Three Gold Gloves for Boston. Bregman Gets One Too. Now Build on It.

Three Gold Gloves give Boston something worth celebrating this morning. Enjoy it. A winter spent arguing about everything the Red Sox need should still leave room to appreciate what they already have.

Sunday’s awards went to Caleb Durbin at third base, Ceddanne Rafaela in center field, and Wilyer Abreu in right. Alex Bregman won at third base in the National League for the Cubs, adding an unmistakably Boston-shaped subplot to the night.

The useful question now is what the Red Sox do with that defensive foundation. Keeping the ball from landing is a terrific start. Building a complete team around the players catching it is the offseason’s assignment.

Durbin is a first-time winner. Rafaela has won two straight. Abreu has now won three straight. Boston and Arizona finished with three winners apiece, the most of any club.

That distinction matters beyond the trophy photograph. Defense is often discussed as something a team can tidy up later, once it has addressed the glamorous parts of roster building. Boston has three players receiving recognition for doing the less glamorous work exceptionally well.

For Durbin, the award establishes something of his own. He deserves to be evaluated as a contributor, rather than spending every conversation standing in the shadow of the third baseman who came before him. An award does not settle every question about a player. It does give the conversation a much better starting point.

For Rafaela and Abreu, repetition is the point. One award makes a memorable season. Coming back and winning again makes defensive excellence part of what the club should expect from those positions. Boston should be thinking about how to complement that strength, not treating it as a luxury it can casually replace.

MLB’s account notes that this is Boston’s first three-winner season since 2018.

Bregman’s National…