Red Sox Win 3 Gold Gloves, Tied for MLB Lead, and Keep Whitlock at $8.25 Million

BOSTON — The Boston Red Sox opened the offseason with three 2026 Gold Glove winners, tied with Arizona for the most in Major League Baseball, and picked up pitcher Garrett Whitlock’s $8.25 million option for 2027. Right fielder Wilyer Abreu won for the third year in a row, center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela won for the second straight season and third baseman Caleb Durbin was a first-time winner, the Associated Press reported.

Both announcements came on Sunday, Nov. 1, according to the AP.

Abreu, Rafaela and Durbin win Gold Gloves

Abreu has now won the Gold Glove in right field three years running. Rafaela repeated in center field, and Durbin won his first at third base. That gives Boston Gold Glove winners at two of the three outfield spots plus third base.

Arizona matched Boston with three winners: catcher Gabriel Moreno, who won his second Gold Glove and first since 2023, and first-time winners Geraldo Perdomo at shortstop and Corbin Carroll in right field. First basemen Christian Walker of Houston and Matt Olson of Atlanta each won their fourth Gold Glove, the AP reported.

The award is voted on by managers and up to six coaches from each team, who can’t vote for their own players. Since 2013, a Society for American Baseball Research defensive index has made up about 25% of the total, according to the AP. The utility category is based on a SABR formula and other defensive statistics.

By the numbers: how Boston’s Gold Glove haul compares

There are 20 Gold Gloves each year, nine positions in each league plus a utility award in each. The AP list of 2026 winners spreads those 20 awards across 13 teams. Boston and Arizona each have three, or 15% of all winners apiece. Atlanta, the Chicago Cubs and Milwaukee each have two, and eight teams have one (TBR count from the AP list).

That means 17 of MLB’s 30 teams did not have a Gold Glove winner this year. Because the Red Sox play in the American League, their three winners account for three of the 10 AL awards, or 30% (TBR calculation).

Red Sox keep Garrett Whitlock for 2027

The Red Sox exercised Whitlock’s $8.25 million option for 2027, which keeps the right-hander from becoming a free agent, the AP reported. Whitlock, 30, went 7-2 with a career-best 1.72 ERA and four saves in 54 relief appearances, striking out 59 in 52 1/3 innings.

He missed time twice: from May 24 to June 9 with left knee inflammation, and from Aug. 9 to Aug. 29 with right elbow inflammation. Whitlock agreed in April 2022 to an $18.75 million, four-year contract that included two club options. Boston would have owed a $1 million buyout had it declined the 2027 option, so the net added cost of keeping him was $7.25 million (TBR calculation from AP figures). The team also holds a $10.5 million option for 2028 with a $500,000 buyout.

Whitlock struck out about 10.1 batters per nine innings in 2026 (59 strikeouts over 52 1/3 innings; TBR calculation), and his 1.72 ERA was the best of his career, according to the AP.

What comes next

With Whitlock locked in, the Red Sox turn to a free-agent market that ESPN’s offseason tracker is following move by move. Elsewhere in Boston sports this week, the Patriots host Green Bay on Sunday, and the Bruins lead the Atlantic Division after 16 games.

Sources

• AP via ESPN: Red Sox, Diamondbacks lead Gold Glove winners with 3 apiece
• AP via ESPN: Pitcher Garrett Whitlock’s $8.25 million option exercised by Boston Red Sox
• ESPN: MLB free agency tracker, 2026-27 offseason

Additional sources

• Wikimedia Commons: Fenway Park photo (Dmoore5556, CC BY-SA 4.0)