Rizzo, Heyward Win Gold Glove Awards

By ESPN

First baseman Anthony Rizzo and right fielder Jason Heyward from the World Series champion Chicago Cubs have won Gold Glove Awards.

The honors for fielding excellence were announced Tuesday by Rawlings and broadcast on ESPN.

According to Elias Sports Bureau, Heyward is the first position player in Major League Baseball history to win three straight Gold Glove Awards with three different teams (Braves, Cardinals and Cubs).

San Francisco star Buster Posey was picked at catcher in the National League, ending Yadier Molina's eight-year reign with St. Louis.

"I don't know if it makes it any more special or not that he had won it eight years in a row because I think I'd be happy with it either way," Posey said. "This one's up there for me. I'm a firm believer you win ballgames with pitching and defense."

Posey was joined by a pair of Giants teammates, the double-play combination of shortstop Brandon Crawford and second baseman Joe Panik.

Colorado third baseman Nolan Arenado won for the fourth consecutive year, and Arizona pitcher Zack Greinke took his third straight Gold Glove. Other winners in the NL were Atlanta center fielder Ender Inciarte and Pittsburgh left fielder Starling Marte.

Young shortstop Francisco Lindor from the AL champion Cleveland Indians was a first-time winner, along with Texas first baseman Mitch Moreland, Detroit second baseman Ian Kinsler, New York Yankees left fielder Brett Gardner and Boston right fielder Mookie Betts.

Kansas City catcher Salvador Perez won his fourth Gold Glove in a row, Houston pitcher Dallas Keuchel took his third straight and Tampa Bay center fielder Kevin Kiermaier repeated from last year.

Rangers third baseman Adrian Beltre was rewarded for the fifth time overall.

"I'm pretty surprised an old man like me can win the Gold Glove," said the 37-year-old Beltre, who was thrilled Moreland won as well.

"I think I'm happier for him than for me because for the last couple of years, he has played such a great defensive first base and was never recognized," Beltre said. "Most of my mistakes are throwing the ball and Mitch has saved me so many errors and makes things look easier for me."

The 22-year-old Lindor became the first Indians player to win a Gold Glove since outfielder Grady Sizemore in 2008, and their second shortstop after Omar Vizquel won every year from 1994 to 2001.

Votes are submitted in September by managers and coaches who cannot choose their own players. Three years ago, Rawlings added a sabermetric component to the Gold Glove selection process as well.

This is the complete list of the Gold Glove winners:

American League

P -- Dallas Keuchel, Houston

C -- Salvador Perez, Kansas City

1B -- Mitch Moreland, Texas

2B -- Ian Kinsler, Detroit

3B -- Adrian Beltre, Texas

SS -- Francisco Lindor, Cleveland

LF -- Brett Gardner, N.Y. Yankees

CF -- Kevin Kiermaier, Tampa Bay

RF -- Mookie Betts, Boston

National League

P -- Zack Greinke, Arizona

C -- Buster Posey, San Francisco

1B -- Anthony Rizzo, Chicago

2B -- Joe Panik, San Francisco

3B -- Nolan Arenado, Colorado

SS -- Brandon Crawford, San Francisco

LF -- Starling Marte, Pittsburgh

CF -- Ender Inciarte, Atlanta

RF -- Jayson Heyward, Chicago

Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.

White Sox Gauge Trade Market For Chris Sale

As the White Sox gauge the trade market for Chris Sale, their decision to pursue a deal or stand pat will be rooted in baseball concerns rather than any lingering animosity from past confrontations with the team's ace.

Sale's ongoing differences with the Chicago front office came to the fore in July when he sliced up the team's throwback uniforms rather than wear them in a game. He received a five-game suspension for insubordination and destroying team equipment.

But White Sox general manager Rick Hahn told ESPN.com on Tuesday that past rifts will play no part in the team's offseason deliberations.

"It's a nonfactor,'' Hahn said from the MLB general managers meetings. "It's zero factor from our standpoint in terms of his fit with us or our belief that he can help be the anchor of a championship-caliber rotation.

"Whether it influences some other club's view of him, I don't know. I don't think it should. I think a lot of what we've seen from Chris is part of what makes him great. It's that competitiveness, that fight, that sometimes spills over a little bit into areas outside the white lines. It's part of what makes him so good during the game.''

Cubs Manager Defended By Hoyer

Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon received a flurry of criticism for his bullpen management and other decisions late in the World Series, but he apparently hasn't lost any cachet with the team's front office as a result.

Cubs general manager Jed Hoyer, speaking to reporters Tuesday at the MLB GMs meetings, expressed support for the job Maddon did this season and said Maddon's performance adds to a portfolio that will eventually earn him a spot in Cooperstown.

"Joe is a world champion manager for the first time and he's going to be in the Hall of Fame someday,'' Hoyer said. "I think he's deserving of both.''

Critics piled on Maddon for using closer Aroldis Chapman for 1 1/3 innings and 20 pitches in World Series Game 6, even though the Cubs had the game in hand at the time and went on to beat Cleveland by a score of 9-3. Maddon was pilloried in Game 7 for lifting starter Kyle Hendricks after 4 1/3 innings and bringing in starter Jon Lester in relief with a runner on first base, even after saying he would summon Lester only with the bases empty.

Also, in the ninth inning of a tied Game 7, Javier Baez was called on to bunt with a 3-2 count and one out with the go-ahead run at third and the infield in. He fouled off the pitch and was out. The run didn't score.

The game was tied because Chapman, called upon to throw 35 pitches in Game 7, allowed a game-tying, two-run homer to Rajai Davis in the eighth inning.

The Cubs did recover, however, to beat the Indians 8-7 in 10 innings and capture their first title since 1908.