2006 Rookies of the Year Announced; Ramirez Signs

You know what’s sad about this whole Matsuzaka thing? Through no fault of his own, I’m already sick of the guy.

So, what else is there to talk about in baseball? Plenty, as always.

Rookie of the Year Awards

As you know, I’m not really into the award thing. That said, congrats to Tigers’ right-hander Justin Verlander and Marlins’ shortstop Hanley Ramirez on winning the AL and NL Rookie of the Year Awards, respectively.

In the AL, I think the voters probably picked the right guy even though he trailed runner-up Jonathan Papelbon in win shares, 18-15. The results shouldn’t have been as lopsided as they were; Papelbon’s performance as closer for the Boston Red Sox truly was brilliant.

The NL turned out to be a much tighter race, with Ramirez narrowly beating Nationals third baseman Ryan Zimmerman. Both players had tremendous seasons (according to Hardball Times, both notched 25 win shares), but Ramirez’ might have been more unexpected: there aren’t many 22-year-old shortstops with 74 extra base hits, especially in that park. It’s also good to know that voters occasionally look at stats other than RBI.

Ramirez Signs

In the other big news, Aramis Ramirez has re-signed with the Chicago Cubs. Just weeks after walking away from $22.5 million over the final 2 years of his contract with the Cubs, Ramirez agreed to a 5-year, $73 $75 million deal that will keep him in Chicago through 2011. Incidentally, the lead for the article linked at the beginning of this paragraph is hilarious: “Aramis Ramirez and Kerry Wood decided it was more important to stay with the Cubs than seek more money somewhere else.”

I trust that Ramirez will find a way to make the necessary sacrifices…