Last night the Rookie of the Year awards were announced. Neither winner was a surprise. Reds 2B Johnathan India took home the award for the NL. He accumulated 3.9 WAR with 21 HR, a .269 batting average, and a 116 OPS+.
The AL award went to Randy Arozarena, who had 4.1 WAR with 20 homers/20 SB, a .278 batting average, and a 131 OPS+. He was certainly deserving, but—having seen him in a Cardinals uniform 2 years ago, and his postseason heroics last year—its amazing that he was still eligible. Second in the voting was the Astros’ Luis Garcia, who has the most fun wind up since Luis Tiant. Wander Franco got the third most points despite only playing 70 games at the major league level. Of course, in that time, he had 3.5 WAR and tied Frank Robinson’s record for under 20-year-olds by reaching base safely in 43 straight games.
Tonight the Manager of the Year awards were given out. Gabe Kapler was a near unanimous selection for the NL after guiding the San Francisco Giants to the best record in baseball with 107 wins. (Note to the Phillies fans who hated him from the time he was hired and celebrated his firing by Philadelphia: the Phillies woes weren’t actually his fault.) The AL award also went to the skipper of a 100 win team as Kevin Cash got the award for a second straight season. No one on the Rays was nominated for the Cy Young or MVP, so they’re done collecting awards.
Fan Interference 