clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Hanley Ramirez, Justin Verlander Win ROY Awards

Hanley Ramirez and Justin Verlander have won the NL and AL Rookie of the Year awards, respectively.

Nationals 3B Ryan Zimmerman finished a close second in the NL race, grabbing 10 first place votes, as compared to Ramirez's 14. I think Zimmerman's pretty likely to have a better career than Ramirez, but I'm not sure how you can argue that Zimmerman had the better year. Ramirez posted slightly better unadjusted offensive numbers and stole 51 bases to boot, all while playing a good shortstop. Zimmerman plays in a tough hitters' park, but he also plays third base. I would've placed Ramirez at the top of my ballot, and Zimmerman fourth, also behind Dan Uggla and Josh Johnson.

In the SB Nation balloting, in which both Pat and I participated, Ramirez and Zimmerman finished first and second.

Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander won in the AL. It's hard to argue with the year Verlander had, but I personally would've voted for Francisco Liriano anyway. Liriano pitched 60 innings less than Verlander but struck out 20 more batters and had an ERA almost half as low.