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Let’s cut to the chase. Putting Aaron Judge at the top of the ballot for Rookie of the Year was probably one of the easiest decisions each of us made this year. That’s not to say there weren’t many good first year players in the league this year. Quite the opposite, actually. But none of those other rookies had one of the best offensive seasons in recent league history during their maiden voyages. Judge did. He already won the American League Rookie of the Year award and is likely to be a strong contender for the DTBL Most Valuable Player award which will be announced next week. Mavericks outfielder Aaron Judge is the unanimous selection as the 2017 DTBL Rookie of the Year.
Before I go too much further, I need to point out that I have not yet completed the post-season adjustments to the 2017 PAR totals. Because of the offensive explosion in the league this season, expect hitters’ PAR totals to go down a bit. With that said, Judge just posted the fourth highest batting PAR for seasons in which it has been calculated to date (since 2009). Granted, two of the three totals ahead of Judge’s 11.0 were also accumulated this year. So it was a hitter friendly environment. Nonetheless, Judge’s numbers speak of themselves. He slugged 49 home runs, finishing second in the league behind Giancarlo Stanton and also second in league history among rookies, trailing only Ryan Howard’s 58 homers in 2006. His 120 runs scored ranked third in the league and he also drove in triple digits: 106. Additionally, he stole nine bases and hit a very respectable .287. Not bad for a guy with swing-and-miss issues. Judge led the Mavericks in HR, RBI and R. Perhaps his most impressive feat was topping Mike Trout to lead the Mavericks in batting PAR. It is the first time in Trout’s career that he has not led them in that category.
This was a pretty special season for the Mavericks organization, and Judge was obviously a huge part of that. After hitting just .179 with four homers in 27 games at the end of 2016, none of the ten DTBL teams decided to select Judge during the draft this March. But the Mavericks wisely moved in with a free agent claim in the second week of the season. One season does not make a career, but this is already looking like the biggest free agent heist in league history. One day we may look back and wonder how in the world Aaron Judge was not among the 280 players on a DTBL roster to start this season. Actually, that day has already passed. Anyway, all the Mavericks got out of their early season free agent signing was one of the best seasons in recent memory, and with it, a league championship.
I probably would have had to question anybody who didn’t put Judge #1 on their ballot. Fortunately, that didn’t prove necessary as he received all ten first place votes for a point total of a perfect 100. Jake Arrieta was a unanimous choice for this award two years ago, but the last hitter to do it was Judge’s Mavericks teammate Mike Trout. Trout was also the last Maverick to win this award. Comfortably finishing in second place was Gators third baseman Jose Ramirez who shocked everybody by hitting .318 with 29 home runs and 17 stolen bases. Ramirez appeared on all ten ballots and received eight of the ten second place votes for a total of 64 points. Finishing third was another breakout star with little hype entering the season, Moonshiners 7th round pick, Robbie Ray. The hard-throwing lefty struck out 195 in just 143 innings for the Moonshiners. Ray also received votes from all ten people and was the third choice for seven of them, finishing with 46 points. The only first round pick to finish in the top five was Jackalope catcher Gary Sanchez. Definitely one of the favorites for this award entering the season, Sanchez did not disappoint. He clubbed 33 homers at one of the few remaining positions where big offensive numbers are hard to come by. Sanchez was only on half the ballots, but accumulated 17 points. Finally, a relief pitcher sneaked into the five hole. Darkhorses closer Corey Knebel wasn’t signed as a free agent until May, but racked up 39 saves anyway. An interesting note about him is that he was technically on a DTBL roster a year ago, but the Moonshiners never put him on their major league roster, preserving his rookie status into this season. Knebel received one second place vote which helped him reach 15 total points and this fifth place ranking.
Click here to view the full voting results.
Even though all of the major MLB awards are being announced this week, you are going to have to wait until next week to find out who won the other two big DTBL awards. Next up will be the Cy Young award, which will probably be announced next Monday.