On Volquez's erroneous Rookie of the Year bid

2009-02-16T10:23:35-05:00

<div class="photo_container image_right"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://img.fannation.com/upload/si_blog_post_images/edinson.jpg" alt="Edinson" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align: left;">Edinson Volquez finished fourth in Rookie of the Year voting.<br />J.P. Verni/Getty Images</div> </div> <p>Armed with a mid-90s fastball and a devastating circle-change, <strong>Edinson Volquez</strong> burst on the scene in 2008 as one of baseball's best young pitchers. After finishing his first season in Cincinnati with a 17-6 record and 3.21 ERA, the 25-year-old right-hander placed fourth in this year's NL Rookie of the Year voting. <br /><br />Only one problem: Volquez was not a rookie.<br /><br />According to <a href="http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/official_info/about_mlb/rules_regulations.jsp" target="_blank">this "official info" on MLB.com</a>, "A player shall be considered a rookie unless, during a previous season or seasons, he has (a) exceeded 130 at-bats or 50 innings pitched in the Major Leagues."<br /><br />Well, that's interesting, because prior to that now-famous Volquez-for-<strong>Josh Hamilton</strong> trade, Volquez had already logged 80 innings for the Rangers from 2005-07. Remember, the 50-innings barrier refers to "a previous season <em>or seasons</em>." <br /><br />To make sure I hadn't lost my mind, I placed a call to the MLB offices. The governing body of our nation's pastime confirmed it: Volquez definitely wasn't a rookie in 2008.<br /><br />With this knowledge in hand, I contacted the folks who actually hand out this award: The Baseball Writers' Association of America. BBWAA secretary/treasurer <strong>Jack O'Connell </strong>graciously admitted the oversight: "It was a mistake. It slipped through the cracks."</p> On Volquez's erroneous Rookie of the Year bid

2008-11-10T17:01:16-05:00

2008-11-10T17:06:16-05:00

2008-11-11T11:30:39-05:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/604/139/thumb/statue.jpg 130 PA

Reason in Philly?

Philadelphia 604779

Lost in this mess is that the Reds DID have a rookie who put up a great season that actually was a rookie! His name: Joey Votto, and HE FINISHED IN SECOND IN THE VOTING! Look at his Numbers: 151 games, 156 hits, 24 Hr, 84 Rbi, .874 Ops, and a .297 Avg. That is a damn fine line for a rookie first baseman from Canada who tragically lost his father three-quarters through the season. If you don't know JoVo, you better learn quickly.

28 Votto and Soto's lines were eerily close. I guess voters felt those numbers from the catcher position hold a little more weight? 3306476

2008-11-11T16:29:35-05:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/214/479/thumb/pujols.jpg 41 MO

pikesteve22

Florissant 214779

Votto and Soto's lines were eerily close. I guess voters felt those numbers from the catcher position hold a little more weight?

29 I'd say so. 1B who hit 20-25 HR are a lot more common than catchers do. Soto was the right choice, IMHO. I'm crossing my fingers Pujols doesn't get screwed over by the MVP vote. As great a season as Howard had, he wasn't nearly as impressive as Pujols. The Gold Gloves screwed over several players; then again, I forgot they were re-named the Gold Glove/Silver Slugger award years ago. 3309423

2008-11-11T09:59:00-05:00

Abrahams311

Cincinnati 581098

26 Lost in this mess is that the Reds DID have a rookie who put up a great season that actually was a rookie! His name: Joey Votto, and HE FINISHED IN SECOND IN THE VOTING! Look at his Numbers: 151 games, 156 hits, 24 Hr, 84 Rbi, .874 Ops, and a .297 Avg. That is a damn fine line for a rookie first baseman from Canada who tragically lost his father three-quarters through the season. If you don't know JoVo, you better learn quickly. 3305480

2008-11-11T11:30:39-05:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/604/139/thumb/statue.jpg 130 PA

Reason in Philly?

Philadelphia 604779

28 Votto and Soto's lines were eerily close. I guess voters felt those numbers from the catcher position hold a little more weight? 3306476

2008-11-10T17:53:50-05:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/192/496/thumb/sir_robin.jpg 16781 HQ

Sir Robin (again)

Fan Nation 192796

8 Props for catching this.... it's amazing that the BBWA doesn't seem to have a process in place for validating eligible candidates for awards.... no credibility at all.... 3301056

2008-11-11T11:29:12-05:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/604/139/thumb/statue.jpg 130 PA

Reason in Philly?

Philadelphia 604779

Props for catching this.... it's amazing that the BBWA doesn't seem to have a process in place for validating eligible candidates for awards.... no credibility at all....

27 Great point, this destroys the credibility of the BBWA. If their writers, who you would assume at the very least should be knowledgable about what they are writing, don't or can't even verify who is or is not a rookie, how much stock can you put in their writing??? I know its probably a small cross-section that erred, but it reflects badly on the whole. 3306498

2008-11-11T09:59:00-05:00

Abrahams311

Cincinnati 581098

2008-11-11T00:39:51-05:00

dent1561

Boston 605019

24 I'm assuming most writers realized Volquez wasn't a "rookie" or surely he would have finished higher than 4th?! Guy goes 17-6 (on a team that only wins 74 games), strikes out 206 while batters hit only .232 against him. Cy young candidates would eat their young for those numbers. 3303868

2008-11-11T00:50:26-05:00

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sdungan

Vienna 171463

I'm assuming most writers realized Volquez wasn't a "rookie" or surely he would have finished higher than 4th?! Guy goes 17-6 (on a team that only wins 74 games), strikes out 206 while batters hit only .232 against him. Cy young candidates would eat their young for those numbers.

25 Amen to that, Volquez was for a good point of the season neck-and-neck with brandon webb for the cy young race if i'm not mistaken? if he had been a legitimate rookie, of course he would have won the award. you have to go back to dwight gooden to find a rookie NL starter with better numbers then that (including kerry wood and dontrelle willis). It is refreshing that the right candidates did, in the end, win though. 3303907

2008-11-11T00:39:51-05:00

dent1561

Boston 605019

2008-11-11T00:27:59-05:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/449/689/thumb/Tejas.gif 59184 PA

The Pitt Panther: ROYCE!

Telford 450129

23 very good blog until the last line. 3303848

2008-11-10T22:34:20-05:00

cklay09

Springfield 604965

22 Who cares! he didnt win it. 3303173

2008-11-10T21:57:33-05:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/325/10/thumb/Picture_027.jpg 565 WI

bbech

Appleton 32610

21 vikings526, You're thinking of the Pirates. 3302974

2008-11-10T21:08:19-05:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/414/01/thumb/cpl.gif 35 NY

CplBigsocks

Cheektowaga 41621

20 Selig is going to get heat for this because it's a rather insane to consider a kid that logs 80 innings over 3 seasons as a callup - that 26 1/3 innings a season - is not considered a rookie in his first full season in the Bigs. Hell, a reliever on a team with a crap starting 5 can pick up 26 innings in abut 4 or 5 games. In Volquez' case, it's 6, 8, and 6 games, respectively. 20 games over 3 seasons. Then 33 games this year. How can he not be considered a rookie? Just because he was a September callup for 3 season. Ludicrous. 3302555

Gennaro Filice

New York 4275