Ezequiel Durán won the American League Rawlings Gold Glove at the utility position on Sunday night, the first Texas Ranger to take the award since Rawlings created the category in 2022.
The award, his first in five major league seasons, arrives in the same week the Rangers began reshaping their roster, declining roughly $30 million in 2027 commitments after missing the postseason by one game.
A season at seven positions
Durán, 27, started at every position except pitcher and catcher. By MLB.com's count, his starts broke down as 49 at shortstop, 41 at third, 25 at second base, 14 in center, nine in left, seven in right and one at first. The club said he was the only major leaguer this season to both start and finish games at every non-battery spot.
Statcast credited him with 17 outs above average, a total tied for sixth in baseball, including 11 at shortstop, fourth-most in the American League even though he made fewer than 50 starts there.
The utility winner is picked by a statistical formula developed by Rawlings and the Society for American Baseball Research instead of the manager and coach voting used at other positions, Dallas Sports Journal noted.
He also set offensive career highs, hitting .260 with career highs of 17 home runs and 83 RBIs in 153 games, a year after going homerless in 90 games. "I think something is wrong if he doesn't win the Gold Glove," manager Skip Schumaker said in September.
Jacob deGrom, Wyatt Langford and Evan Carter also reached the finalist stage without winning. The Rangers have 19 Gold Glove winners in team history, five in the last four seasons. Winners are honored Friday in New York, and Platinum Glove fan voting runs through Thursday night.
Three contracts off the books
Two days earlier, Texas passed on mutual options for three players, MLB.com reported: designated hitter Joc Pederson, catcher Kyle Higashioka and right-hander Jakob Junis. ESPN first reported Pederson's decision and The Dallas Morning News the other two.
Pederson's option carried an $18.5 million value and no buyout. He rebounded from a .181 first season in Texas to hit .235 with 26 home runs in 2026 before a hand fracture ended his year early. Higashioka gets a $1 million buyout instead of a $7 million salary after playing 58 games around a forearm flexor strain.
Junis, a setup man with a 2.80 ERA before the All-Star break, takes a $1.25 million buyout on a $5 million option.
