2009 AL/NL rookie of the year
Who do you think will be the best rookies in the AL and NL this season?
Likely AL candidates:
Price
Weiters
Snider
LaPorta?
Any other legit candidates? Max Ramirez or Teagarden? Will any of the top pitching prospects (Anderson, Cahill, Feliz) get an early call? Do any 2008 draftees (Smoak, Beckham) get a midseason call and a make a run?
Likely NL candidates:
Maybin
Rasmus
Fowlers
Escobar?
McCutchen
Any other candidates? No likely runaway candidate like Price and Weiters in the AL. Can any 2008 draftees (Alvarez, Posey, Wallace) get a midseason call and make a run?
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Rasmus
Rasmus won’t be in St. Louis from day one unless they trade Ankiel or Schumaker.
What a group of rookies in the AL. Such a tough call. I’d probably go with David Price just because we’ve seen what he can do in the majors. Wieters will probably come up and kill the ball, though. Ahh, I can’t really decide.
Some other candidates:
AL:
-Gio Gonzalez-Oakland-Only pitched 34 innings last year. Control is the only thing holding him back.
-Nick Adenhart-Anaheim-Will more than likely take Garland’s spot with a strong spring. Who knows how he’ll do.
-Adam Miller-Cleveland-If he stays healthy
NL:
-James McDonald-LA-Spot in rotation isn’t set but he’ll compete for a job and be a leading candidate. Did well in his brief ML time last year.
-Scott Elbert-LA-Tough call here. He only made one start last year but if the Dodgers still see him as a starter and he impresses in spring training, he could crack their rotation.
-Nate Schierholtz-San Fran-Someone can correct me if he isn’t still a rookie(service time, not ABs is what I’m concerned about) but Schierholtz has impressed in his previous two stints in the ML.
I guess I’ll go with the two pitchers
AL: David Price
NL: James McDonald
Schierholtz isn't a rookie anymore
He’s also out of options, thanks to Sabean’s brain-dead roster management skills…
Many years from now, when his name's recalled
Everyone will say, "He should have passed the ball"
-- Al Stewart, "Football Hero"
Ugh
Schierholtz should have stayed in the majors all last year. Could have been one of the best hitters on the team.
A noob or n00b is someone that lacks intellegance or common sense, most people think that noob is a word used only in the online gaming world, but in reality it is becoming an ever popular word with teenage society.
a noob could be simply a level 100 running round shouting ‘’WTF DO I GO!?’’ or someone calling someone else a noob and then getting hit with a brick, anyone can call anyone a noob, but normally they are noobs themselves
-robert_d_wilfong
Well past the point where wholesale changes are needed, if you ask me.
….and it should probably start at the top.
gio gonzalez as a ROY?
laughable.
Scout: He was a first-round pick right? Got a huge bonus?
KG: Oh yeah.
Scout: Well, he spent a lot of it on milkshakes.
by knockoutking on Jan 31, 2009 11:06 PM EST up reply actions
which is why he led the minor leagues in strikeouts 2 yrs ago?
Many years from now, when his name's recalled
Everyone will say, "He should have passed the ball"
-- Al Stewart, "Football Hero"
That doesn't mean anything.
Didn’t Yusmeiro Petit lead the minors in strikeouts one season too? Now, Gio winning ROY isn’t quite laughable, but is quite a longshot.
"My mom always taught me it's better to laugh at yourself than to laugh at others. She was so wrong. ;)" -Pedrophile
The point of that post was not to pimp Gio for RoY, which I agree is an extreme longshot (1 in 50?)
It was to point up the inconsistency of knockoutking’s posts on this thread.
Many years from now, when his name's recalled
Everyone will say, "He should have passed the ball"
-- Al Stewart, "Football Hero"
Gonzalez
I don’t see how mentioning Gonzalez as a candidate is laughable?
He is going to be one of Oakland’s starters and he is a rookie. He has great stuff and if he throws it for enough strikes then he’ll have a chance to post some good numbers.
But there is a reason why I didn’t pick him. I don’t see him controlling his stuff well enough to put up ROY numbers. He might put up decent numbers but not good enough to beat David Price or Matt Wieters.
My picks
I’ll take Price and Rasmus. Wallace has a small chance of starting the season as the every day 3b, I don’t think he will but he does have a legit chance. If he does he is my pick in the NL.
