Every season, the baseball team at SB Nation gets together and votes on the same name-brand season awards that the official baseball writers do. We follow the same format and the same points system. Like the BBWAA, votes are due before the postseason.
So who claimed the coveted SB Nation Rookie of the Year title?
| Rk | Player | Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Elvis Andrus | Texas Rangers | 6 | 9 | 6 | 63 |
| 2 | Andrew Bailey | Oakland Athletics | 11 | 1 | 3 | 61 |
| 3 | Jeff Niemann | Tampa Bay Rays | 3 | 5 | 3 | 33 |
| 4 | Rick Porcello | Detroit Tigers | 2 | 7 | 2 | 33 |
| 5 | Brett Anderson | Oakland Athletics | 5 | 1 | 3 | 31 |
| 6 | Gordon Beckham | Chicago White Sox | 1 | 2 | 8 | 19 |
| 7 | Nolan Reimold | Baltimore Orioles | 1 | - | 1 | 6 |
| 8 | Matt Wieters | Baltimore Orioles | - | 1 | 3 | 6 |
| 9 | Brad Bergesen | Baltimore Orioles | - | 1 | - | 3 |
| 10 | Ricky Romero | Toronto Blue Jays | - | 1 | - | 3 |
| 11 | Travis Snider | Toronto Blue Jays | - | 1 | - | 3 |
Weird results, which is not uncommon for Rookie of the Year. I voted: 1) Brett Anderson, 2) Elvis Andrus, 3) Jeff Niemann. Did you know that Brett Anderson posted a 3.8 WAR this season? Apparently not many SB Nation baseball bloggers did. I'm disappointed that he finished behind Rick Porcello, who may have a brighter future, but was literally half as valuable (1.9 WAR) in 2009.
As for the rest of my ballot, Niemann/Andrus could go either way. Niemann actually posted a slightly better WAR (3.2 to 3.0) but I made a slightly old-schoolish choice of Andrus over Niemann due to a slight preference for everyday players in close calls like this. My random decision basically gave Andrus the overall title over Andrew Bailey.
Side prediction: Elvis Andrus will not post a 3.0 WAR in any of the next two seasons. Side prediction 2: Rick Porcello will pitch better in 2010, but have a higher ERA.
Here are the National Leage results:
| Rk | Player | Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tommy Hanson | Atlanta Braves | 9 | 9 | 6 | 78 |
| 2 | J.A. Happ | Philadelphia Phillies | 6 | 9 | 7 | 64 |
| 3 | Andrew McCutchen | Pittsburgh Pirates | 8 | 3 | 5 | 54 |
| 4 | Chris Coghlan | Florida Marlins | 7 | 5 | 4 | 54 |
| 5 | Dexter Fowler | Colorado Rockies | - | 3 | 1 | 10 |
| 6 | Randy Wells | Chicago Cubs | - | - | 6 | 6 |
| 7 | Garrett Jones | Pittsburgh Pirates | 1 | - | - | 5 |
| 8 | Casey McGehee | Milwaukee Brewers | - | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| 9 | Seth Smith | Colorado Rockies | - | 1 | - | 3 |