White Sox Second Baseman Chase Meidroth Falls Short in the Gold Glove Race After a Breakout Season
Meidroth was a finalist at second base in his first full season as an everyday player. Rawlings gave the American League award to Seattle's Cole Young on Sunday night.
The White Sox will have to wait at least one more year for a Gold Glove at second base. Rawlings announced its 2026 winners on Sunday night, and Chicago's Chase Meidroth — a finalist in his breakout season — fell just short, with Seattle's Cole Young taking the American League award at second base and Kansas City's Michael Massey the other finalist.
The candidacy was built on a genuine leap. After arriving from Boston in the Garrett Crochet trade — alongside Braden Montgomery, Kyle Teel and Wikelman González — Meidroth hit .253/.329/.320 in 122 games in 2025. In 2026 he played 154 games and slashed .276/.350/.415 with 16 home runs and 31 doubles, while his defense, per Baseball Savant, rated +10 Outs Above Average, in the 95th percentile of all major league fielders.
The award would have capped a season in which the Sox, behind a young core that has yet to reach arbitration in bulk, made an unexpected run into the postseason. Instead, the finalist nod stands as the marker: a second baseman acquired as one piece of a four-player trade return is now, by the defensive metrics, among the best fielders in the sport at his position.
It is, as the Sox' own coverage put it, just the first of what could be many nominations. Meidroth is expected to reprise his role at second base next season in an infield that is getting crowded — and on Sunday night's evidence, the league has already noticed him.
