Crawford, Posey up for Silver Slugger
The Giants’ Brandon Crawford and Buster Posey were both named finalists for the Silver Slugger Awards as announced by Louisville Slugger on Monday.
The Silver Slugger award honors the best offensive hitters at each position in each league.
Crawford, the Giants’ shortstop who led the team in hits, runs and RBIs, batted .298 on the year with an .895 OPS. He hit a career-high 25 home runs and 90 RBIs.
Crawford, 34, goes up against the Padres’ Fernando Tatis Jr., Trea Turner of the Dodgers and Willy Adames of the Brewers.
Posey, 34, is one of four finalists at the catcher position.
He’s up against Will Smith of the Dodgers, J.T. Realmuto of the Philadelphia Phillies and Omar Narvaez of the Brewers.
Posey batted .304 with an .889 OPS for the season, along with 18 home runs and led the team in on-base percentage with .390. Posey’s success came after he opted out of last year’s season to help raise his adopted twin daughters during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Posey has already won four Silver Slugger awards in his career, his last came in 2017. Crawford is also a previous Silver Slugger winner and last won the honor in 2015.
The winners will be announced on MLB Network at 3 p.m. on Nov. 11.
The full list of finalists are:
American League
1B: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (Blue Jays), Yuli Gurriel (Astros), Matt Olson (Oakland A’s)
2B: Marcus Semien (Blue Jays), Jose Altuve (Astros), DJ LeMahieu (Yankees), Jorge Polanco (Twins)
3B: Rafael Devers (Red Sox), Jose Ramirez (Cleveland Indians), Kyle Seager (Mariners)
SS: Carlos Correa (Astros), Xander Bogaerts (Red Sox), Tim Anderson (White Sox), Bo Bichette (Blue Jays)
OF: Cedric Mullins (Orioles), Teoscar Hernandez (Blue Jays), Aaron Judge (Yankees), Kyle Tucker (Astros), Mitch Haniger (Mariners), Lourdes Gurriel Jr. (Blue Jays), Hunter Renfroe (Red Sox), Randy Arozarena (Rays)
C: Salvador Perez (Royals), Mike Zunino (Rays), Gary Sanchez (Yankees)
DH: Shohei Ohtani (Angels), Yordan Alvarez (Astros), Giancarlo Stanton (Yankees), Joey Gallo (Yankees), Nelson Cruz (Rays) National League
1B: Freddie Freeman (Braves), Joey Votto (Reds), Paul Goldschmidt (Cardinals), Max Muncy (Dodgers)
2B: Ozzie Albies (Braves), Jonathan India (Reds), Jake Cronenworth (Padres), Justin Turner (Dodgers)
3B: Austin Riley (Braves), Manny Machado (Padres), Nolan Arenado (Cardinals), Patrick Wisdom (Cubs)
SS: Fernando Tatis Jr. (Padres), Brandon Crawford (Giants), Trea Turner (Dodgers), Willy Adames (Brewers)
OF: Juan Soto (Nationals), Nick Castellanos (Reds), Bryce Harper (Phillies), Bryan Reynolds (Pirates), Adam Duvall (Braves), Jesse Winker (Reds), Tyler O’Neill (Cardinals)
C: Buster Posey (Giants), Will Smith (Dodgers), J.T. Realmuto (Phillies), Omar Narvaez (Brewers)
P: German Marquez (Rockies), Max Fried (Braves), Jacob deGrom (Mets), Madison Bumgarner (Diamondbacks) OHTANI GETS SPECIAL AWARD >> Shohei Ohtani’s two-way All-Star season with the LAngels was so unprecedented that Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred presented a special award to recognize it.
Ohtani was given the Commissioner’s Historic Achievement Award by Manfred before Game 1 of the World Series on Tuesday.
“Over the next few years, I know that there are going to be many, many awards and accolades that come your way,” Manfred said, with Ohtani sitting next to him. “But I felt that 2021 was so special that it was important to recognize the historic achievement that took place in 2021 with an award just about 2021.”
Ohtani is the 16th recipient of the honor, and the first since Manfred succeeded Bud Selig as commissioner in 2015. MANFRED REMAINS OPTIMISTIC ON LABOR >> Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred exchanged a handshake with players’ union head Tony Clark on the field before the World Series opener in Houston and expressed optimism about reaching an agreement before the current deal expires Dec. 1 but did not detail any progress in talks that appear headed to a lockout.
“Have you ever heard me say that I’m anything but optimistic about getting an agreement?” Manfred said. “I am a believer in the process. We’re meeting on a regular basis, and I’m hopeful we find a way to get an agreement by Dec. 1.”
There is no evidence of progress toward an agreement, and many management officials and player agents have said they are prepared for a lockout if there is no deal when the current agreement expires.
“It’s hard to characterize progress,” said Manfred, who was the league’s chief negotiator before becoming commissioner in 2015. “Progress is, you go in a room, you’re having conversations. People are continuing to talk. It doesn’t move in any measurable way that I’ve ever figured out, anyways, and I’ve done it a long time.
“The most important point is that I know our clubs are 100% committed to the idea that they want an agreement by Dec. 1.”
Clark said talks have been ongoing and he’s “looking to take advantage of as many days as the schedule permits throughout the course of the next five-plus weeks or so to continue that dialogue.”