Kansas City Killer?

Its just about my favorite time of the year. September has just about arived, some teams are fading, some are emerging. Division races heat up, and the wild card races as well (cough *Tampa Bay Rays,* heads up America). And the future is upon us, with impact rookies like Mark Trumbo, Freddie Freeman, Craig Kimbrell, Jeremy Hellickson, Eric Hosmer and Mike Moustakas (for you keeper-league fantasy players, Moustakas' Mouse Hunters International is copyrighted). Mark Trumbo and Eric Hosmer have been exceptional in the A.L, and Kimbrell and Freeman have been exceptional in the N.L.

Now, heres what should be the difference in the Rookie of the Year award and the MVP award. The Rookie of the year is supposed to go to the best rookie, as it almost always does. The MVP on the other hand, is supposed to go to the most VALUABLE player. Not necisarily the best. So with that said, I'll begin with the A.L. Now, Mark Trumbo has been the most valuable rookie. His numbers are as follows (he's played in 133 games)- 26 homers, a .258 batting average, a .297 on base percentage and has a .993 fielding percantage (8 errors). If you ask me, thats pretty dang good. Trumbo would be my pick for Most Valuable rookie, considering he leads the Angels in homers and r.b.i's, and he has filled Kendry Morales' spot very nicely. The Angels are also in the playoff hunt.

The other top canidate, Eric Hosmer, is not on a team in the playoff hunt (the Kansas City Royals). Hosmers numbers are as follows- (consider hes only played in 108 games)- 15 homers, a .287 batting average, a .337 on base percentage, and a .993 fielding percentage (7 errors). If you plug Hosmers numbers into a full, 162 game season, his numbers would be as follows- 22/23 homers, 97/98 r.b.i's(on the Royals!), 12 steals, 34/35 doubles, and his .337 o.b.p. If you ask me, those are very solid numbers, and Hosmers still a rookie! If you throw Trumbos numbers into a full season, he'd have 31/32 homers, 97/98 r.b.i's, 9/10 steals, 34/35 doubles, and his so-so .297 o.b.p. But consider this- Trumbo would have only walked (full-season) about 30 times this year, with 123 strikeouts, or a walk-strikeout ratio of 0.24. Hosmer on the other hand, would have walked 51 times, compared to 102 strikeouts, or a walk-strikeout ratio of 0.50. So Hosmer walks about once for every 2 strikeouts, while Trumbo walks once for every 4 strikeouts. So I think Hosmer should be awarded Rookie of the Year, and Trumbo gets the imagenary Most Valuable Rookie. And yes, yes I did just exploit a loophole in the Rookie of the Year award.