Rookie Vote Shows Gulf Between Old and New

The Baseball Writers of America Monday announced their Rookies of the Year.  In some regards, it seemed to solidify the difference between the old guard and the new guard represented by the Baseball Bloggers Alliance.

I am not one of those that condemns the BBWAA as a hide-bound organization that has a membership made up of their heads in the sand.  I know the BBWAA is a quality organization and has many members that are at least open to statistical-based thinking, even if they aren’t out there calculating WAR in their heads.  On the flip side, not everyone in the BBA sleeps on bedcovers made out of spreadsheets.  I can speak first-hand to that, for while I appreciate the new statistics and understand what people are doing with them, I’m not completely comfortable using them in my arguments.

All that said, though, the Rookie of the Year voting helped confirm the stereotypes of both organizations, showing that there are still some basic differences in the way each membership views baseball.

The American League selection was not the issue, as Andrew Bailey of the Oakland Athletics won the official ROY award as well as the soon-to-be-renamed BBA version.  Let’s take a look at the two vote orders for comparison’s sake:

On the whole, fairly unremarkable in its differences.  A swap in second and third and a couple of players not getting votes in the BBWAA.  Nothing too exciting here.

The National League, though, is a whole ‘nother story.

I want to give a little recognition to Michael Jong of Marlin Maniac.  His voting of Coghlan fourth has given the BBA more press coverage than anything else that we’ve done.  I know Michael will probably be hearing it from some Marlins fans after this BBWAA vote.

Michael’s explanations, though, illustrate the major differences between the two groups.  Michael was not swayed by simply a high batting average.  He factored in positional differences and the defense at those positions, the OPS and other statistical weights such as BABIP, and made the decision that McCutchen overcame Coghlan’s advantage in the batting average department.

Is one right and the other wrong?  I don’t think you can necessarily make that kind of value judgement.  I do think, though, the BBA can be proud of the thought and effort that they put into their voting.  If the membership continues to put in this kind of care and deliberation, it would not be a surprise if someday this award did not stand on equal footing with the traditional Rookie of the Year selection.

Today, the American League Cy Young award is announced.  While it could create another example of the differences between the two groups, I believe that Zack Greinke was dominant enough to sway even the normally win-focused writers and they will join with the BBA in naming him the junior circuit’s top pitcher.