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During the last week of the 2012 MLB season, 10 writers from Beyond the Box Score joined forces to create the greatest collaboration of baseball minds the world has ever known [citation needed]. This elite organization, known only as the BtBWAA, was formed for one and only one purpose: To conduct a player awards vote in which the truly meritorious take home the coveted hardware.
We've already announced our picks for MLB Executive of the Year, Silver Sluggers (AL, NL), and Gold Gloves (AL, NL). This week, we turn our attention to the Rookies of the Year, starting today with the American League.
Before we get to the results, a few words on the process. Voting began on October 1 (after 159 games had been played) and continued until October 5, with the balloting closing before the first playoff games started. Each writer voted for three candidates, with voting scored Each writer voted for three candidates, with ballots scored on a 5-3-1 basis.
Without further ado, here are the results:
In what might be the single biggest upset of the entire BtBWAA awards series, Mike Trout is our unanimous choice for AL Rookie of the Year. Give yourself a minute to digest that, folks. I know that probably blew your mind.
Yu Darvish comes in second with exactly half as many points as Trout, followed by Yoenis Cespedes in third. Jarrod Parker gets two last-place votes, and...that's it.
This is usually the part where I offer some analysis of the vote, but there isn't a whole lot to say here. So in step were we on this that seven of us (myself included) wrote in the exact same ballot: Trout, Darvish, Cespedes.