Selection Process for Gold Glove Winners to Undergo Change

The end of season awards are the finishing touches to the Major League Baseball season.  Once the World Series ends, most people shift their focus to the action taking place on Sundays and Mondays.  Even though baseball is an afterthought at this point, fans will still take a few moments to read about or discuss the winners of the Cy Young, MVP, Gold Glove, etc.

Speaking of the Gold Glove, there will be a change to how the award is evaluated this season.  In years past, the Gold Glove was awarded to the three best outfielders.  If that happened to be two or three center fielders...so be it.  Starting this year, the outfield will be separated into three categories - left, center and right field as you might have guessed.  Buster Olney likes this idea because, as he indicates, the jobs of the three outfield spots can be as different as they are similar.

I also think that this is a good idea.  I'm not the biggest fan of defensive metrics, but there is a lot of information at the voters' disposal that could be utilized.  The Gold Glove is not a very respected award among the new age of statistical-minded fans who consider the current selection process no more than a popularity contest.  Changing the way outfielders are selected for the award is a good start to improving the entire process.