Twins 1B Carlos Santana officially a Gold Glove finalist

Minnesota Twins first baseman Carlos Santana was open before the season about his desire to win a Gold Glove. He’s now officially one step closer.

The 38-year-old was named as one of three finalists among American League first basemen for the 2024 Gold Glove Award.

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According to Baseball Savant, Santana finished the season having recorded 14 outs above average (OAA) — the 16th-most in all of baseball and most by any first baseman.

His fellow finalists for the award — Texas’s Nathaniel Lowe and Baltimore’s Ryan Mountcastle — recorded seven and two OAA, respectively, ranking them second and fourth among AL first basemen (fourth and 11th among MLB first basemen).

Signed to a one-year, $5.25 million deal in early February by the Twins, Santana started slow offensively but picked it up in a week into May.

He ended up playing 150 games, second only to Willi Castro on the Twins, and slashing .238/.328/.420 for a .748 OPS. He also led the Twins in home runs (23), RBI (71) and walks (65) in addition to his stellar defensive play, which made him Minnesota’s sixth-most valuable player by WAR.

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It’ll be interesting to see if the Twins and Santana can strike a deal to keep the veteran first baseman in Minnesota next year, but either way, the 38-year-old is a step closer to crossing off one of his goals from the start of the year.

The award winners will be revealed during “Baseball Tonight” on ESPN on the night of Nov. 3.

No other Twins were chosen as Gold Glove finalists. The only two that finished in the top five of OAA in the AL at their respective positions were Carlos Correa and Max Kepler — both were fourth in the AL by OAA but also missed significant time due to injuries.

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