This is the start of a series in which we’ll examine how Rookie of the Year winners panned out from various decades. Let’s begin with the National League from 2000-09…
2000 – Rafael Furcal, SS, Braves:
- Furcal won the award with ease that year, when he batted .295/.394/.382 with 3.3 fWAR, almost as many walks (73) as strikeouts (80), and 40 stolen bases. But was he a one-shot wonder? Nope. Furcal, whose final season came in 2014, wrapped things up as a .281/.346/.402 hitter with 113 homers, 314 steals, three All-Star bids and 33.1 fWAR. Aside from the Braves, he spent MLB time with the Dodgers, Cardinals and Marlins, winning a World Series championship with St. Louis in 2011.
2001 – Albert Pujols, 1B/3B/OF, Cardinals:
- The birth of a legend. Pujols totaled 7.2 fWAR that year on the strength of a .329/.403/.610 line with 37 home runs, and he missed just one game in the process. Now a member of the Angels, he can be counted as one of the greatest players ever – a 10-time All-Star, a three-time NL MVP, a two-time World Series winner and a 656-home run man.
2002 – Jason Jennings, RHP, Rockies:
- It’s tough to win any kind of award as a pitcher in hitter-friendly Colorado, but Jennings pulled it off in his first full season, in which he amassed 185 1/3 innings of 4.52 ERA pitching with 2.1 fWAR. Jennings had a couple more solid seasons, but his career didn’t last nearly as long as of those of Furcal and Pujols. From 2001-09 as a member of the Rox, Astros and Rangers, Jennings posted a 4.95 ERA with 12.2 fWAR over 1,128 1/3 frames.
2003 – Dontrelle Willis, LHP, Marlins:
- The D-Train will always be one of the most recognizable hurlers in Marlins history. During a 2003 rookie campaign, he piled up 160 2/3 innings of 3.30 ERA ball to help the Marlins to their most recent playoff berth. Willis had some rough outings that postseason, but he made up for those performances with 3 2/3 scoreless innings versus the Yankees in a World Series that the Marlins won in six. Before that, Willis – a very good offensive player for his position – collected three hits, including a triple, in as many at-bats against the Giants in the NLDS. Willis’ star faded after a few terrific years, but he exited following 2011 as a two-time All-Star and the owner of a 4.17 ERA across 1,221 2/3 innings as a Marlin, Tiger, Diamondback and Red. He was also part of the earth-shattering trade that sent Miguel Cabrera from Florida to Detroit in 2007.
2004 – Jason Bay, OF, Pirates:
- Bay was a formidable offensive player that season, when he batted .282/.358/.550 with 26 homers in 472 plate appearances. That proved to be the first of many standout campaigns at the plate for Bay, a lifetime .266/.360/.481 hitter who accumulated 222 HRs with the Padres, Pirates, Red Sox, Mets and Mariners through 2012. Bay was a three-time All-Star whom the Mets inked to a four-year, $66MM contract before 2009, though his production nosedived after he earned that payday.
2005 – Ryan Howard, 1B, Phillies:
- Howard smacked 22 dingers in just 88 games as a rookie, and he wound up a 382-HR hitter who batted .258/.343/.515 from 2004-16 – all of which he spent with the Phillies. Howard picked up three All-Star nods, won a World Series and took home an NL MVP along the way.
2006 – Hanley Ramirez, SS, Marlins:
- This was the start of an eventful career for Ramirez, who slashed .292/.353/.480 with 17 HRs and a whopping 51 steals as a rookie. Ramirez mostly continued to thrive in Miami until the team dealt him to the Dodgers in 2012. After a successful stint in LA, Ramirez signed a four-year, $88MM pact with the Red Sox before 2015. That marriage didn’t work out, though, nor did Ramirez’s short run with the Indians in 2019. It’s possible we haven’t seen the last of the 36-year-old, but if we have, he had an excellent career. Also a former first baseman, third baseman and outfielder, HanRam’s a .289/.360/.484 hitter with 271 homers, 281 steals and 41.5 fWAR.
2007 – Ryan Braun, 3B, Brewers:
- Then a third baseman and now an outfielder, Braun batted an eye-popping .324/.370/.634 with 34 homers and 15 steals as a rookie. That was the first of many highly productive seasons for Braun, a six-time All-Star and a one-tme NL MVP who has registered a career line of .298/.360/.533 with 344 HRs, 215 stolen bases and 43.7 fWAR. While he’s now 36 and on the downside of his career, Braun’s still a solid member of the Brewers’ offense.
