2009 SBNation Awards: Rookie Of The Year

by Al on Nov 10, 2009 8:00 AM CST in News Comment 25 comments

by Nam Y. Huh - AP

Randy Wells had a fine rookie year and finished sixth in SBN rookie balloting.

Count me as one of those surprised at the SBN Rookie of the Year balloting. Neither J.A. Happ nor Chris Coghlan, the two players named at the top of the BCB ballots, won. Tommy Hanson is a deserving recipient, no doubt, but I was sure that Happ was going to win. The third-place vote I gave Randy Wells is, admittely, a homer pick.

The AL balloting, for which BCB had no vote, was very close, with only two points separating the top two. If I did have a vote for the AL ROY, it would have gone to Gordon Beckham.

BCB ballots:

Al: 1) J.A. Happ 2) Tommy Hanson 3) Randy Wells      
Mike: 1) Chris Coghlan 2) J.A. Happ 3) Tommy Hanson

National League

Rk	Player	Team	1st	2nd	3rd	Pts
1	Tommy Hanson	Atlanta Braves	9	9	6	78
2	J.A. Happ	Philadelphia Phillies	6	9	7	64
3	Andrew McCutchen	Pittsburgh Pirates	8	3	5	54
4	Chris Coghlan	Florida Marlins	7	5	4	54
5	Dexter Fowler	Colorado Rockies	-	3	1	10
6	Randy Wells	Chicago Cubs	-	-	6	6
7	Garrett Jones	Pittsburgh Pirates	1	-	-	5
8	Casey McGehee	Milwaukee Brewers	-	1	2	5
9	Seth Smith	Colorado Rockies	-	1	-	3

American League

Rk	Player	Team	1st	2nd	3rd	Pts
1	Elvis Andrus	Texas Rangers	6	9	6	63
2	Andrew Bailey	Oakland Athletics	11	1	3	61
3	Jeff Niemann	Tampa Bay Rays	3	5	3	33
4	Rick Porcello	Detroit Tigers	2	7	2	33
5	Brett Anderson	Oakland Athletics	5	1	3	31
6	Gordon Beckham	Chicago White Sox	1	2	8	19
7	Nolan Reimold	Baltimore Orioles	1	-	1	6
8	Matt Wieters	Baltimore Orioles	-	1	3	6
9	Brad Bergesen	Baltimore Orioles	-	1	-	3
10	Ricky Romero	Toronto Blue Jays	-	1	-	3
11	Travis Snider	Toronto Blue Jays	-	1	-	3

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Comments

LOL, Casey McGehee got votes. I think Wells should have been higher.

"The riches of the game are in the thrills, not the money." --Ernie Banks

by dtpollitt on Nov 10, 2009 8:11 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

McGehee had a pretty good year.

In some ways, it was better than Coghlan’s.

"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra

by Al on Nov 10, 2009 8:19 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

No Colby Rasmus votes?

Cardinal fans will be outraged! (hehe)

Ya gotta love a team with a shortstop named TheRiot ...

by StampMe on Nov 10, 2009 8:50 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

Yeah, that surprised me too.

"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra

by Al on Nov 10, 2009 9:51 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

whoa

That is unbelievable. I figure the top candidates are Rasmus and McCutcheon

People should remember that while they have the right to their opinion, they are not entitled to be taken seriously. -- Bruce Bartlett

by berselius on Nov 10, 2009 10:37 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

I'm still figuring Happ will win it...

… because of his win total, and that the Phillies won their division.

"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra

by Al on Nov 10, 2009 2:13 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Happ

Kind of surprised myself that he didn’t win. He was the best pitcher on the Phillies staff for a majority of the year and a main reason they were in a position to go out and get Cliff Lee and Pedro.

Also, a little surprised that Wells wasn’t higher. Obviously a homer point of view, but I thought he did exceptionally well. Those early ND really hurt him I guess.

It will be interesting to see how this award plays out for real. Some good talent coming up.

by Tangled Up In Blue on Nov 10, 2009 9:26 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

If Wells...

… had gotten wins in some of those no-decisions, not only would he have had 15 wins and ranked higher, but the Cubs would have had a better shot at the playoffs. Several of those games were games in which he left with the lead, only to see the bullpen blow it.

"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra

by Al on Nov 10, 2009 9:52 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Happ is not a great pitcher

his peripherals scream career 5th starter

People should remember that while they have the right to their opinion, they are not entitled to be taken seriously. -- Bruce Bartlett

by berselius on Nov 10, 2009 10:38 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

He did have a pretty incredible year though, which is what the award is about

The Phillies seemed to sense his overachievement by limiting his role down the stretch.

