The Yankees paid a hefty price to acquire superstar Juan Soto from the San Diego Padres this offseason because of his reputation as a legendary offensive force from the left side. What they didn’t pay for was his defense which came to the Bronx with mixed reviews. However, on Tuesday, the 25-year-old was announced as a finalist for the Rawlings Gold Glove Award in right field along with Red Sox outfielder Wilyer Abreu and Angels’ Joe Adell. To spectators who watched Soto all season, the announcement may have come as a surprise — as the outfielder has misplayed quite a few balls in right — but not to his manager. “I’m not surprised, because I vote on that,” said Aaron Boone. “I mean, you can’t vote for your own guys, but we get that whatever two-three weeks ago, it pops on your desk and they give you numbers in there to kind of reference and like he was up there. I noticed on all the right field stuff in a lot of areas, plus, he’s had a ton of assists out there. So not surprised.” Soto doesn’t grade out well in really, any defensive metric you look at. Amongst right fielders who played at least 500 innings, the slugger ranked 22nd in outs above average (-5), 15th in defensive runs saved (-1) and 24th in UZR/150. The four-time All-Star was tied for first in baseball in assists with 9, as Boone referenced. “[Soto’s] probably [been better out there than I thought],” said Boone. “But I also heard that he cared about it. So, you know, you get a young, athletic guy that cares about doing it out there. They got a chance to be good. You know, he comes up with the first series of the year, the throw to home, the throw in the postseason that he made [getting Royals’ Salvador Perez out at the plate in Game 1]. You know, he had a couple games there where he struggled going back on the ball, against the ball, but he’s also made a lot of plays out there too.” Should Soto come out on top of the other two finalists, it would be the first gold glove of his career — and another accolade for his agent Scott Boras to throw on the negotiating table this offseason. STICKING WITH WELLS October has not been kind to Austin Wells at the plate. The neophyte entered Tuesday’s ALCS Game 2 against the Guardians 2-for-20 with 8 strikeouts in five postseason games. Wells is Aaron Judge’s protection as the cleanup hitter and despite his struggles, Boone didn’t even consider tinkering with the lineup. “No, [I didn’t consider making a change],” Boone said. “Look, I’m always considering stuff, but I didn’t really consider that for today. I feel like even as Austin’s going through some struggles offensively he’s still had some really big moments over the last month in some key spots in that at-bat that you really need to have. “Still feel like that’s in there for him and hopefully he can get hot here too for us for a few weeks which would be outstanding.” The catcher’s struggles date back to the regular season as he slashed .111/.217/.194 in 21 games during September. OTHER GOLD GLOVE NOMINATIONS In addition to Soto, Anthony Volpe and Alex Verdugo were also named Gold Glove finalists at their respective positions. Volpe is in contention for his second Gold Glove award in as many seasons during his big league career. The shortstop ranked sixth in defensive runs saved (6), third in outs above average (15) and 12th in UZR/150 amongst qualified shortstops. Verdugo, chasing his first career Gold Glove, ranked third in defensive runs saved (9), fifth in outs above average (0) and second in UZR/150 at the position.