José Ramírez, Andrés Giménez are Silver Slugger finalists

Major League Baseball has announced finalists for the 2022 Silver Slugger Award. The Guardians entered the list with two: José Ramírez and Andrés Giménez.

Batters must have 100 games played to qualify for the award; winners will be announced on MLB Network at 6 p.m. ET on Nov. 10. Here are all the other nominees, courtesy of a press release from Louisville Slugger and MLB:

American League

• 1B: Nathaniel Lowe (TEX), Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (TOR), José Abreu (CHW), Anthony Rizzo (NYY)
• 2B: Jose Altuve (HOU), Andrés Giménez (CLE), Marcus Semien (TEX), DJ LeMahieu (NYY)
• 3B: Rafael Devers (BOS), José Ramírez (CLE), Alex Bregman (HOU), Matt Chapman (TOR)
• SS: Bo Bichette, (TOR), Xander Bogaerts (BOS), Carlos Correa (MIN), Corey Seager (TEX)
• OF: Aaron Judge (NYY), Julio Rodríguez (SEA), Kyle Tucker (HOU), Mike Trout (LAA), Randy Arozarena (TB), George Springer (TOR), Taylor Ward (LAA), Anthony Santander (BAL), Adolis García (TEX), Teoscar Hernández (TOR)
• C: Alejando Kirk (TOR), Sean Murphy (OAK), Cal Raleigh (SEA), Adley Rutschman (BAL), Salvador Perez (KC), Martin Maldonado (HOU)
• DH: Shohei Ohtani (LAA), Yordan Alvarez (HOU), Giancarlo Stanton (NYY), George Springer (TOR), Adolis García (TEX)
• UT: Luis Arraez (MIN), Shohei Ohtani (LAA), DJ LeMahieu (NYY), Luis Rengifo (LAA)

National League

• 1B: Paul Goldschmidt (STL), Freddie Freeman (LAD), Pete Alonso (NYM), Matt Olson (ATL), Christian Walker (AZ)
• 2B: Jeff McNeil (NYM), Jake Cronenworth (SD), Ketel Marte (AZ), Kolten Wong (MIL), Brendan Rodgers (COL)
• 3B: Manny Machado (SD), Nolan Arenado (STL), Austin Riley (ATL), Justin Turner (LAD)
• SS: Trea Turner (LAD), Willy Adames (MIL) Francisco Lindor (NYM), Dansby Swanson (ATL)
• OF: Mookie Betts (LAD), Kyle Schwarber (PHI), Juan Soto (SD), Starling Marte (NYM), Joc Pederson (SF), Michael Harris II (ATL), Bryan Reynolds (PIT), Hunter Renfroe (MIL), Brandon Nimmo (NYM)
• C: Will Smith (LAD), J.T. Realmuto (PHI), Willson Contreras (CHC), Travis d’Arnaud (ATL)
• DH: Josh Bell (SD), Albert Pujols (STL), Luke Voit (WAS), Justin Turner (LAD), Charlie Blackmon (COL)
• UT: Brandon Drury (SD), Tommy Edman (STL), Thairo Estrada (SF), Jeff McNeil (NYM), Chris Taylor (LAD)

Not much to complain about here for the Guardians. Both Ramírez and Giménez are worthy entrants, but there weren’t many other above-and-beyond performances on offense this season. You could make a very distant edge case for Steven Kwan, who finished 11th among qualified outfielders with a 124 wRC+, but he’s never beating out Aaron Judge, anyway. Keep his trophy case ready for that Rookie of the Year Award if voters forget Julio Rodriguez exists.

The battle for third base in the American League is one of the most interesting cases, and not just because the GOAT himself is involved. Ramírez led all third-base finalists with 29 home runs and he was second in wRC+ (139) behind only Rafael Devers (141). Of course, Devers has the advantage of being on the Red Sox, but hopefully voters — which consist of the manager and three coaches from each team — will be blinded by the home runs. They were virtually the same hitters across the board, but the Guardians’ third baseman hit a couple more dingers.

Last year’s Silver Slugger came down to Ramírez and Devers, and voters went with Devers’ 38 home runs over Ramírez’s 36, despite the latter leading with 138 wRC+ to 133.

Curiously enough, the third-base leader in home runs, Eugenio Suárez, isn’t a finalist. Despite hitting four more home runs and finishing with a 14-point higher wRC+, he was left off the list in favor of the Blue Jays’ Matt Chapman.

Second base in the American League is also a two-person race, but as good as Andrés Giménez was in his first full year in Cleveland, there’s no way he’s beating out José Altuve. Altuve outpaces him in every offensive stat except stolen bases and RBI (which is definitely a very important and good stat, I’ve always said this).

Giménez can sleep well knowing he’ll beat out Marcus Semien and DJ LaMahieu by a mile, but he’s not taking any hardware home. Yet.