2008 – Geovany Soto, C, Cubs:
- Soto starred at the plate in 2008, when he batted .285/.364/.504 and smacked 23 homers to get the NL ROY and his lone All-Star nod. But Soto’s career, some of which he also spent with the Rangers, A’s, White Sox and Angels, was pretty up and down into his final season in 2017. Soto was better than most who have set foot in the majors, however, as he hit .245/.330/.435 with 108 HRs and 16.4 fWAR.
2009 – Chris Coghlan, OF, Marlins:
- The third former Marlin on this list, Coghlan was a .321/.390/.460 hitter during his initial year, though he rarely reached those heights again. Coghlan became a utilityman and ended up playing for four other teams (the Cubs, Phillies, A’s and Blue Jays) through 2017. He batted a respectable .258/.334/.398 with 53 HRs and 47 SBs in the bigs.
I believe a certain detail about Braun’s career is missing..
That he cleaned up our chain of custody rules?
No he didn’t clean up anything since what happened was within the rules of the testing program & you are forgetting that Braun admitted that the 1st positive P E D Test was accurate
Braun agreed that he would be punished for 2 positive P E D Tests even with the 1st test was thrown out by an arbitrator
I mean he created enough reasonable doubt, so clearly there were flaws in the system
Flaws in the system: Yes
Flaws in character: Absolutely!!!
He’s right up there with Lance Armstrong if you ask me. He got caught and should have just manned up to it, as he knowingly used PEDs. Instead, he went on a campaign to destroy another man’s career all the while claiming his innocence until the proof was too damning for him to continue his lying. That’s why people dislike him so much.
Judgement
from
the
mountaintop!
Remember when he implied that the positive test was an anti semetic plot against him? My least favorite player in all of MLB. What he did went so far beyond cheating, tried to trample an innocent collector to clear his name sbnation.com/mlb/2013/8/18/4635120/ryan-braun-urin…
Attack on Israel!
Too bad we can’t take away Braun’s tainted ROY award. Tulo was equally deserving that year and wasn’t on roids (as far as we know).
The real MVP for the NL the year Braun fraudulently won the award was not Tulo because the real NL MVP that year was Matt Kemp who almost won the triple crown
He didn’t say it should’ve been Tulo winning the MVP, he said ROY.
I said ROY since that was the subject of the post. But Kemp does have more reason to complain since Braun was definitely cheating in the 2011 MVP year. It is possible that he wasn’t juicing yet in 2007.
Tainted
Award!
Cheater
Declarative statement!
Brewers fan here. Yeah, I get that Braun lied about taking PEDs and got caught. I think anyone who knows baseball gets that too. It definitely taints his career and he lost a lot of trust and fans because of it. But seriously, do you have to whip a dead horse for 7+ years? How about you rag on other stars like Robby Cano or CY winner and fan favorite Bartolo Colon? The point of this post was to look at the productivity of the NL ROYs of the 2000s. Unlike a lot of those guys, Braun is still playing, and he’s the most productive player on the list at the moment. And Braun has been a fantastic clubhouse guy and leader in the community. You may want to consider that before trashing someone from the comfort of your couch…
Braun gets ragged on for how he acted after testing positive. It would have died down along time ago if he would have just took the suspension.
Bingo! We have bingo!
Now I know
how old
Dorothy is…..
A credit to the Jews!
Braun gets ragged because he is mentioned in the article.
Nope. Sorry. Braun is the scummiest of the scumbags. All that got busted denied use, wagged their fingers, claimed ignorance, etc. One guy ruined a common man’s career and one man claimed anti-Semitism. MVP award should without question have been rescinded.
Braun cheated, but Furcal got two DUIs in 4 years, which is far worse IMO
Once is a mistake.
Two or more is STUPIDITY…..
Innocent until proven guilty!
A lot of people are forgivable to these athletes if they just admit what they did and take the punishment. Guys like Braun get lambasted because of how they handled it. Rodgers also publically backed Braun and was made to look like an idiot for it.
Solid group
yeah, better than most 10 year runs would be
Funny thing is the NL ROY’s from 2010-19 was even better and the best of all time so far
You could look it up!
A hall of fame, and some hall of pretty good guys…Nice decade.
Don’t forget the list included at least 1 cheater
That we know about…..
