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| | Wednesday, October 20 | |||||
Special to ESPN.com | ||||||
| REPORT FILED: OCTOBER 21
I wrote two articles last week looking at the various Rookie of the Year candidates in both leagues. I received a lot of feedback from both articles, mostly from readers wondering why I didn't include the reader's favorite candidate.
I responded to most of the messages, but I thought it would be a good idea to share these thoughts with the rest of you. So here are notes about some other guys who were rookies this year that I didn't mention in the earlier articles.
Einar Diaz, C, Indians Several readers asked me why I didn't put Einar Diaz on the list. Two readers accused me of having an "anti-Cleveland bias," and one went so far as to charge me with being a typical "East Coast" writer. I thought that was funny, since I was born and raised in Iowa, went to college in rural Missouri, and currently live in Kansas. I've never even been to New York City, and I consider myself to be something of an Indians fan. I didn't put Diaz on the list for a simple reason: he has no power (.362 slugging), never takes a walk (.328 on-base percentage despite hitting .281), and had a worse fielding percentage than the league average. True, he is a very fine defensive catcher in other ways, with excellent mobility and a strong arm. He will have a very long career due to his defensive skills. You can make a case that he belonged on the American League list somewhere, but leaving him off was not the egregious error that some readers charged that it was, in my opinion. Roy Halladay, RHP, Blue Jays Two readers took me to task for leaving Roy Halladay off the list, and in retrospect they are correct. As I was looking at the stats when writing the article, I noticed Halladay, but for some reason I thought he wasn't a rookie. That's wrong; he made just two starts in 1998, and was a rookie this year all the way. Halladay has excellent stuff, and posted a very fine 3.92 ERA, but his K/BB was very poor at 82/79. He should have been on the list, but I think other pitchers like Freddy Garcia and Tim Hudson would have to rank ahead of him.
A few people, including Rob Neyer and David Schoenfield here at ESPN, said I was wrong to pick Carlos Beltran over Freddy Garcia as the best rookie in the league. They point out that Beltran's overall hitting, as measured by OPS, wasn't really that great, whereas Garcia's ERA ranked ninth overall. My thinking when I wrote the article was that a regular player is more valuable than a pitcher not named Pedro Martinez, especially when that player is also an outstanding fielder as Beltran is. In retrospect, I think Garcia is certainly a valid choice, but I have to be honest and admit that I would still have voted for Beltran. That may be some Midwest bias creeping in there, overriding my sabermetric judgment. Octavio Dotel, RHP, Mets Several people wondered how I could possibly leave Dotel off the National League list. I don't look at won-loss record when evaluating pitchers most of the time, so his 8-3 mark didn't weigh heavily for me. I was more concerned with his 5.38 ERA and erratic control. On the other hand, he pitched better after the All-Star Break, and his stuff is certainly top-notch. I would love to have him on my team, but the list was more about immediate performance, rather than long-term potential. Joe Nathan, RHP, Giants Some Giants fans pointed out the absence of Nathan on the list. He did have a solid 4.18 ERA, but his control numbers and K/BB were problematic, and he pitched part of the year in the minors. I decided to go with Erubiel Durazo and Daryle Ward, since I am more confident judging hitters than in judging pitchers with limited data. Joe McEwing and Benny Agbayani were on the list as spear-carriers for the underappreciated, not to diss guys like Nathan or Dotel, who will obviously be more valuable in the long run. Armando Rios, OF, Giants Hit .327 in 150 at-bats, and could have gone on the list along with Agbayani and McEwing. Rios won't be a regular, but he is another underappreciated guy, and will make an excellent reserve outfielder. Only one person wrote to ask me about him. Take a look at his record everyone, it is very good. Kyle Farnsworth, RHP, Cubs I watch a lot of Cubs games on cable, so I'm quite familiar with Farnsworth. He has a very good arm, although not as good as Dotel's, and his command and consistency are still problems. Again, he could go on the latter part of the list, but not putting him there was a judgment call on my part. Finally, one reader asked about Eric Gagne of the Dodgers. He is an excellent prospect, but pitched in just five games, not enough to be considered. John Sickels is the author of the STATS 1999 Minor League Scouting Notebook. You can email your questions to him at JASickels@AOL.com. | ALSO SEE Down on the Farm archive
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