In the early goings of 2011, the Giants defense was awful. But that doesn't reflect on every single player on the roster.
For instance, Pablo Sandoval is one of three finalists for the National League's Gold Glove at third base.
Panda was nominated at third along with Placido Polanco of the Phillies and Daniel Descalso of the Cardinals.
The awards show will be broadcast live on Tuesday at 7 p.m. PT on ESPN2, and former Giants shortstop Omar Vizquel (he won the Gold Glove at shortstop for San Francisco in both 2005 and 2006) will be one of the presenters.
Additionally, Carlos Beltran, who spent a couple months on the Giants roster, was nominated for a Golden Glove in right field, along with Andre Ethier of the Dodgers and Jay Bruce of the Reds.
The Fielding Bible also announced winners on Monday -- no Giants won the awards, but Panda wasn't beaten out by any of his National League competitors, as it was Adrian Beltre who picked up the award there.
Beltran seems like a pretty big stretch to win the award, as his defense has declined substantially over the past few years (he ranks 16th in defense just in terms of rightfielders, according to FanGraphs). In fact, it's why he now plays right field instead of center, though he did win three-straight Gold Gloves from 2006-08.
Panda's a better bet to pick up the hardware, especially given that second-best defensive third baseman (behind Polanco) in MLB, according to FanGraphs.
Tune in and check out to see if Panda wins tomorrow. If, you know, you're not watching him play on the MLB Network.
