Odd Thoughts

More Awards

Comeback Player of the Year

I have to say that my heart is not in this award. I generally think it's pretty dumb. Coming back from one injury-plagued season is not a comeback. GUys like Richie Sexson don't count. Maybe Ken Griffey is a better choice because he's had four or five straight injury-plagued years. Then there's a guy like John Smoltz, who came back to the starting rotation from closing.

Anyway, it seems to me that the CBPOY should a player that was good and then bad and then good again, and that's hard to measure if you take injuries out of the picture. So without going through a lot more explanation my AL CBPOY is Barry Zito and the NL nod goes to Griffey.

Rookie of the Year
This one is more fun than it has been in a few years. In both leagues we have essentially two different groups of rookie candidates: there are players that played above average to good that played most of the season, and there are players that were great for half of the season. So this year I think I'll break it up into two awards per league.

AL Rookie of the Whole Year

Robinson Cano, NYY: Cano became the Yankees everyday second baseman on May 3rd and never looked back. At the time the Yankees were in panic mode. Cano was only still in the Yankee system because the Yankees didn't know he was good enough to trade (he was offered, along with Chien-Ming Wang, to the Dimaondbacks in the Johnson deal, but they weren't interested). Anyway, Cano hit .297 with 14 home runs and and 68 RBI's in several different places in the lineup, and he came up with some big hits for the Yanks down the stretch. Honorable mention to Gustavo Chacin (TOR) and Huston Street (OAK).


AL Stud Rookie of the Year

Jonny Gomes, TBD: Gomes hit .282 with 21 home runs and 54 RBI's in 101 games for the Devil Rays. He also stole 9 bases. His home runs project out to 36 over a full season, and he makes Aubrey Huff expendable. Honorable mention to Dan Johnson (OAK).


NL Rookie of the Whole Year

Willy Taveras, HOU: Taveras held down the lead-off spot for the Astros most of the year, played above average center field and stole 34 bases while batting .291. Like Cano, he's unspectacular, but very solid. Honorable mention to Jeff Francis (COL) and Ryan Langerhans (ATL).


NL Stud Rookie of the Year

Ryan Howard, PHI: Howard is extremely similar to Gomes from a numbers standpoint, but he comes out on top of Gomes in most numbers (except stolen bases), and Howard did it for a contending team. Howard hit some huge home runs for the Phillies down the stretch, and makes Jim Thome expendable. His home run total (22) projects out to 42 in 600 at bats. Honorable mention to Jeff Francoeur (ATL).