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  • August 05, 2007 10:16 PM ET

BAT Tournament, Round 2. American Leauge and National Leauge Rookies of the Year.

thejetstolehome: hiatus? (20-9-4) vs Lifer: Metallica Sucks! (348-131-26)
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The National League Rookie of the Year this year will be Ryan Braun. Until last week, I would've said Hunter Pence but his injury nixes him from the competition in my eyes, despite his defensive woes. Braun's offense has been absolutely ridiculous this year, especially his power. He's batting .342/.391 and an amazing .652 with 19 home runs in 256 at bats (13 ABs/HR) and 52 batted in in just 63 games. Also, being 10/13 on SB attempts is a nice added bonus. Braun is also creating nearly 10 runs per 27 outs. Ryan Braun is an absolute stud and will be a star in the Majors for years and years to come. The American League Rookie of the Year is a little tougher. The rookie pool in the AL is pretty weak but if I had to choose, I would go, reluctantly, with Jeremy Guthrie. I say reluctantly because of his age but regardless of that, he's still techincally a rookie and is doing absolutely great. He doesn't have as many wins as his main competition (Dice-K) does but that could be attributed to playing for the worthless Orioles. He's striking out 6.3 per nine innings and walking only 2.3 per nine. Those numbers are great. He has a sub 3 ERA in the American League which is outstanding. JG = ROY


National League: Hunter Pence, I agree. The NL is very weak in rookies right about now, and Ryan Braun is doing so strong, that it's really no competition.

American League: Hideki Okajima. This guy is having one of the greatest seasons this year for any player, rookie or otherwise. It's tough to be a Yankees fan when this guy is continually setting up games for Jonathan Papelbon without giving any runs to teams.

In 53.2 innings, he has given up 6 ER, and 3 HR. Okajima also has never given up more than one run in any of his games where he did give up a run; in fact, he hasn't even given up more than 1 run per month.

Currently, Okajima has a 1.01 ERA, 0.82 WHIP, .172 BAA, a 2-0 record, 4 saves, 44 K and 12 BB. Although it's hard to compare a setup man to a starter, Okajima might very well be the best setup man in baseball right now, whereas Guthrie is doing incredibly well, but doesn't quite cut it for best in baseball at SP.


I defintely like your argument of Okajima and I wish he could get it because, well, he deserves it. However, when it comes down to it, the voters are not going to give a reliever, even a set up man like Okajima, an award. That gets compounded when people might argue that he's not even the best rookie on his team with Pedroia doing great after a slow start and Dice-K doing pretty well, too. If Okajima was a closer and was having a Papelbon-like season, then he'd be the clear cut ROY. However, his non-closer status, and the splitting of the Boston/Northeast vote, will prevent him from getting ROY.

Also, Guthrie doesn't have to be the best @ SP--just the best rookie at SP. I think his being a starter, and a relative feel good story, will get the voters behind him more so than Oki. The fact that the AL Rookie pool (hell, both rookie pools) is really shallow also helps him.


Actually, they've given it to plenty of relievers, 3 within the last 10 years (Huston Street, Scott Williamson, Kazuhiro Sasaki). 3 out of 20 may not seem like many, but compared to all other positions, it's pretty even.

I'll admit, setup men don't get it often, but very few rookie setup men have years like Hideki Okajima is having. For the majority of the season, his ERA was pretty comfortably under 1.00! His WHIP is still below 0.85, and opponents aren't even hitting .175 off of him. He is a big reason why Jonathan Papelbon is having such a great year.

And don't forget, the shallowness of the rook pool will help Okajima just as much as it will help Guthrie, more votes to both.


Sasaki, Williamson, and Street were all closers. Okajima is not a closer and that will definitely hurt his chances. Guthrie had a .700 WP on a horrible team.That's incredibly impressive. Okajima might not win ROY for his own team, much less the league. Everyone is getting behind Guthrie and I think his great season with a pitiful team will put him over the top.

Even though I'm gonna lose this ish, here's how I think the voting will go.

NL: Braun, Pence, Tulowitzki, Lincecum, Young
AL: Guthrie, Dice-K, D. Young, Pedroia, Okajima


As I've explained, not many setup men have seasons like Okajima, along with a weak rookie pool. Okajima will be lucky in that he has little competition, and will win it, in my opinion. I've already explained how I think Okajima is the best rookie, and competition on his own team means nothing.

Comments (14) Add A Comment

August 5, 2007  10:29 PM ET
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here we go. i won't be around during the day tomorrow but, yeah, good luck Yankees.

August 5, 2007  10:43 PM ET
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EVERYONE: I MEANT TO SAY RYAN BRAUN IN MY FIRST ARGUMENT. SORRY!

August 5, 2007  10:43 PM ET
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Same to you, jets.

August 5, 2007  10:46 PM ET
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Good TD so far. Waiting till the end.

August 5, 2007  10:49 PM ET
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Ryan Braun is impossible to argue against (Troy Tulowitzki??), and Jeremy Guthrie is very tough.

August 5, 2007  10:49 PM ET
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Benny, your argument is giving me a headache, ouch. Please, make paragraphical arguments next time. It was a good argument, but I cannot take the headache it gives me.

August 5, 2007  10:59 PM ET
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sorry about that, dude. i wanted to save a little space on the first one.

August 5, 2007  11:01 PM ET
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yeah, Pence was Braun's only real competition. however, Tulowitzki's no pushover. all three of them will be the stars of the NL along with Hamels, Lincecum, and Bailey for a long time.

August 5, 2007  11:06 PM ET
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My pick was Reggie Willits of the Angelsfor the A.L. but he has cooled down alot.

August 5, 2007  11:10 PM ET
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watch this end up being another one of those TDs where i end up regretting not voting for myself...

August 5, 2007  11:35 PM ET
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thejets, vote for yourself. I did so a minute ago.

August 6, 2007  01:28 AM ET
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how is this 9-0? this makes no sense

August 6, 2007  05:29 PM ET
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Braun and Guthrie...

 
August 6, 2007  05:36 PM ET
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You need to use Guthrie's stats, man...

2.98 ERA (tied for 3rd), .226 BAA (5th), 1.08 WHIP (2nd), 3/1 K/BB ratio...

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