Justin Smoak, Danny Jansen named as Gold Glove finalists

In a season that ended up being only known for some star debuts, the 2019 Toronto Blue Jays have two finalists for the Gold Glove Award for their positions.

First baseman Justin Smoak and catcher Danny Jansen are both in contention to win their own awards.

Smoak will most likely be testing the open market this winter after spending his last five years in Toronto. In 2019, the 32-year-old hit for a slashline of .208/.342/.406 through 500 plate appearances and was able to be steady at a 101 OPS+. He had 0.6 WAR and a -0.9 dWAR according to Baseball Reference.

As for Jansen, for his first full major-league season to result in a Gold Glove nomination is pretty damn good.

While his bat wasn’t able to necessarily be depended on through the season — a .207/.279/.360 slashline haunted the bottom of the order — his framing and ability to get extra outs was his area of expertise. According to Baseball Reference, the 24-year-old had a 1.9 dWAR through the 852 and 2/3 innings he caught.

A win for either would mean a whole lot for this franchise. Either have a departing player win their final accolade as a member of the team, or have a key potential piece for the future snag a trophy before the team is even good again.