Congratulations to Dustin Pedroia on locking up a well deserved Rookie of the Year award. The Writers have a tendency to screw up these awards, but they nailed this one by a large margin.
Congrats too to Ryan Braun and Troy Tulowitzki... braun edged Tulo for the NL award and Both were very deserving. It's a shame they couldn't have tied for it (though they came pretty darn close).
Pedroia
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I agree with the following. Dustin Pedroia did deserve the AL ROY award but it is absolutely wrong that Delmon Young was not included on each and every ballot.
Joe Maddon spent the late part of the season campaigning for Rays RF Delmon Young to receive consideration for Rookie of the Year.
Young held up his end in the "Vote Delmon" campaign, leading AL rookies in RBIs, hits, total bases and outfield assists while playing in all 162 games and displaying a superior baseball acumen for his age. And take away a rift with Maddon in the last weekend over not running out a ball, and Young had a controversy-free season. The 22-year-old made dramatic strides in repairing an image tarnished by a 2006 bat-throwing incident with Triple-A Durham.
Maddon ... wasn't surprised to hear that Red Sox 2B Dustin Pedroia, a key piece of Boston's title run, won the award, taking 24 of the 28 first-place votes. But when Maddon learned Young's name was entirely left off eight ballots, the manager argued it had nothing to do with Young or his numbers but his reputation.
"It's really disturbing," Maddon said Friday. "I can see him not winning the award, but leaving him off eight ballots is just a sign of personal prejudice."
Voting was done by members of the Baseball Writers Association of America, with two in each AL city voting the top three rookies on a 5-3-1 point basis before the start of the postseason.
"I think it's wrong," Maddon said. "At that point, it has nothing to do with the player's performance. The award is not a popularity race. I don't think there was any way he wasn't one of the top three rookies in the league. ... And how many other rookies in the history of the game played 162 games like he did?"
http://www.sptimes.com/2007/11/18/Rays/ ... _snu.shtml
Joe Maddon spent the late part of the season campaigning for Rays RF Delmon Young to receive consideration for Rookie of the Year.
Young held up his end in the "Vote Delmon" campaign, leading AL rookies in RBIs, hits, total bases and outfield assists while playing in all 162 games and displaying a superior baseball acumen for his age. And take away a rift with Maddon in the last weekend over not running out a ball, and Young had a controversy-free season. The 22-year-old made dramatic strides in repairing an image tarnished by a 2006 bat-throwing incident with Triple-A Durham.
Maddon ... wasn't surprised to hear that Red Sox 2B Dustin Pedroia, a key piece of Boston's title run, won the award, taking 24 of the 28 first-place votes. But when Maddon learned Young's name was entirely left off eight ballots, the manager argued it had nothing to do with Young or his numbers but his reputation.
"It's really disturbing," Maddon said Friday. "I can see him not winning the award, but leaving him off eight ballots is just a sign of personal prejudice."
Voting was done by members of the Baseball Writers Association of America, with two in each AL city voting the top three rookies on a 5-3-1 point basis before the start of the postseason.
"I think it's wrong," Maddon said. "At that point, it has nothing to do with the player's performance. The award is not a popularity race. I don't think there was any way he wasn't one of the top three rookies in the league. ... And how many other rookies in the history of the game played 162 games like he did?"
http://www.sptimes.com/2007/11/18/Rays/ ... _snu.shtml
Oh Joe...
Let's see, why wouldn't Delmon have gotten the award or been left off several ballots altogether?
How about because .288/.316/.408 with 13 homeruns is pretty piss poor production from a right fielder with 600+ AB's. In fact, he had the worst OBP and the worst SLG% in all of MLB among qualified RFers (there were 21). His 4:1 k/bb ratio was worst among RFers (and 3rd worst among all qualified position players).
But those aren't all rookies are they? Well, he was last among qualified Rookies in OPS as well. he led AL rookies in Hits because he got more than 60 plate appearances more than any other AL Rookie and as for RBi... So what? RBI are a poor measure of a hitter's potential because they're situation specific.
Add in the fact that this was a strong year for AL Rookies (Guthrie didn't get ONE vote and certainly deserved it more) and Delmon getting left off a couple ballots is no surprise. he was probably the weakest candidate in the AL. Ironically, the writers voted for him more because he IS Delmon Young, not because he deserved it.
Let's see, why wouldn't Delmon have gotten the award or been left off several ballots altogether?
How about because .288/.316/.408 with 13 homeruns is pretty piss poor production from a right fielder with 600+ AB's. In fact, he had the worst OBP and the worst SLG% in all of MLB among qualified RFers (there were 21). His 4:1 k/bb ratio was worst among RFers (and 3rd worst among all qualified position players).
But those aren't all rookies are they? Well, he was last among qualified Rookies in OPS as well. he led AL rookies in Hits because he got more than 60 plate appearances more than any other AL Rookie and as for RBi... So what? RBI are a poor measure of a hitter's potential because they're situation specific.
Add in the fact that this was a strong year for AL Rookies (Guthrie didn't get ONE vote and certainly deserved it more) and Delmon getting left off a couple ballots is no surprise. he was probably the weakest candidate in the AL. Ironically, the writers voted for him more because he IS Delmon Young, not because he deserved it.
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I agree, in part, with Bren. It was a deep year in the AL for rookies.
It is however, easy for me to understand why Guthrie did not get a vote. There were 4 rookie pitchers who, arguably, pitched better then him last season: Banister, Matsuzaka, Soria and Okajima.
Was there a ROOKIE OF who played better then Young last year? The simple answer is no. Willits received some votes as the second best rookie OF but he would not have received mine. My three votes would have gone:
Pedroia
Young
Bannister
... and if there were five:
Matsuzaka
Fields ( and that would be a "homer vote as Okajima really deserved it ...)
My point is that I agree with Joe on this ... Delmon Young was definitely one of the top 3 ROOKIES in the AL last season.
Bren - compare to him to others rookies - that is the issue here!
It is however, easy for me to understand why Guthrie did not get a vote. There were 4 rookie pitchers who, arguably, pitched better then him last season: Banister, Matsuzaka, Soria and Okajima.
Was there a ROOKIE OF who played better then Young last year? The simple answer is no. Willits received some votes as the second best rookie OF but he would not have received mine. My three votes would have gone:
Pedroia
Young
Bannister
... and if there were five:
Matsuzaka
Fields ( and that would be a "homer vote as Okajima really deserved it ...)
My point is that I agree with Joe on this ... Delmon Young was definitely one of the top 3 ROOKIES in the AL last season.
Bren - compare to him to others rookies - that is the issue here!
uhm... Jim... I did. Read the second half of the post. Worst OPS among all qualified Rookies (there were 5 in the AL). Of the 10 AL Rookies to get 300 plate appearances or more... he had the 8th best OPS in front of only Adam Lind and Jerry Owens.
He was a weak rookie choice and a god-awful right fielder. There is nothing... NOTHING... to justify him as the second or even third best rookie in the AL. He got votes on reputation and name recognition, not because he deserved it. He still has a bright future ahead of him, but in 2007 Delmon Young flat out SUCKED.
He was a weak rookie choice and a god-awful right fielder. There is nothing... NOTHING... to justify him as the second or even third best rookie in the AL. He got votes on reputation and name recognition, not because he deserved it. He still has a bright future ahead of him, but in 2007 Delmon Young flat out SUCKED.
