Texas Rangers jack of all trades Ezequiel Duran is a finalist for the Silver Slugger Award for utility players, it was announced today. Duran is up against the Tigers’ Kevin McGonigle and Sam Antonacci of the White Sox.
Duran, who already won the Gold Glove for the utility player spot this offseason, slashed .260/.320/.419 this season, good for a 114 OPS+, and also was 12 for 16 on stolen base attempts. He played all over the diamond for the Rangers, with 49 starts at shortstop, 41 starts at third
base, 20 starts in the outfield, 25 starts at second base, and one start at first base.
McGonigle, who made his major league debut this season, led American League position players in bWAR this year at 7.1 bWAR. He split his time roughly evenly between shortstop and third base, and slashed .278/.376/.430, good for a 126 OPS+.
Antonacci is a rather baffling finalist here. He started 109 games this season in left field and 13 games at second base, although he did appear in another 19 games at second base that he didn’t start. Still, he seems like a left fielder who occasionally played second base rather than a utility guy. He slashed .277/.370/.396, good for a 116 OPS+.
You can see the full list of finalists in both the American League and the National League here.
