Peavy, Pierzynski named Gold Glove finalists

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A.J. Pierzynski and Jake Peavy were tabbed as Gold Glove finalists in advance of Tuesday, when the award winners are revealed. Gold Glove awards are voted on by each major-league manager and up to six of his coaches, so Pierzynski's play behind the plate and Peavy's on the mound impressed more than a few staffs around the league.

Mark Buehrle, who won the last three AL Gold Gloves for starting pitchers while with the White Sox, is a finalist in the National League. Before Buehrle, the last White Sox player to garner a Gold Glove was Robin Ventura, who won his fifth and final honor in 1998.

No other White Sox players made the final cut, but here's how the Gold Glove finalists stack up against the top defensive performers in the AL, as rated by UZR.

First base (Gold Glove): Adrian Gonzalez, Eric Hosmer, Mark Teixeira
First base (UZR): Adrian Gonzalez (14.5), Mark Teixeira (10.5), Albert Pujols (5.9)

Second base (Gold Glove): Dustin Ackley, Robinson Cano, Dustin Pedroia
Second base (UZR): Dustin Pedroia (10.0), Robinson Cano (9.7), Dustin Ackley (6.7)

Third base (Gold Glove): Adrian Beltre, Brandon Inge, Mike Moustakas
Third base (UZR): Mike Moustakas (16.8), Brandon Inge (11.1), Adrian Beltre (10.7)

Shortstop (Gold Glove): Elvis Andrus, J.J. Hardy, Brendan Ryan
Shortstop (UZR): Brendan Ryan (14.7), J.J. Hardy (11.3), Jhonny Peralta (9.9)

Left field (Gold Glove): Alex Gordon, Desmond Jennings, David Murphy
Left field (UZR): Alex Gordon (14.1), Desmond Jennings (10.7), David Murphy (9.4)

Center field (Gold Glove): Austin Jackson, Adam Jones, Mike Trout
Center field (UZR): Mike Trout (10.6), Denard Span (8.5), Austin Jackson (4.1)

Right field (Gold Glove): Shin-Soo Choo, Jeff Francouer, Josh Reddick
Right field (UZR): Josh Reddick (17.7), Ben Revere (15.8), Ichiro (12.7)

UZR doesn't do catcher defense, but there are some fairly decent catcher rankings done yearly by Matt Klaassen. The Gold Glove top four, against his top four (excluding sparingly-used backups)

Gold Glove: Alex Avila, Russell Martin, A.J. Pierzynski, Matt Wieters
Klaassen: Matt Wieters (12.5), Bobby Wilson (4.9), Alex Avila (3.5), Jeff Mathis (3.5)

Pierzynski rates near the bottom at -3.6 runs, although Tyler Flowers was rated to have saved 2.9 runs with his play behind the plate.

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