Now that Daulton Varsho has won his first career Gold Glove Award, why stop there? As talented as he is in the field, it only makes sense to aim for a second in as many seasons in 2025.

Defending his crown as the top defensive AL centre-fielder will surely be among Varsho’s list of priorities during his third season with the Toronto Blue Jays next year, and he should have a pretty strong chance of accomplishing that feat after delivering a stellar defensive performance this past season.

By far, the 28-year-old was the best outfield defender in baseball from the 2024 campaign — and perhaps the best defender, period — as he led all big-league position players, not including catchers, in fielding run value with 17. The only player to finish higher was San Francisco Giants backstop Patrick Bailey, who led the majors with 22.

Varsho — named the Defensive Player of the Year by the Fielding Bible Awards — also finished with an MLB-best 28 defensive runs saved. On top of that, he recorded 16 outs above average, placing tied with Tampa Bay’s Jose Siri for the American League lead, with both trailing Washington’s Jacob Young for first among big-league outfielders.

Despite those raving statistics, many wondered if splitting his time between left (404.1 innings) and centre field (672 innings) would again prove costly for Varsho, just as it did in 2023. This time, however, it did not.

Varsho defeated Boston’s Jarren Duran and Houston’s Jake Myers to win the AL Gold Glove in centre field, earning the well-deserved accolade one season after he finished as a finalist to Cleveland’s Steven Kwan for the award in left. It was a long time coming for the former Arizona Diamondback, considering he’s been a premier defender at all three outfield positions since his breakout 2022 performance.

Over the last three seasons, 96 big-league outfielders have logged at least 1,500 innings in the field, and none of them have registered more defensive runs saved (76), outs above average (44) or a higher fielding run value (48) than Varsho. And yet, this is only his first Gold Glove Award, an unfortunate byproduct of his defensive versatility — in the outfield and behind the plate.

That’s more of an indictment of the Gold Glove Awards’ voting process than Varsho’s elite-level defence. Still, being deployed at multiple positions shouldn’t be an issue moving forward, as he became the club’s full-time centre-fielder following the midseason trade of Kevin Kiermaier.

For the first time in his career, the 5-foot-8 outfielder will captain the outfield from centre for longer than a few months, allowing his production to occur at a single position for a change, which should significantly boost his odds of repeating as a Gold Glove winner next season. That is, of course, assuming the Blue Jays follow through on adding a power-hitting corner outfielder this off-season.

One X-factor in all this, though, is the status of Varsho’s right shoulder. He underwent surgery in September to repair his rotator cuff and could begin the 2025 campaign on the IL if his spring training availability is severely impacted. Missing a few weeks shouldn’t derail his hunt for a second straight Gold Glove. But missing upwards of a month just might.

Before suffering a season-ending shoulder surgery, Varsho had been extremely durable across his first two seasons as an everyday player, logging at least 150 games played. Even this season, he appeared in 136 out of a possible 147 contests prior to his final appearance on Sep. 11. That being said, his durability will be tested in ’25, especially with every home game occurring on artificial turf rather than natural grass.

For as many spectacular diving catches that he’s made with Toronto, while breathtaking to watch, they consume a significant physical toll — something that’ll be worth monitoring throughout next season as the left-handed-hitting outfielder transitions to centre full-time.

If healthy, Varsho should be considered the favourite to win the AL Gold Glove in centre, and if he were to repeat, he’d become the first Blue Jays outfielder to do so since Vernon Wells won three straight from 2004-06 — still a far cry from Devon White’s five consecutive from 1991-95. There should be plenty of competition for next season’s award, though.

Let’s start with the most obvious candidates: Myers and Duran, both of whom ranked inside the top three in FRV among AL centre-fielders this past season at second and third, respectively. We’ll also discover a few more highly-regarded defenders if we track that metric back to 2022.

Fielding Run Value Leaders Among AL Centre-Fielders Since ’22:

1. Jose Siri (40)

T-2. Kevin Kiermaier (24)

T-2. Jake Myers (24)

4. Julio Rodríguez (23)

5. Michael A. Taylor (19)

Siri not being a Gold Glove finalist, quite frankly, might have been one of the biggest snubs from this year’s nominations, albeit one that largely went unnotched — outside Tampa Bay, at least. He led all AL centre-fielders in OAA (16) and FRV (15), a category where he placed tied for fifth among all big-league position players. So, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him among the league leaders again in 2025.

Rodríguez could be there, too, if he bounces back from a slightly less productive defensive showing that resulted in seven OAA (down from 12 in ’23) and a plus-seven FRV (down from eight in ’23). Taylor, currently a free agent, may also factor into the equation if he returns to the AL after spending this past season with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

For those curious about a potential dark horse, there might be no better option than Kansas City’s Kyle Isbel. The 27-year-old served as a complementary piece over his first three major league seasons but saw his innings total jump from 710.1 to 1,046.1 in 2024, finishing third in OAA (nine) among AL centre-fielders with at least 750 innings played, trailing only Myers (14) and Siri (16).

The AL centre-field category is a loaded field, even with Kiermaier riding off into the sunset as a World Series champion. All things considered, though, Varsho will still likely be tough to dethrone. His offensive shortcomings are well documented, which, to be fair, took a sizeable step forward compared to his inaugural campaign in Toronto.

While he may never evolve beyond a low-contact hitter with streaky pull-side power, there’s no debating his status as one of the most impactful defenders in this current era — a title that’ll hopefully result in more than one Gold Glove Award in the years to come.