Dustin Pedroia was named AL Rookie of the Year today, and Ryan Braun, NL Rookie of the Year. I've given both these awards a good deal of analysis, and while I'm sure Rockies fans will be singing the "Tulowitzki Got Robbed" blues, you can't argue with Braun's offensive prowess.Pedroia, one of three Red Sox to get ROY votes, finished with a huge margin of victory over Tampa's Delmon Young, while Braun beat Tulowitzki by just 2 points which is the closest vote in 27 years.
Braun had 17 first place votes, 12 seconds, and somehow, one third place vote. The guy who put him third shouldn't be allowed to vote on any baseball award ever again. Whoever it was, picked Kyle Kendrick second, and Braun third. Kendrick went 10-4 with a 3.97 ERA for the Phillies in 20 starts from June 13 on, while Braun had the best slugging percentage for a rookie in baseball history, while hitting .324 with 34 bombs and 94 RBI.
I'm really not kidding about that guy. He shouldn't be allowed to vote for a baseball award ever again. This year couldn't have been more cut and dry- it's Braun or Tulowitzki first, the other guy second, and then Hunter Pence, Kendrick, Chris Young or possibly James Loney third. All but one of the 32 voters understood that. The one guy who didn't should be asked politely to excuse himself from future voting.
Tomorrow, the AL Cy Young award winer will be announced and the vote between Josh Beckett and C.C. Sabathia could be as close as the Braun/Tulowitzki balloting. If Dan Haren somehow ends up with a second place vote, we'll know who cast it.
Both Managers of the Year will be announced Wednesday, followed by NL Cy Young, Thursday. Then next Monday, they do AL MVP, followed by NL MVP, Tuesday.
Kyle Kendrick. Give me a break.
1 comment:
I suppose that voter is trying to make a point about Braun's defense. Which was terrible, but even by the most defensively favorable statistical measures means that Braun and Tulowitzki contributed roughly equal amounts of production.
I had been a Tulo advocate through the end of Sept and early Oct. But I read an article by someone from Baseball Prospectus where they argued that it's not Braun's fault that he's bad at third base. He argues that the Brewers are to blame for playing a guy out of position. And I can't agree more. If Braun had been playing mediocre defense in LF (like a certain MVP candidate from Colorado), we would be talking about Braun in the MVP race, and he would have won RoY easily.
Similarly, if Tulowitzki were playing First Base for the Rockies, sure his defense would have been outstanding, but we would be asking how the Rockies' 1B only hit 24 HR's.
Now maybe I'm evaluating their future prospects more than what they contributed this year, but a part of me can't help thinking that if the Brewers had been smart and played Braun in LF or RF, we wouldn't be having any discussion about the NL RoY.
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