I’m with you guys that I would have liked to see Wells higher. But realistically, he should have passed only Fowler as the top 4 all had fantastic years (and his faded down the stretch).

by madcow256 on Nov 10, 2009 10:44 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Right, but...

… the award isn’t for what the career might be, it’s for the season the player had.

"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra

by Al on Nov 10, 2009 2:14 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Who would you rather have on your team next year: Happ or Wells?

Just curious?

by gocubsgo22 on Nov 10, 2009 2:39 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Good question.

Haven’t seen enough of Happ to analyze him well. I know many here think Wells is likely to decline. I don’t, although he’s not a top-of-the-rotation starter, either.

I’d take Wells, I think, but it’s a close call.

"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra

by Al on Nov 10, 2009 2:54 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

I'd take Wells

I’ll take his command, and I think his stuff is a bit better than Happ’s. I think both are 4/5 type starters, and Happ has some added value as a lefty, but overall, all things equal, my nod goes to Wells.

by toonsterwu on Nov 10, 2009 3:03 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

happ

likely would get more votes from sports writers than sports bloggers, as bloggers are more likely to look at advanced statistics. Happ was a bit smoke and mirrors.

If I was voting, I would go

1. Hanson – Rookie year, and he looked like a staff ace.
2. Coghlan – Stablized the top of the Marlins lineup, allowing them to bounce back a bit.
3. McCutchen – Excellent year.
4. Rasmus – Very solid year.
5. Wells – A case could still be made for him at the top (I believe only McCutchen had a higher WAR). That said, ROY voting is often a combination of how successful a player was this year and what the long term expectations are.

If I had to take a guess at the writers results, I’d guess

1. Hanson
2. Happ
3. McCutchen – I could see him ahead of Happ as well.

by toonsterwu on Nov 10, 2009 9:30 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

as for the al,

My votes would’ve been

1. Elvis Andrus – Shortstop had an excellent year, dramatically upgrading the infield defense.
2. Brett Anderson – Looked like an ace at times, after a slow start. Excellent stuff. I’ve been a huge fan of him since his D-backs system days. Potential ace lefties are hard to find.
3. Rick Porcello – There is every reason to go with Bailey or someone else here. That said, Porcello was a starter for most of the year, and he generated an insane number of groundballs with his great sinker. There’s so much developmental room left. Sure, he was basically Chien-Ming Wang of 3-4 years ago this year, but he has more developmental potential than Wang did then. There’s promise with the change, slider, and curve, and he simply needs to get one or two of them going, to pair with his sinker.

by toonsterwu on Nov 10, 2009 9:42 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Andrus is an excellent defender...

… but his hitting was only decent. Beckham had an OPS 100 points higher, and had far more doubles and HR despite having 100 fewer plate appearances.

"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra

by Al on Nov 10, 2009 9:54 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Yes but Beckham's defense was subpar

I know he was playing out of position though. Wouldn’t be surprised if he was an allstar this year though if he’s at 2B. If he’s at SS, he probably will deserve a spot but there are too many good SS’s in the AL

"If I were playing third base and my mother were rounding third with the run that was going to beat us, I'd trip her. Oh, I'd pick her up and brush her off and say, 'Sorry, Mom,' but nobody beats me." ~ Leo Durocher

by Musicdude10 on Nov 10, 2009 11:12 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

andrus

was arguably one of the top 2-3 defensive players in the entire majors at shortstop last year, and you could probably make a case that he was the best. That adds huge value to any team. Beckham’s very good, but you are talking about an elite defensive shortstop.

by toonsterwu on Nov 10, 2009 2:21 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Right, but Beckham is a FAR better hitter.

I’ll bet he finishes higher in the BBWAA voting than Andrus.

"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra

by Al on Nov 10, 2009 2:55 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

sure i can see that happening

i think that andrus garnered a lot of respect for his play this year, as many felt that he was a key reason why the Rangers were able to improve leaps and bounds.

by toonsterwu on Nov 10, 2009 3:05 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

That was part of it.

The improved Rangers pitching staff was another.

"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra

by Al on Nov 10, 2009 3:13 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

At first glance...

the picture of Wells look strikingly like Mark Prior.

Or is it just me?

by Dan Serafini on Nov 10, 2009 2:51 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

It's you.

"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra

by Al on Nov 10, 2009 2:55 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Gotta go with Chris Coghlan here.

He batted .321 for the year, .336 in 106 games out of the leadoff spot. .354 when leading off a game, .329 when leading off an inning. 100 hits over the final 59 games of the year, more than any other player in baseball during that span.

And he was playing out of position.

by Drunk Cubs Fan on Nov 11, 2009 10:23 AM CST reply actions 0 recs