Willie Mays Award for Best Rookie

So the Baseball Bloggers Alliance has actually already handed out this award, so I'm a little late to the party.  Still, I wanted to share my would-have-been ballot for who deserved each award.

AMERICAN LEAGUE


1. Eric Hosmer, KC
2. Michael Pineda, SEA
3. Jeremy Hellickson, TB

Hosmer and Trumbo were clearly the best of the position players, at least in my opinion.  Hosmer's superior batting average and plate discipline numbers gave him the edge, in addition to Trumbo's huge advantage on defense likely not being an accurate measure of each player's performance in the field.  The three pitches--Pineda, Hellickson, and Ogando--are very closely grouped.  Pineda and Ogando have better peripherals, while Hellickson had better results (i.e. ERA and WHIP).  Pineda's strikeout rate was enough to overcome that, while Ogando's was not.

Also considered: Alexi Ogando (TEX)*, Mark Trumbo (LAA), Ivan Nova (NYY)


NATIONAL LEAGUE


1. Craig Kimbrel, ATL
2. Danny Espinosa, WAS
3. Freddie Freeman, ATL

I have a hard time voting for a reliever over an everyday player, but Kimbrel's dominance was unmatched, as noted by his appearance at the top of my ballot for the best NL reliever.  When you're the top player at your position, that's grounds for the rookie of the year award.  Most people have Freeman over Espinosa for the second position, but I don't agree.  They have similar counting numbers, but Freeman has the better triple-slash while Espinosa played much better defense at a more difficult position.  I gave Espinosa the edge.

Also considered: Brandon Beachy (ATL), Wilson Ramos (WAS), Cory Luebke (SD), Vance Worley (PHI)


*Ogando is not eligible for the Rookie of the Year award.  I mistakenly included him as a consideration.