NEWSLETTER
Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo had a little fun over at MLBPipeline discussing possible Rookies of the Year in 2015. Callis went with Rusney Castillo in the AL, which feels like cheating, and Noah Syndergaard (still with the Mets) in the NL. Mayo selects Francisco Lindor in the AL, and – surprise – Kris Bryant in the NL. Mayo feels so strongly about Bryant that he thinks the young man could put up ROY numbers even if the Cubs held him down until after the Super Two cut-off in late June.
I don’t see that happening, mind you – the Super Two part, not the big numbers part – and I expect Bryant to arrive in Chicago shortly after the start of the season. I think Bryant is an excellent bet to figure in the ROY race, which I don’t think is something you can confidently say about too many prospects who’ve not appeared in the big leagues. Bryant is special.
He may find the biggest competition, however, comes from his own teammate, Jorge Soler. Unlike Javier Baez and Arismendy Alcantara, Soler didn’t accumulate enough at bats or service time to lose his rookie eligibility.
Consider that Soler’s offensive ceiling is nearly as high as Bryant’s, and consider that players seem not to get extra credit for positional value when it comes to ROY voting. Add in the fact that Soler already showed some success at the big league level – not that you want to get overconfident on such a small sample – and I can see Soler as an extremely viable ROY candidate. Maybe even a front-runner.
In any case, it’s just something fun to think about, and it has nothing to do with rumors or transactions.
