Carlos Correa left the Houston Astros last offseason and joined the Minnesota Twins on a three-year-deal, a deal that he will be opting out of this coming offseason.
Correa was a big loss for the Astros, but they had another in-house option ready to go.
Jeremy Pena was the one waiting in the wings, and since taking over the shortstop duties for the Astros, he’s been every bit as good as advertised.
At the plate, he hit .245 with 22 home runs and 63 RBI, but the 25-year-old now has a chance to claim an incredible honor, as he is one of the three finalists at shortstop for an American League Gold Glove Award.
In an interesting twist however, Correa is also a finalist along with Xander Bogaerts of the Boston Red Sox.
2022 Rawlings Gold Glove Award Finalists – Shortstop – AL: Xander Bogaerts, Carlos Correa, Jeremy Peña #RawlingsGoldGloveAwards pic.twitter.com/lyqNPcV2nz
— Rawlings Baseball (@RawlingsSports) October 20, 2022
Pena, Correa Are Gold Glove Finalists
This represents a chance for Pena to take Correa down in an important race.
If Pena wins the award, then nobody in Houston will be sorry that the Astros let Correa walk.
But it’s an interesting twist that both of them are finalists for the Gold Glove Award at shortstop.
The fact that it comes down to those two and Bogaerts makes it all the more exciting.
While Correa may have been a big loss for the Astros, Pena has filled the shortstop hole quite nicely and has made everybody in Houston forget about Correa, at least for the time being.
And if Pena gets the Gold Glove, then it may stick in Correa’s face a little bit.
The Gold Glove Awards will be announced after the World Series is over.
We’ll see who ends up being given the award.
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