For the second straight year, Brighton graduate and Toronto Blue Jays infielder Ernie Clement is up for a Rawlings Gold Glove as one of the best defensive players in baseball. And this time, he’ll have two chances at the award.
Like in 2024, Clement has been named a finalist for the American League award at third base. He’s earned an additional finalist position in the utility category in 2025. Clement faces Kansas City’s Maikel Garcia and Cleveland Guardians’ veteran Jose Ramirez in the third base category, which Alex Bregman won in 2024. Among utility men, Clement’s fellow finalists are Cleveland’s Daniel Schneemann and Houston’s Mauricio Dubon.
Clement, currently playing in the American League Championship Series with the Blue Jays, was one of baseball’s top fielders this regular season, leading the American League in Defensive Wins Above Replacement (measuring how much better a player is than a likely replacement player) with 2.9 and in the Range Factor/9 metric (a statistic meant to measure the defensive ability of a player by dividing putouts and assists by the number of innings played) at third base at 2.84, according to Baseball Reference. The 29-year-old played 89 games at third this season, but also filled in at second for 60 games, shortstop for 29, and first base in 15. READ MORE.