How is .270 with 14 homers and 63 RBI more valuable than 13-6 with a 3.94 ERA or 6-3 with 26 saves and a 1.84 ERA? I don’t even want to get into the more complicated statistics, because the voters clearly aren’t. But Gordon Beckham has now won AL top rookie honors from The Sporting News and the Players Choice Awards. Of course, both are voted on by players, so Beckham wasn’t likely to win one and not the other. I just don’t see how he deserved to win either. Beckham is going to be a very good regular for a long time, but he didn’t truly set himself apart offensively or defensively this year. His counting stats are completely unremarkable, and an 808 OPS over the course of 103 games isn’t what one expects to see from a serious Rookie of the Year contender. Niemann was certainly more valuable with his 180 2/3 innings of above average pitching. Bailey was arguably the game’s most valuable reliever. He finished fourth in baseball in relief innings pitched, and he was fourth in ERA and first in WHIP amongst relievers with 60 innings pitched. I’d also put Elvis Andrus above Beckham with his .267/.329/.373 line in 480 at-bats and his impressive defense at shortstop, but that’s a closer call. Bailey is the rookie most deserving of all of this hardware. He’s not going to have the same kind of career of Beckham, but he was the most effective player this year.
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