Brewers thirdbaseman Ryan Braun beat out Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki for NL Rookie of the Year honors yesterday, in the closest contest the award has ever seen. Did Braun deserve the award? I say yes, but it probably should have been as close as it was. It’s a very tough call.
The knock on Braun is that he is, by any measure, a downright awful defensive thirdbaseman, while Tulowitzki played a Gold Glove-caliber shortstop for the NL champion Rockies. Rob Neyer points out that, while Braun had the highest slugging percentage ever for a rookie, he also had the second-worst fielding percentage for a thirdbaseman, rookie or not, since 1910.
I understand the impulse to say that any player that had a year that bad defensively doesn’t deserve the award. But here’s my question: If Braun was playing left field, would his defense be as much of an issue? Doesn’t it seem like the Brewers are the ones at fault for playing him at third, when it was painfully obvious that he didn’t belong there? When Ryan Howard won the Rookie of the Year Award a couple years ago, I didn’t hear anyone saying he didn’t deserve it because of his defense, but surely Braun is a better defensive player than Howard. The difference is only that Howard’s team didn’t ask him to play a position he couldn’t handle.
Tulowitzki had an amazing year and looks like he’ll be an excellent shortstop for a lot of years. But the offensive numbers for Braun (.324, 34 HR, 97 RBI in 113 games) are just too impressive. The Brewers should move him to a corner outfield position and he could be an MVP candidate next season. I don’t think Braun should be penalized for a mistake his organization made.
Braun will flop on his face next season, I predict an anti-MVP season.
I don’t know, Jon. The guy was a big-time prospect, he was a stud in college at Miami. I don’t see any reason why he won’t be really good for years. You don’t hit .324 with 34 homers by accident. Unless you’re on ‘roids maybe.