AL & NL Rookie of the Year Poll

I know Shaggy made a thread about this already, but I just wanted to see what the results would be if SportsJournalists.com controlled the vote. That being said, I vote for Pedroia (gasp!) and Braun. Pedroia has been solid both at the plate and the field for Boston, and has handled that pressure-cooker fairly well. I'm not voting for either Japanese player b/c I view them as veterans and the talent-pool in the Japanese leagues is no longer at a Triple-A level. They're damn good players, but no rookies (especially Okajima). But any of you want to vote for them, knock yourselves out.

As far as the NL, there's no contest. Braun has been hitting out of his mind, and despite coming out of ST with the bad-glove label, you don't hear much about any fielding gaffes. Hamilton, Lincecum and Pence have either experienced stints on the DL and/or ineffectiveness. Tulowitzki's numbers are good, but aren't as eye-popping as his peers. Young has the "wow" factor with the power and speed, but the low average and strikeouts scream Mike Cameron, 2.0. Loney's numbers are nice, but he's a 1B with 2B-like raw stats.

 

Actually, Braun is a butcher in the field. Twenty errors in 78 games.

He's still the easy ROY though.

 

I voted for Braun and Okajima. I think Okajima has been just as valuable, if not more than Dice-K this season. He has stabalized a bullpen that was supposed to be a weakness for the Red Sox and turned it into a plus, well, until Eric Gagne showed up.

 

I like Boston, but Dice-K is overrated.

I like Kansas City, and Brian Bannister is vastly underrated. Leads league in lack of run support.

 

Unlike the AL, there's no debate there.

 

Anyone think Hamilton will be a legit contender b/c of the sympathy vote, or will he "just" get Comeback Player of the Year?

 

He will "just" get comeback honors. Braun's having too good of a season not to win it.

 

Three people have voted for Alex Gordon. I hope these three aren't actual voters.

 

Chris B. Young got my NL vote. 26 homers on a first place team. Braun is an excellent talent, but at BYH pointed out a horrible fielder at this point. Young has been mashing and the D-Backs have been reaping the rewards in their climb to the top of the NL West.

 

what about billy butler?

probably won't get the vote, but deserves a mention

 

Braun plays defense like people are lobbing grenades at him. If Chris Young didn't play out west he'd be running away with this award.

And yeah, I voted for Alex Gordon. Dude's money in pressure situations... ;D

 

He spent a very large portion of the season in the minors....and what little time he has spent playing in the field has been a disaster.