Yadi is my hero
-1
Not a chance. He’s a .250 hitter at best unless he can cut down the strikeouts big time. And the writers aren’t going to vote for a .250 hitter unless he does something absurd like hit 30 bombs and steals 30 bases, which is also highly unlikely.
Founder of the Johnny Giavotella fan club.
which is why he led the minor leagues in hits 2 yrs ago?
Scout: He was a first-round pick right? Got a huge bonus?
KG: Oh yeah.
Scout: Well, he spent a lot of it on milkshakes.
by knockoutking on Jan 31, 2009 11:07 PM EST up reply actions
+1
With Wieters and Price sucking all the air from the room, the NL ROY is going to feel like a consolation prize. Schafer is as good a guess, maybe better, than any.
NL
I agree that the NL ROY seems to be a fairly wide open landscape going into the season. In addition to the players already noted, if guys like Tommy Hanson, Jon Niese, or Jordan Zimmermann find themselves in their team’s rotation and do well they could be in play. Or maybe even bullpen arms like Samardzjia, Jose Ceda, or Sergio Romo could get consideration if they serve in high profile late inning roles.
Or there’s even the chance that a guy like Kenshin Kawakami could be a candidate if he has a strong year and no “traditional” rookies have exceptional seasons.
Mine:
Weiters (AL)
and
Maybin (NL)
"No... JD has been exposed as a kid who trades his remote-controlled helicopters for paper airplanes, then fails to consider the feelings of the paper airplane when he refolded it into a hat." -Telegraph.
I'll go...
Wieters and Hanson. Hanson will probably get a spot when one of the Braves starters goes down(I can feel it) and Wieters is just a flat out masher. He will easily be a top 5 fantasy catcher this year.
Hanson
Wieters is the obvious choice in the AL, and if Hanson gets enough starts I think he’s got a great shot at putting together the numbers to do it in the NL. I could see him having a Dontrelle like rookie season and blowing everyone away the first time they see him.
Depending on how Kawakami does he could be another one, though I’m opposed to 30 somethings winning the award.
If I had to put money on someone in the NL it would be Rasmus though.
He won't
Jurrjens, Lowe, Campillo, Kawakami, Vasquez, and in June Hudson will be back. Just not much room there.
NL
Didn’t Florida open up a spot for Gaby Sanchez? As noted, it’s not like a guy has to be an MVP candidate to win the NL Award in 2009. :)
I think Kawakami should be considered the favorite entering 2009, since – like it or not – he’s eligible for the award, and is a polished professional already and would have to pull an Igawa to lose his job.
Chris Perez isn’t eligible due to days on roster, but might end up being the best pitcher with <50 IP entering 2009.
AL
Andrus is a big longshot, but a bunch of Web Gems, 30+ SB, and less-than-expected seasons from the frontrunners could get him some support.
Getz should be solid, though again this isn’t the league/year in which “solid” should be enough to contend for the award.
Bowden needs some breaks to get a chance, but Boston has so much offense that anyone starting games for that team should get a lot of wins.
Bowden
has to be seventh or eighth on that rotation depth chart. You’ve got:
Beckett
Matsuzaka
Lester
Wakefield
Penny
Smoltz
Buchholz
You’d think all of these guys would be above Bowden. It’s too bad, I’d love to see Buchholz and Bowden get some real time in the Sox’ rotation, but Theo seems determined to make sure it’s not happening this season.
Bowden is only 22 this year
and hasnt played much at AAA. He still has some things he could work on, too.
Don't overlook Gamel.
I believe Milwaukee thought Gamel was better than LaPorta and that is why they traded the latter. Is Gamel’s shoulder fully healed?
It will be Jason Motte for the NL
He will be the closer with a strong spring and the Cards should be able to win enough games for him to rack up the saves. He will strikeout a TON of hitters and his rate stats should look pretty good. A closer really shouldn’t ever win any awards, unless his name is Rivera, but if Motte saves 40 games and strikeouts 100 hitters in 60 innings, it will be tough for the BWAA to not vote for him.
Rasmus, if he gets the playing time, will likely be a very valuable major leaguer. He should be worth at least 2 wins just with the glove and his hitting skills are very sabermetric-friendly. However, he will likely have a low batting average and his defense will not be valued like it should by the BWAA.
vivaelbensheets
Keep dreamin' homer
Rasmus has a shot, but that closer scenario is a total wet dream
Regards – Chris Perez

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