The NL Rookie of the Year award should be one of the more fiercely contested races outside of the one for the increasingly wild Wild Card spots in both leagues.  The MVP choices are clear cut and not very debatable.   Ryan Howard or Albert Pujols?  Both choices leave me a bit cold.  Pujols does not CHANGE the game as Bonds once did, walking only 83 times in his 473 official at bats with 106 runs scored (46 on his own home runs!).  Bonds has walked more, is more feared than Pujols, which seems ludicrous, but if NL pitchers do not know, then how should we, on the sidelines, think we know better?  

And Howard?  His team is in the Wild Card hunt but he is arguably not even the most valuable player on his team, much less the league.  He has struck out 157 times while walking “only” 85 times and scored 94 runs (56 on his own home runs).  On the other hand, Chase Utley has scored 117 runs, with 28 home runs.  And scoring runs wins games, so that leaves Ryan Howard no better than #2 on his own team.  

And what if the Marlins win the Wild Card race?  Does Miguel Cabrera deserve consideration?  I would think so, given the fact he is surrounded by rookies in the line up, has hit a mere 25 home runs but has 109 rbis and scored 106 runs, arguably more

productive than either Pujols or Howard.  And Carlos Beltran leads his team with 40 home runs, 119 runs scored with 114 rbis but only a .283 ba and the Mets are the best team in the league.  Clearly his value to his team cannot be ignored either.

But Rookie of the Year is a very interesting award this year in the NL with the Florida Marlins featuring a number of candidates.  Position players Hanley Ramirez & Dan Uggla are probably the favorites, but pitchers Josh Johnson and Scott Olsen must also be considered.   Ramirez was a top rated prospect in the Red Sox organization, coming to the Marlins in the Josh Beckett deal.  Dan Uggla was a minor league free agent, an unheralded prospect, a journeyman.  But he grabbed the 2b job in spring training and has gone on to match the record for home runs by a rookie player at this position.  The record he threatens to break was established by Joe Gordon of the NY Yankees in 1938. 

Sharing the keystone positions on the infield, Uggla and Ramirez mirror each other in many ways.  Ramirez has 160 hits, Uggla 157.   Ramirez has hit only 13 home runs but has 36 doubles, 10 triples and 108 runs and 46 stolen bases!  Uggla has hit 26 doubles and seven triples, and has only 14 more total bases than Ramirez (269 to 255) with the same on base percentage.  But Ramirez plays shortstop, the onee of the more physically demanding position on the field (aside from catcher), one suited for arguably the best athlete in the lineup.  Uggla is a second baseman.   Though Uggla was an All Star add on, between the two,I still might favor Ramirez over Uggla in the Rookie of the Year voting.

And one must not overlook Josh Willingham, a 27 yr old rookie who leads all rookies in home runs with 25, hitting a healthy .286 and 73 rbis. The Marlins have so many good rookies, it is tough to keep track of who is who, and which Josh is the one to follow!

Josh Johnson has arguably been the best pitcher on the Marlins staff that includes three rookies and Dontrelle Willis, the seasoned veteran of this group.  Johnson has a very low ERA at 3.10, among the lead leaders, just behind Brandon Webb (3.00)

and Chris Carpenter (2.84).   Both he and Olsen (4.01 era) have 12 wins, good for 12^th most in the league tied with four others (including Maddox, Smotz, Cain & Oswalt).  Clearly they have both done well this year, but with Johnson giving up only 54 earned runs, he has shown he is a tenacious competitor with runners on base.They have identical numbers in terms of innings pitched (156) with identical number of hits and walks allowed, but Johnson’s era is nearly one run less, a significant difference.

Giants pitcher Matt Cain, too, deserves recognition.  He has pitched more innings (167), given up less hits (130), but has allowed 72 earned runs for a 3.94 ERA.  But most of his runs came in the first half of the season, while lately, Cain has been virtually unhittable.  Over his last five starts, he has allowed only one earned run and 17 hits in 34 innings, allowing only one hit in two of those starts. To sum it up, he has been dominant lately.

Other rookies of note include Prince Fielder (24 hr, 70 rbi, 73R, .276 ba) and Ryan Zimmerman (.283 ba, 412b, 18 hr, 76 runs).  Zimmerman will get a significant number of votes, as he has ended a few games with walk off home runs and hits.  He is only 21 with a high ceiling that will translate into votes, similar to how Ramirez is viewed.   Zimmerman is an excellent third baseman who is already being compared to previous greats, with the same superlatives as David Wright of the Met is.

It has been a good year for rookies, with several real candidates as well as others who have made significant contributions to their teams, ie. Eliazer Alfonso (74 games, .271 ba, 11 hr) who stepped in from Double A ball to take over the everyday job in

place of injured catcher, Mike Matheney)  So who will win?  Hard to say but if I had a vote, I would probably cast it for Hanley Ramirez if the season ended today.  Which it doesn’t.