MLB Trade Rumors

After reviewing the careers of 1990s National League Rookies of the Year, let’s move over to the AL…

1990 – Sandy Alomar Jr., C, Indians:

• Kevin Appier, John Olerud and Robin Ventura were among the rookies Alomar beat out for the award that year. While those players had better careers than Alomar, he did turn in a few solid seasons, including in 1990. He was a .290/.326/.418 hitter with 2.4 fWAR then. He wound up playing through 2007 and totaling 13.2 fWAR in almost 5,000 plate appearances.

1991 – Chuck Knoblauch, 2B, Twins:

• The rookie version of Knoblauch was a capable contributor on a Twins team that won the World Series in 1991, when he batted .281/.351/.350 with 2.2 fWAR and 25 steals during the regular season and put up even better offensive numbers in the playoffs. Knoblauch made his first of four All-Star trips the next season, but he really came into his own from 1995-97. During that three-year span, Knoblauch trailed only Barry Bonds, Ken Griffey Jr. and Mike Piazza in position player fWAR (20.6). Nevertheless, after the last of those seasons, the Twins traded him to the Yankees for Eric Milton, Danny Mota and Brian Buchanan. Knoblauch was a member of three World Series winners and four straight AL pennant teams as a Yankee, though his overall production fell and he developed an awful case of the yips as a second baseman. His defensive troubles forced him to move to the outfield for the tail end of his career – which came to a close with the Royals in 2002. Still, Knoblauch was quite successful in the bigs, where he slashed .289/.378/.406 with 39.8 fWAR.

1992 – Pat Listach, SS, Brewers:

Listach beat out fellow speedster Kenny Lofton for this award, hitting .290/.352/.349 with one homer, 54 steals and 3.4 fWAR. But Lofton ended up a far superior big leaguer to Listach, who only played through 1997. Also an ex-Astro, Listach batted .251/.316/.309 with 1.5 fWAR.

1993 – Tim Salmon, OF, Angels:

• This was the first of five 30-home run seasons for Salmon, who put up 31 en route to 4.7 fWAR. For the most part, Salmon was an excellent offensive player during his career – all of which he spent with the Angels from 1992-2006 – evidenced by his .282/.385/.491 line and 299 HRs. He put up 35.4 fWAR along the way and is considered one of the top players in franchise history. However, with Mike Trout now in the fold, Salmon’s no longer the best Angel with a fish for a last name.

1994 – Bob Hamelin, 1B, Royals:

• Hamelin upended eventual greats Manny Ramirez and Jim Edmonds in the voting that season, but it was hardly the start of a storied career. While Hamelin hit .282/.388/.599 with 24 homers and 2.4 fWAR as a rookie, he never reached the 20 mark again through his last season in 1998, and he was a replacement-level player (0.0. fWAR) after his first year. But he’ll always have this, arguably the worst baseball card ever.

1995 – Marty Cordova, OF, Twins:

• Cordova had a few productive campaigns from 1995-2003, but Year 1 was his best. He debuted with a .277/.352/.486 line, 24 homers, 20 steals and 3.6 fWAR. He ultimately finished his career a .274/.344/.448 hitter with 122 dingers, 57 stolen bases and 6.5 fWAR.

1996 – Derek Jeter, SS, Yankees:

• Never heard of him. Seriously, though, 24 years after winning AL ROY, Jeter can be considered one of the most recognizable athletes in history. He went on to a Hall of Fame career, all of which he spent from 1995-2014 with the Yankees (who retired his number), with 14 All-Star nods and five titles. The Captain was a .310/.377/.440 hitter with 260 homers, 358 steals and 73.0 fWAR. As a first-year man, Jeter batted .314/.370/.430, totaling 10 HRs, 14 SBs and 2.2 fWAR.

1997 – Nomar Garciaparra, SS, Red Sox:

• A year after the Red Sox saw an archrival Yankee win the award, they found a shortstop capable of going to to toe with Jeter. Garciappara’s greatest four-year stretch spanned from his rookie season through 2000, during which Jeff Bagwell and Barry Bonds were the only position players to outdo his 27.5 fWAR. A good portion of that (6.4) came during Garciaparra’s first year, when he slashed .306/.342/.534 with 30 homers and 22 steals. Unfortunately, peak Garciaparra didn’t last nearly as long as he should have because of injuries. But he did still manage extremely effective overall production (.313/.361/.521; 229 HRs, 95 SBs; 41.5 fWAR; six All-Star appearances) before his career ended in 2009.

1998 – Ben Grieve, OF, Athletics:

• Grieve was a good hitter throughout his career, which ended in 2005, though never more productive than he was a rookie. He hit .288/.386/.458 with 18 HRs that season. Four years later, the A’s sent Grieve to the then-Devil Rays as part of a trade for Johnny Damon. However, Grieve didn’t provide a ton of value in Tampa Bay. He left the game as a .269/.367/.442 hitter with 118 homers and 6.7 fWAR.

1999 – Carlos Beltran, OF, Royals:

• The start of a Hall of Fame career? Depends on how you view Beltran in light of his sign-stealing issues with the Astros and his fleeting stint as the Mets’ manager. In terms of production, though, he has a strong case, and it all began during a ’99 campaign in which he slashed .293/.337/.454, went 20/20 (22 HRs, 27 SBs) and accrued 4.3 fWAR. Beltran went on to account for 67.9 fWAR as a member of several different teams through 2017, bat .279/.350/.486 with 435 homers and 312 steals, and earn nine All-Star trips.

