And The Nominees Are: American League Rookie of the Year

The Nominees for this year’s American League Rookie of the Year Award are:

Tampa Bay Rays 3B Evan Longoria

Chicago White Sox OF/2B Alexei Ramirez

Oakland Athletics RP Brad Ziegler

Detroit Tigers SP Armando Galarraga

Boston Red Sox OF Jacoby Ellsbury

Honorable Mention Oakland Athletics RP Brad Ziegler

39 Innings, thats the amount of time Zielger went without giving up a single run. In 52 IP this season, Zielger has only given up 3 earned runs, and has recorded 9 saves since becoming the closer after Houston Street got injured. Ziegler’s odd side-armed delivery confuses hitters from both sides of the plate. In almost any other year, Ziegler would have a legitimate shot at winning the ROY award. Unfortunately, there is one fellow rookie who has outperformed everyone else.  

And the winner is…….

Tampa Bay Rays 3B Evan Longoria

Evan Longoria was predicted to be the top rookie in this year’s class, and he hasn’t disappointed one bit. Despite missing most of August and the beginning of September, Longoria has shown his range of abilities, whether he’s at the plate, or in the field. Longoria is hitting .281, with 22 HR’s and 74 RBI’s, to go along with 7 Stolen bases. He has played exceptional defense, displaying a cannon for an arm over in the hot corner. In addition, he has brought life to a franchise that had been dead for years.

The Tampa Rays are going to make the playoffs this year for the first time in the franchise’s short history. While Longoria isn’t the only cause for the Rays success, he is one of the main contributing factors to this historic turnaround. Longoria is going to help keep the Rays competetive for years to come and will most likely be an MVP candidate in the near future.