The Rookie No-Brainers

Ever since the BBWAA started having that special on MLB Network announcing the finalists the week before their awards come out, some of the fun of blogging about it has been taken away.  The likely winners have been talked about for weeks, but it was always entertaining trying to figure out who the other top vote-getters were.  Now we know who the top three are for every award, which is not quite as enjoyable.

And they're starting us with two of the easiest ones.  It's not the MVP "races," but the Rookies of the Year are almost as much of a lock.  The only question is whether Kris Bryant and Carlos Correa will be unanimous.  Judging by the other four finalists, I'd say it's likely they are.

Remember back in March/April when everyone was up in arms that Kris Bryant wasn't breaking camp with the Cubs?  Yeah, I don't either.  That was such a ridiculous drummed-up controversy, and it did nothing to affect his Rookie of the Year candidacy.  In fact, it might've strengthened it.  Because he put up ridiculous numbers while hitting third for a Cubs team that made it all the way to the NLCS.  You easily could've filled out a ballot using only Cubs, and still had rookies to spare.  Kyle Schwarber, Jose Soler, Addison Russell, take your pick.  But Bryant definitely stands out above the rest.

At the All-Star Break, you could've argued that the NL Rookie of the Year race would come down to Bryant and Joc Pederson.  By August, it was no contest.  Pederson struggled so much in the second half that he was benched for a while, then moved down to eighth in the Dodgers' order by the time he was back in the lineup.  I'd still put Pederson up there pretty high on my list, though.

Surprisingly, the 85 rookies that played for the Cardinals this season aren't among the finalists, either.  Instead, it's Matt Duffy of the Giants and Jung-Ho Kang of the Pirates.  Duffy was on the roster in the World Series last year and won a ring.  This year he took over as San Francisco's starting third baseman while the Red Sox tried to feed Pablo Sandoval.  Then there's Kang, the 28-year-old Korean import who was great at shortstop for the Pirates before suffering the most gruesome season-ending broken leg this side of Ruben Tejada.

While Duffy and Kang had nice seasons, I don't think I'd put them in the top three.  Bryant is a clear winner.  But I'd go with Pederson and Schwarber behind him.

Over in the American League, the rookie class is much weaker.  Carlos Correa didn't debut until June 8, but was so impressive during those four months that he deserves to be the runaway winner.  The No. 1 pick in the 2012 Draft, he was the youngest player in the Majors this season.  He sure didn't play like it, though.  He hit .279 with 22 homers, 68 RBIs, 52 runs scored and 14 stolen bases for a Houston team that was in playoff position all season and took the eventual World Champion Royals to Game 5 in the Division Series.

He's not a finalist, but I sure was impressed with another 20-year-old--Blue Jays closer Roberto Osuna.  It takes a lot for a good team to entrust the late innings to an unproven rookie.  But that's exactly what Toronto did.  And boy, did it pay off!  In 68 games, he picked up 20 saves and struck out 75 in 69.2 innings, a rate of 9.7 strikeouts per 9.  Having seen Osuna a lot this season, especially in the final two months.  This guy's the real deal.

Unlike the three finalists, Osuna was in the Majors all year, even if he didn't become the closer until later in the season.  Joining Correa as finalists are two other worthy contenders, Cleveland shortstop Francisco Lindor and Minnesota's Miguel Sano.  Lindor was called up right around the same time as Correa (in fact, they both played 99 games), and his impact was just as strong.  He hit .313 and played superior defense.  The Indians have found their shorstop.

Sano's numbers are made more impressive by the fact that he wasn't called up until around the All-Star Break (I told you the AL had a shortage of rookies this season).  He had 18 homers, 17 doubles and 52 RBIs while leading all AL rookies in slugging and on-base percentage, despite playing only half the season.  The one thing I will say about Sano, though, is that he served primarily as the Twins' DH.  As you know, I don't normally hold that against a guy.  But when he's up against two awesome defensive shortstops, they get the edge.

When it comes to the vote, we'll likely have our second unanimous AL Rookie of the Year in a row.  Lindor's a clear second to Correa, with Sano in third.  As for my vote, it's Correa, Lindor, Osuna.