen games at third in his career before the season. Let's just hope that Arenado gets traded to the White Sox this offseason. It's the best for everyone involved, don't look at me like that, Rockies fans.
Belt isn't going to win because he's up against the last two players to win the Gold Glove at first, and incumbency is a powerful force in the voting. He made the cut because he fared well in defensive metrics, but he doesn't have the reputation just yet.
Posey just might win. I know that Yadier Molina is supposed to be the living embodiment of everything that is pure and unsullied about the catcher's position, and that he smells like leadership and pure will, but he's getting older, and people are caring about pitch-framing these days, too. Posey grades out well, there. Note, though, that Molina played 30 more games behind the plate. That might be the difference.
Which leaves us with Angel Pagan.
/checks notes
Which leaves us with Crawford. Fuzzy defense monster, Brandon Crawford. He should win. Statistically, he's the favorite. Anecdotally, he has tough competition with Andrelton Simmons, but Simmons wasn't the highlight factory he was in previous seasons. Crawford matched him sterling play for sterling play, and there weren't any CGI plays to separate Simmons this year.
Here's a play I picked at random:
Just your garden variety "throw a speedy leadoff hitter out by several steps while ranging almost into left field right after the 'Today's Lineups' graphic leaves the screen." And it probably wasn't his best play of the week.
Either the stupid Mets or stupid Royals are going to win the stupid World Series, but you know what? Brandon Crawford might win a Gold Glove. It's a tiny consolation prize, but it's also a pretty cool one. End the drought, voters. Give Giants fans a break for once.