AL Rookie of the Year Watch

The first week of the NFL season is such a treat.  Every team has an equal chance of having a successful season.  You can feel the hope from every team.  However, for baseball fans, the first week of NFL signals that the end is near for the MLB.  With only a couple weeks left, let’s take a look at the Rookie of the Year Award:

Should Win: Andrew Bailey, Oakland A’s

Andrew Bailey is not the typical player you’d consider for Rookie of the Year.  He is 25 years old, and was never highly touted.  His last season in the Minor Leagues was in Double-A ball where he had a 4.32 ERA and 1.41 WHIP.   Then Oakland decided to move him to the bullpen where he has absolutely taken off.  Bailey was the only rookie to make either All-Star team this year, and deservingly so.  Bailey has a 81-23 K/BB ratio in 75 innings.
His 3.52 K/BB ratio helps keep opposing batters off the bases 75.8% of their plate appearances.  The last three relievers to win ROY were ’05 Huston Street , ’00 Kaz Sasaki, and ’99 Scott Williamson.   Of those three, only Huston Street posted better numbers than Bailey’s 2009 stats.  Bailey will never be a star, or anywhere close to a household name, but he deserves the ROY hardware.

Might Win: Elvis Andrus, Texas Rangers

It took a couple months for Elvis to get acclimated in the major league batters box, but you can now say with confidence that he belongs in a major league uniform.  In August Andrus posted a triple-slash line of .289/.372/.794 and is doing even better through the first 13 days of September.  The real asset Andrus brings though is his defense.  Has there a better Shortstop in the game, defensively?  According to UZR, only Jack Wilson.  Range? Andrus has the most.  Andrus is a big part of the surprising Rangers squad, who are only 4 games out of the Wild Card as we speak.  As of right now, I think Andrew Bailey deserves it, but if Andrus finishes strong and the Rangers keep playing good ball then I don’t see why Elvis Andrus wouldn’t be a top candidate.

Others to consider: Nolan Reimold, Gordan Beckham, Jeff Niemann

Reimold has been nothing but solid gold for the Orioles this year.  Many prospectors had been waiting for Reimold to arrive, and they have to be real pleased with the results.  A .365 OBP is certainly nothing to sneeze at.  Not many people would complain if Reimold took the ROY honors.

Beckham struggled when he got called up, but not for long.  After his slow start, he exploded, posting a monster .330/.382/.526 line in July.  Then Beckham proceeded to hit .223 in August, while the Sox dissapeared from Playoff contention.  If the Sox somehow pull off a miracle playoff berth, then Beckham will probably be a big reason why.  Otherwise, you can probably throw his name out the window.

In an organization with stud pitching prospects like David Price, Wade Davis, Jeremy Hellickson, Jacob Mcgee, etc. it was Jeff Niemann who emerged as a quality major league starter in 2009.  Niemann never posted a season in the minor leagues with a BB/9 ratio of less than 3.2, which is why his 2.8 BB/9 as a major league pitcher is a little surprising.