Having already revisited the careers of Rookie of the Year winners from 2000-09 (American League, National League), let’s go back a decade to the 1990s. We’ll open with the NL’s 10 winners…

1990 – David Justice, OF, Braves:

• This marked the beginning of a decorated career for Justice, who slashed .282/.373/.535 with 28 home runs in 504 plate appearances as a rookie. The Braves were only a 65-win team that season, but thanks in part to Justice, they became a powerhouse after that. The club made three World Series appearance, winning one Fall Classic (in 1995), with Justice on its roster. But the Braves traded Justice and Marquis Grissom to the team they knocked off, the Indians, prior to the ’97 campaign for Kenny Lofton and Alan Embree. Justice continued to succeed as an Indian, though they dealt him to the Yankees during the 2000 season. He went on to win his second title then. Although Justice’s numbers dipped as a Yankee and Athletic from 2001-02, he finished his career as a .279/.378/.500 hitter with 305 homers, 40.4 fWAR and three All-Star bids.

1991 – Jeff Bagwell, 1B, Astros:

• Acquired from Boston a year earlier in a trade the Red Sox would still like back, Bagwell got off to a terrific start – he hit .294/.387/437 with 4.3 fWAR as a rookie – and only improved from there. He’s now an Astros legend, a Baseball Hall of Famer and someone who put up a .297/.408/.540 line with 449 homers, 202 steals, 80.2 fWAR, four All-Star nods and an MVP through 2005.

1992 – Eric Karros, 1B, Dodgers:

• Compared to the first couple players on this list, Karros had a modest impact in his first year, when he batted .257/.304/.426 with 20 homers and 1.0 fWAR. But Karros still enjoyed a better career than most, as he swatted 284 HRs and hit .266/.325/.454 with 17.8 fWAR as a Dodger, Cub and Athletic through 2004.

1993 – Mike Piazza, C, Dodgers:

• The second straight Dodger to win and the second eventual Hall of Famer on this list, Piazza made an incredible impact from the get-go. He slashed .318/.370/.561 with 35 dingers and 7.4 fWAR in Year 1 – the first of 12 All-Star seasons. Also a former Marlin, Met (they retired his No. 31), Athletic and Padre, Piazza hung it up in 2007 as a .308/.377/.545 batter who smacked 427 homers and accounted for 63.7 fWAR.

1994 – Raul Mondesi, OF, Dodgers:

• Make that three consecutive Dodgers. Mondesi hit .306/.333/.516 with 16 homers and 11 steals in his first year, which proved to be the first of several above-average offensive efforts for him. Overall, he was a two-time 30/30 man who racked up 271 homers, 229 steals, recorded a .273/.331/.485 line, and collected 26.5 fWAR as a Dodger, Blue Jay, Yankee, Diamondback, Pirate, Angel and Brave from 1993-2004. Mondesi later became the mayor of San Cristobal, Dominican Republic, but that ended with a prison sentence for corruption. In better news, his son Adalberto Mondesi looks as if he could be a long-term cornerstone for the Royals.

1995 – Hideo Nomo, SP, Dodgers:

• Hey, another Dodger, and the first NL pitcher of the decade to win the award. Nomo, a Japanese import who was the first player born there to play in the majors since 1965, was a sensation early in his MLB career. He spun 191 1/3 innings of 2.54 ERA ball with over 11 strikeouts per nine as a rookie. That proved to be Nomo’s best season, but he did put together a few more quality ones through 2008, and he tossed two no-hitters along the way. The former Dodger, Met, Brewer, Tiger, Red Sox, Ray and Royal logged a 4.24 ERA with 8.73 K/9 and 4.13 BB/9 in 1,976 1/3 innings in the bigs.

1996 – Todd Hollandsworth, OF, Dodgers:

• In order to win this award, it was apparently a requirement to play for the Dodgers. Hollandsworth hit .291/.348/.437 with 12 homers and 21 steals in his debut season, though his impact in the league wasn’t that great otherwise. He totaled 5.2 fWAR (1.2 as a rookie) with a handful of teams from 1995-2006.

1997 – Scott Rolen, 3B, Phillies:

• Rolen put an end to the Dodgers’ ROY reign Hall of Famer with a stellar first season, in which he was a .283/.377/.469 hitter with 21 homers and 4.3 fWAR. Rolen was largely an outstanding offensive player with the Phils, Cardinals, Blue Jays and Reds through 2012 – he batted a lifetime .281/.364/.490 with 316 HRs and 118 steals – and also a defensive maven. He wound up an eight-time Gold Glover and a seven-time All-Star who accrued 69.9 fWAR. Hall of Famer? He has a legit case.

1998 – Kerry Wood, SP, Cubs:

• Wood’s shining moment came in his fifth-ever start, May 6, 1998, when he struck out 20 Astros in a complete game shutout. Those 20 punchouts helped Wood to a whopping 12.58 K/9 that year, during which he registered a 3.40 ERA over 166 2/3 innings. But Wood missed the next season because of Tommy John surgery, and injuries regularly slowed him down throughout a career that ran through 2012 with the Cubs, Yankees and Indians. While Wood was a full-time starter in his first six seasons, he shifted to a relief role in 2005. He left the game with a 3.67 ERA, 10.32 K/9 and 23.9 fWAR across 1,380 frames. Not the Hall of Fame career it perhaps could have been had Wood stayed healthy, but still an impressive one.

1999 – Scott Williamson, RP, Reds:

• Williamson was a relief workhorse who peaked in his first season, when he fired 93 1/3 innings of 2.41 ERA pitching with 10.32 K/9 and 19 saves. Like Wood, however, injuries had a negative effect on his career. Williamson pitched for several other teams through 2007, and despite walking five batters per nine, he still put up a highly respectable 3.36 ERA with 10.45 K/9 in 439 1/3 lifetime innings.