BBA AL Rookie of the Year

Here I am again ready to submit my ballot for the rookie of the year.

If you haven't caught on yet, I'm helping represent Cleveland in the BBA, which is the Baseball Bloggers Alliance. We vote on all the awards just like the media does, only we do a far better job. Mike Scioscia was named manager and I can't say I totally disagree, even though I didn't have him on my ballot. He did a fantastic job.

Because we're an Indians blog though, you have to give it up to our Rookies. We had plenty, which you would think would give us a good shot to have someone in contention, the odds are high.

But of course, they all sort of were just something and the one who did kick ass for the entire time he was here, was only here for a month, Michael Brantley.

We never have a rookie candidate, mainly because bring them up in September, play their asses off and they're ineligible next year.

It happens.

We had quite a few though...

David Huff - 11 wins, 65 strikeouts, but a 5.61 ERA. He was pretty good down the stretch though.

Tony Sipp - A fabulous 2.93 ERA in 40 innings pitched with 48 strikeouts. At this point, I'd consider him for a vote. However, there were two veteran relievers that were way better than him for much longer periods.

Luis Valbuena - A .250 average and 31 RBI on the year. Not bad, but wildly inconsistent. Trailed only Gordon Beckham in extra-base hits among rookies.

Matt LaPorta - I'm going to exclude his early season call-up and call a mulligan. These were his numbers in the second stint. .273/.315, 6 HR, 17 RBI in 139 AB.

Trevor Crowe - Hit .235, stole six bases and wasn't caught once, knocked in 17 RBI. He's established himself as a suitable replacement to Franklin Gutierrez as a fourth outfielder. To bad Gutierrez is starting caliber.

Michael Brantley - In just 112 at bats, Brantley hit 3.12, knocked in 11 runs and scored 10. He was 4/8 on SB attempts, but he's a burner and as he learns the big leagues, he'll improve that. He already got the green light from Eric Wedge.

Wyatt Toregas/Chris Gimenez - Oh boy... I like them both, but there is a reason they aren't starting caliber.

Lou Marson - Now here's a rookie of the year candidate for next season. I really like Lou Marson and I believe he didn't accumulate enough time or plate appearances to register this year. The .346 OBP is encouraging for the small sample size.

Jess Todd - He's a favorite of ours here, but the high ERA is discouraging. Love his tuff though and he should get better.

Without further hesitation though, here are some rookies that didn't suck for a majority of the year.

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3. Andrew Bailey

I decided I didn't want to give a first place vote to a relief pitcher, but Andrew Bailey was as good as you get. Lights out all season. Where do the A's find these guys as of late and why do they have one huge year and then suddenly disappear?

2. Rick Porcello

What happened in the 163rd game won me over in a way. He was doing awesome for awhile...

Really though it was a tough call between him and Jeff Niemann. A few factors that made me pick Porcello: higher strikeouts, lower run support, contending team to the very end.

Niemann is sort of getting overlooked despite his similar statistics to Porcello. Let's not forget him in the mix here.

1. Elvis Andrus

If you know me by now, you know I'm in love with defense. So Andrus could have hit .190 and I'd probably still give him a vote.

Well not really, but seriously... This kid is sick and he had Omar Vizquel teaching him stuff? What did he teach him that he didn't already know? He was making plays from day one. He's a bonafied stud with the glove and the Rangers knew that.

With all their offense, they figured if he could just hit .230 and save more runs than he knocked in, they'd win. Well I don't know if he saved 40 runs, but he knocked in that man and scored 72. He hit .267 with a .329 on base percentage, which is not bad for a rookster.

Oh and he stole 33 out of 39 bases. Jango.

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Why I didn't vote for...

There really wasn't anyone past four managers that I'd consider casting a ballot four, so I didn't do honorable mentions, but perhaps I should defend not voting for a few of the players that I ended up leaving off.

Jeff Niemann

Again, LOOK AT HIS STATS! He was just as good as Rick Porcello was. Porcello was probably a little bit better and the fact that he's fresh out of Double-A helps him. But Niemann was the guy that beat out David Price and that dude they traded to Colorado (I know his name, Jason Hammel, whatever) and everyone was like WHAIUFHDSFFHS WHAT ARE YOU DOING!? And look he did good.

Gordon Beckham

Eh, he plays for the White Sox.

No, he played good for the White Sox though. He led all AL Rookies in RBI and was pretty damn fantastic for awhile. Didn't play the entire season though, which isn't a bad thing, but he really had to light it up to get a vote and not play the entire year.

Nolan Reimold

I don't know how many votes he'll garner, but I like him. Matt Wieters will probably get more, but he Reimold was the Rookie HR leader.

Tony Sipp

One more Tony Sipp stat.. Among the AL Rookie Relief Pitchers that logged 40 games pitched

Sipp was third in ERA with 2.93.. I did not count Matt Palmer as he was a part time starter.

He was also fifth among AL Rookies with 10 holds. To honor Sipp's decent rookie year, we go back in the vault from this past season and show you this post... The day Sipp was called up to the majors.

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While we're on the subject of rookies and prospects.. Check out the Indians Prospect Insider for the updates about instructional leagues. Tony Lastoria is down in Arizona and if you want more, check out his youtube profile for videos he's been posting on players.