by Daniel Gettinger

A few days ago I mentioned that Baseball Bloggers Alliance is voting on end of season awards.  Each chapter receives two votes in each category.  The Padres chapter decided to allow each member to vote, and then aggregate the results.  For Rookie of the Year, the chapter results were:

First Place: Andrew McCutchen (PIT)

Second Place: Tommy Hanson (ATL)

Third Place: Chris Coghlan (FLA)

I personally voted in the following manner:

First Place: Andrew McCutchen

McCutchen was an easy choice.  He showed an above average bat and an average glove at a premium position (CF).  In all, he was worth 3.4 wins above replacement, tops amongst NL rookies.

Second Place: Tommy Hanson

Hanson did not start the season in the majors, and only threw 127 innings, but he made those innings count.  He had a 2.89 ERA and a 3.50 FIP.  He struck out over eight batters per nine innings, and never showed serious control or homerun problems.  Hanson has a very bright future in this league.

Third Place: Colby Rasmus

Rasmus was slightly below average offensively, but was excellent defensively, posting a 10.3 UZR.  He was worth 2.3 wins over a replacement player, pretty much identical to fellow rookie Chris Coghlan’s 2.4 WAR. Since it is so close, I will give my third place vote to the player who is likely to be better three years from now.

The votes of other chapter members:

The Sacrifice Bunt

First Place: Andrew McCutchen

Second Place: Tommy Hanson

Third Place: Garrett Jones

Websoulsurfer

First Place: Chris Coghlan

.321/.390/.460/.850 with 9 HR from the LF

Second Place: Andrew McCutchen

.286/.365/.471/.836 with 12 HR and Gold Glove quality defense in CF

Third Place: Everth Cabrera

My Homer Vote – Jumped from Low A to the majors after being the Padres Rule V draft pick and hit .255 with 25 SB. His defense was erratic, he was spectacular when ranging far but often blew the routine play, but the promise of exceptional D is there.

Up next: Cy Young Award