Awards Season: AL Rookie of the Year

The AL Rookie of the Year was announced yesterday, and to no one's surprise, Detroit starter Justin Verlander won the award. It's a credit to Verlander's season that he was such an obvious pick, as the competition for the award was extremely good, with talents like Francisco Liriano, Jonathan Papelbon, Jered Weaver, and even Nick Markakis having very good freshman campaigns.

The official results:

1. Justin Verlander (133 points)
   
2. Jonathan Papelbon (63)
   
3. Francisco Liriano (30)
   
4. Kenji Johjima (10)
   
5. Jered Weaver (8)
   
6. Nick Markakis (7)
   
7. Ian Kinsler (1)

The AL bloggers at SportsBlogs also voted on the award, and we largely agreed with the writers:

My ballot:

1. Justin Verlander
   
2. Francisco Liriano
   
3. Jered Weaver

Verlander had the better body of work, besting the brilliant half-season that Liriano put forth. I took Weaver over Papelbon because of role; I just think when you have two similar performances, you take the starter over the reliever.