I can’t stand it when holier than thou people start doing this. This list, and every list of ten people, includes TEN cheaters. Because every human being on Earth has cheated at something in their lives. Braun got his suspension from the league and served his time. The punishment did not include a lifetime sentence of being a pariah.
All that being said, Troy Tulowitzki deserved the ROY that season even without factoring in future infractions.
Most of those others aren’t ruining people’s lives. If it was as simple as him accepting his time and serving, it’d all but be forgotten by now, just like the others. Most can get over the using. It’s his being a human butt wipe in going after a person whose career path had led them to being a piss collector that’s earned him the well deserved hatred. He’s a trash human being. There’s no defending that.
Amazing how Votto and Soto basically had the same stat line with Votto playing in ten more games. Soto played in 141 games, that is a ton for a catcher.
I’m really enjoying these themed retrospective articles. Thank you, MLBTR.
I second that emotion!
Agreed. Good reads and great work.
Coghlan winning in 09 was ridiculous. Tommy Hanson was far and away the most dominant rookie that year. Even Happ and Cutch were better.
The voters felt sorry for the Marlins franchise…..
@jorge78 How does that make any sense..?
That pretty much applies to his other 153 posts in this topic.
May Mr. Hanson RIP…..
Dontrelle Willis and the Marlins faced San Fran in the NLDS not NLCS
He was awesome. Flamed our way to soon
Coghlan also had an (apparently) unmemorable run with Oakland in 2016.
“Pillar hits it high and deep to right. Piscotty back, at the track, at the wall, it’s…”
“Over his glove off the wall!”
“Coghlan is headed for third, they’re gonna wave him home…”
“Here’s the throw from Piscotty to home plate…”
“And Molina… didn’t tag him!”
“What a play by Coghlan!”
“He jumped over Molina and landed squarely on home plate!”
Classic. As a Jays fan, I can remember the direct transcript of the play call by Buck Martinez. I’ll never forget it, that was insane.
Acrobatic!
Braun cost a kid his job with lying about rhoids, he deserves nothing and is truly a dirtbag. Tulo deserved it more anyway.
But the “kid” got lazy and suffered the consequences…..
No, he followed proper procedure. It was the procedure itself that was slightly flawed.
I’ll always remember Coghlan for his “slide” when he jumped over Yadier Molina
Or his “slide” when he broke Jung Ho Kang’s shin. What a P.O.S.
Demand your money back!
Forgot Pirates fans got mad about that lol. If we’re looking back at it now though, we should be thanking Coghlan.
How about 2001? Albert wins ROY and finishes 4th in MVP. Roy Oswalt finishes 2nd and Jimmy Rollins 3rd. In the AL Ichiro comes over and takes the ROY and MVP. CC Sabathia finishes 2nd, Alfonso Soriano 3rd and future World Series MVP David Eckstein finishes 4th in the voting. And of course the season ending on the walkoff single by Luis Gonzalez off the greatest closer of all time in the bottom of the 9th in game 7. Fun year minus the 9/11 attacks.
One of the best roomie classes of MLB players in history
History lesson!
Thank you for making me research Jason Jennings career stats on baseball reference
It’s funny that he premiered the same year as Mark Prior. Prior posted a higher WAR and more strikeouts , had a whip that was 30 points lower despite pitching in 80 fewer innings than Jennings. Yet Prior only got 3 votes for NL ROY while Jennings got 157
You ARE smart!
I’d forgotten about
that injustice…..
Jennings pitched in 32 games. Won 16.
Prior pitched in 19. Won 6.
It’s 2002. Wins were certainly a major factor in that decision.
You’re talking about an era well before analytics took over. You’re trying to use secondary stats when those things weren’t considered back then. Wins, innings, games were what voters looked at.
Neither Cubs or Rockies were good that year, Rockies were slightly better.
I was just pointing out stats from that year. Wins were OBVIOUSLY the reason Jennings got the award, and there was no clear ROY candidate that season. It wasn’t like today’s news where players get the title of Roomie of the week, or roomie of the month.
“Despite pitching in 80 fewer innings.” I think you have your answer.
I know. Plus prior didn’t have to pitch his games in Coors Field.
Tulo over Braun, still chapped. Braun couldnt catch a ball that wasnt even moving , and PEDs…
In order to catch something, the object has to be moving…
Bay had a bad concussion only reason he fell off