The 2011 Gold Glove Awards were announced on Monday, with 3B Adrian Beltre the only Texas Ranger to win one, culminating a fantastic individual season for the Rangers key free-agent acquisition last winter.
Beltre, an outstanding athlete with a great arm at 5'11 220, has long been seen as one of the elite defensive third basemen in baseball. He previously won Gold Gloves in 2007 and 2008 while playing for the Seattle Mariners.
For SBNation's Grant Brisbee, the biggest surprise was that Beltre has only won the award three times in his 14 seasons in the MLB:
How is this only the third time Beltre has won? I realize that Evan Longoria is pretty danged good, but Beltre is the closest thing to Brooks Robinson that we have in the game.
Playing alongside SS Elvis Andrus, Beltre was able to cover a lot of ground on the left side of the infield, helping the Rangers pitchers lower their collective ERA to 3.79, 13th in baseball.
While he was Texas' second-choice after Cliff Lee last winter, his play on both sides of the ball has few regretting the 5-year $80 million contract he received.
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