The Rookie of the Year awards are announced today. If I was voting, my votes would go to Ryan Howard in the NL and Huston Street in the AL. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Tadahito Iguchi win in the AL, and I wouldn’t have a major gripe if he did, but I still lean towards Street. In the NL, I think Willy Taveras has about a 60% chance of winning, but I will be pretty upset if he does. Howard was great, and while Taveras played a whole season and Howard didn’t, Taveras was nothing more than solid, and he has several large offensive weaknesses (like having absolutely NO power, striking out way too often, and lacking the ability to get on base consistently). It says a lot that Taveras might be the fastest guy in baseball but couldn’t bat leadoff on his own team.
UPDATE: Well, it’s official, and I was actually right. I wish I had as much confidence in the voters’ abilities when it comes to the other awards that will be coming in the next week or so.