Every American League Rookie of the Year of the 21st century

This is one of those Rookie of the Year winners not everybody is behind. For starters, Sasaki came over from Japan when he was 32. So yeah, not your typical rookie. Then, there’s the fact he was a relief pitcher. Now, he did rack up some saves for the Mariners and made two All-Star Games. Sasaki also pitched all of four seasons in MLB.

Okay, here is a Japanese player in his prime heading over to MLB we can get behind winning Rookie of the Year. After all, Ichiro won both AL Rookie of the Year AND AL MVP in his first season. The Mariners legend — yes, we're starting with back-to-back Mariners — would go on to break the record for hits in a season and become an icon of the sport. While Ichiro was in his age-27 season when he debuted, he was so good we have no complaints.

Well, Hinske did play 12 seasons in MLB. However, his first season, when he was with the Blue Jays, was his best. Hinske was never an all-star, and his bWAR as a rookie was 4.0. His career bWAR is only 7.8, so more than half his career value came in 2002, his first year in the majors.

After getting cups of coffee in 2001 and 2002, Berroa stuck with the Royals in 2003 and won AL Rookie of the Year by the narrowest of margins over Hideki Matsui. This is a case, though, where we might have preferred the veteran Japanese player. Berroa was solid as a rookie, hitting .287 with 17 homers and 21 stolen bases. After that, though, he was a bad player, washing out by 2009 with a career .677 OPS.

Crosby was a good defender at shortstop, and he hit 22 homers as a rookie, a notable number for his position. On the other hand, the Athletics hit a mere .239 with a .319 OBP. He would retire after the 2010 season with a career .304 OBP, and he had trouble staying healthy as well. The guy who finished fourth in Al Rookie of the Year voting had a higher bWAR, but his 3.97 ERA may not have been sufficient for traditionally-minded voters in 2004. His name? Zack Greinke.

Back-to-back Oakland players. Street, a relief pitcher, was drafted No. 40 overall from the University of Texas with the thought he would be in the majors quickly. Indeed, the very next year, Street spent his age-21 season in MLB, and he was a force out of the bullpen. It’s not so much the 23 saves, but the 1.72 ERA with 72 strikeouts in 78.1 innings. Street would make a couple All-Star Games and racked up a couple 40-save seasons. He ended up having a solid, if unremarkable, career as a relief pitcher.

Alright, after Ichiro, we hit a bit of a rough patch, but this is the kind of guy you like to see in the history books as a Rookie of the Year winner. He would go on to win three Cy Youngs, including one in his age-39 season. Two of those Cys were won with the Astros, but he won Rookie of the Year with the Tigers, as well as his first Cy Young and an AL MVP. Yes, Verlander is a pitcher with an MVP award. He’s a future Hall of Famer. Oh, and he was also quite good as a rookie, for what it’s worth.

After injuries brought his career to a close, Pedroia retired a quintessential “Hall of Very Good” guy. The second baseman isn’t quite a Hall of Famer, but he’s a Red Sox legend, and there is a good argument for his number being retired. There were a lot of good seasons for Pedroia in his time with Boston, but he opened by winning Rookie of the Year in 2007 and then won AL MVP in 2008. For good measure, he won a World Series as a rookie.

The 2008 season was big in Tampa. One, the team changed its name from “Devil Rays” to Rays. Getting the “Devil” out, the woebegone franchise made it all the way to the World Series. It helped that they added Longoria to the lineup, because he was an all-star as a rookie. Rightfully so, as he slashed .272/.343/.531 with 27 homers. At the time, it seemed like Longoria could be Tampa’s first MVP, but he never ended up finishing higher than sixth in the voting. He’s also probably a “Hall of Very Good” player, but what a rookie season.

Another Athletic, and another relief pitcher. We will say this: Bailey was impressive as a rookie, immediately a top reliever and an all-star. He picked a whopping 83.1 innings out of the bullpen, striking out over a batter per innings and posting an 1.84 ERA. Bailey made the next All-Star Game as well, but he was a one-innings closer at this point. By 2012, his career had come off the rails, and he only lasted eight seasons in MLB.

Good news: This is the last relief pitcher on this list. He won in 2010, but the new decade, and the changing of the guard coming to voters, saw an end for the affinity for relievers winning AL Rookie of the Year. One number won this award for Feliz: He saved 40 games for the Rangers. Feliz’s rookie season was his only All-Star campaign, and he was only a closer for one more year. A brief peak for the reliever.

These days, we’re used to the Rays churning out high-level pitchers, but Hellickson was early to that. He was AL Rookie of the Year in 2011, and in a way is also indicative of a changing of perceptions for MLB awards voters. Hellickson won with a 13-10 win-loss record. He pitched 189.0 innings and posted a 2.95 ERA, and he had the top bWAR of any AL rookie. In the end, Hellickson had a middling 10-season career.

What can we say? Trout should have followed in Ichiro’s footsteps and won MVP and AL Rookie of the Year. He has three MVPs to his name now, but should have more. Trout has been named an All-Star every season of his career, and is the best player of his generation. The future Hall of Famer has had injury issues since hitting his late twenties, and we can only hope he can string together a few healthy seasons and secure his spot as an inner-circle baseball legend.

It’s hard to follow up Trout, but Myers did hit well. In his first season with the Rays, Myers slashed .293/.354/.478. The only knock? Myers played in a mere 88 games as a rookie. It was not much of a slate of competition, though. All in all, Myers has had a…fine career? Staying healthy has been a problem, and his bat has not been as strong in recent years.

On the one hand, the Cuban slugger was in his age-27 season as a rookie. On the other hand, he absolutely raked. We called him a slugger, and as a rookie he led the majors with a .581 slugging percentage. He finished fourth in the MVP voting with the White Sox as a rookie, and would indeed take home an MVP in the truncated 2020 campaign.

Drafting Correa first overall was a key turning point in the Astros going from intense rebuild to championship contender. The shortstop was only 20 when he debuted, and he racked up 22 homers and 14 stolen bases en route to an easily-justified Rookie of the Year pick. Correa peaked in 2021, winning a Gold Glove and finishing fifth in the MVP race, which he turned into a deal with the Twins that has been hampered by injury. Still, he’s not even 30 years old. Hopefully he can get healthy.

Pitching prospects will break your heart. Fulmer ran away with the AL Rookie of the Year in 2016 with the Tigers, even finishing 10th in the Cy Young vote. The next year, he made his first — and only — All-Star Game. That will likely always be the case. Injuries in 2018 led to 2019 Tommy John, which led to him now pitching out of the bullpen for the Cubs. Still, that rookie season was impressive, one of the best ever for a pitcher.

Given his massive size, including a 6’7’’ height, some wondered how Judge would do in MLB. Hmm…let’s see. As a rookie he hit 52 homers. In 2022 he won MVP by hitting 62 home runs, a new American League record. Judge is a five-time all-star who has never failed to slug over .500 in a full season. So, it turns out being 6’7’’ wasn’t a problem.

The most exciting player to come over from Japan since Ichiro, Ohtani’s burgeoning aura has subsumed his career arc. As such, let us note he was really good, but not great, as a rookie. He posted a .925 OPS with 22 homers and 10 stolen bases in 104 games, and he posted a 3.31 ERA in 10 starts. Ohtani was clearly the best rookie, but he was no MVP type. Then, in 2021, he broke through, winning the MVP with a never-before-seen combination of elite hitting and above-average pitching. The next year he was only second in the MVP vote, but fourth in the Cy Young vote. More awards are coming for Ohtani. A special player. A once-in-a-lifetime talent.

Alvarez came over from Cuba, but owing to the changes in diplomatic relations between his home country and Cuba, he was able to debut at 22 in the majors. This Rookie of the Year award threaded the needle between rewarding his season and acknowledging his upside as a future star. Alvarez only played in 87 games, but he posted an 1.067 OPS with 27 homers. Since then, he’s established himself as one of the top power hitters in baseball, a throwback to the days when designated hitters could, you know, actually hit.

The 2020 MLB season — and 2020 in general — was weird, so a weird AL Rookie of the Year makes sense. After a run of future stars winning, Lewis is not likely to be one of those guys. The 2020 season with the Mariners is the only season in which he has been an MLB regular. Instead, he’s spent a lot of time down in the minors, and the Mariners have given up on him. What’s wild is that Lewis was a unanimous choice. Luis Robert was right there!

Speaking of 2020, Arozarena was a star for the Rays in the playoffs. The thing is, he still had rookie eligibility. In 2021, already a noted star thanks to his postseason play, Arozarena won Rookie of the Year thanks to a 20/20 campaign. He’s built on it for the Rays, and made the All-Star Game for the first time in 2023.

There was excitement for Rodriguez when he debuted for the Mariners (Seattle has a knack for finding future rookie stars), and he lived up to the hype. The 2022 season was an impressive one for rookies, but Rodriguez was still the clear choice. A deserving all-star, Rodriguez hit .284 with 28 homers and 25 stolen bases. Already a worthy all-star in 2023 as well, it seems like this one will work out, as the Mariner is primed to become the latest star for the squad.

Neither Rookie of the Year vote in 2023 provided much intrigue. Both winners were unanimous, including Orioles hitter Henderson. The Orioles had boasted one of the best prospect pipelines for years, but Henderson was the first of those players to win Rookie of the Year. Playing third base and shortstop, he hit 28 homers and nine triples and added 10 swiped bags.