Both the American and National League Rookies of the Year were announced on Monday. Toronto third baseman Eric Hinske procured the title in the AL, while Colorado starting pitcher Jason Jennings was crowned in the NL.

The Chicago Cubs drafted Hinske out of the University of Arkansas in the 17th round of the 1998 draft. Unfortunately while he might have ended their continual search for a third baseman, they traded him to Oakland in the spring of 2001 in order to retain the rights of Rule 5 pick RHP Scott Chiasson without keeping him on the 25-man roster. Chicago also picked up IF Miguel Cairo, but the deal remains heavily lopsided in the A's favor.

With Eric Chavez firmly entrenched in Oakland, the A's were then willing to send Hinske with RHP Justin Miller to Toronto last off-season for RHP Billy Koch, who they wanted to fill their open closer position after the departure of Jason Isringhausen as a free agent. The Blue Jays recognized that Koch would begin to command a higher salary in the near future before their team was prepared to run for the playoffs and jumped at the chance to add a high upside third base prospect ready to try his hand at the majors.

Following his selection in the draft and between these trades, Hinske progressed steadily through the minors. After splitting the 1998 season between Williamsport in the Short-Season New York-Pennsylvania League and A Rockford in the Midwest League, he spent the majority of the 1999 season at Daytona in the A+ Florida State League before receiving a brief call-up to AAA Iowa in the Pacific Coast League. Hinske remained at AA West Tennessee in the Southern League for the entire 2000 season, advancing to AAA Sacrament in the PCL for all of 2001. Throughout his development Hinske displayed a willingness to walk, though his corresponding strikeout numbers occasionally marred his plate discipline. He also showed promising power with some speed. Listed at 6'2", 225 lbs., Hinske bats left, though he throws right-handed.

The 25-year-old from Menasha, Wisconsin made his major league debut on April 1st of 2002 as the Blue Jays' starting third baseman. Over the course of the season, he hit .279 with a .365 OBP and .481 SLG on 158 H, 38 2B, 2 3B, and 24 HR with a 77:138 BB:K and 13/14 SB% in 566 AB. His fielding skills were competent, but not the reason he won this award.

We completely agree with Hinske as the proper choice for 2002 AL Rookie of the Year, as the rookie who contributed the most to his team this past season. In second place, we supported Baltimore RHP Rodrigo Lopez with Minnesota LHP Johan Santana ranking third on our list. Slightly behind him were Minnesota RHP Tony Fiore, Minnesota OF Bobby Kielty, and Toronto DH Josh Phelps. Lopez went 15-9 with a 3.57 ERA on the strength of a 136:62 K:BB with 172 H and 23 HR allowed in 196.2 IP. Santana had a 137:49 K:BB with 84 H and 7 HR allowed in 108.1 IP for a 2.99 ERA, finishing with an 8-6 record and one save.

Colorado drafted Jennings out of Baylor University with the 16th overall pick in the first round of the 1999 draft, so unlike Hinske he has remained with the same organization for the entirety of his professional career. Born in Dallas, Jennings currently resides in Mesquite, Texas. Following the draft Jennings headed to the Short-Season Northwest League, but he quickly moved up to Asheville in the A South Atlantic League. He spent the majority of the 2000 season at A+ Salem in the Carolina League with a brief call-up to AA Carolina in the Southern League, where he would spent the first part of the 2001 season. In 2001, Jennings quickly advanced to AAA Colorado Springs in the PCL, spending most of the season there before reaching the majors in late August.

A right-handed pitcher listed at 6-2", 230 lbs., Jennings bats left when called upon to do so in the National League. Jennings started 32 games this season, going 16-8 with a 4.52 ERA in 185.1 IP on a 127:70 K:BB with 201 H and 26 HR. Many people gave Jennings extra credit for putting up those numbers despite the discouraging home field environment of Coors.

We thought Jennings was a decent candidate at the All-Star break, when he had a 68:32 K:BB with 111 H and 11 HR allowed in 94.2 IP for a 4.85 ERA, but didn't rank him in our top three at the end of the year. Brad Wilkerson was our choice for National League Rookie of the Year with Austin Kearns and Damian Moss coming up behind him. Wilkerson hit .266 with a .370 OBP and .469 SLG on 135 H, 27 2B, 8 3B, and 20 HR with an 81:161 BB:K and 7/15 SB% in 507 AB. Meanwhile Kearns put up a .315 BA, .407 OBP, and .500 SLG on 117 H, 24 2B, 3 3B, and 13 HR with a 54:81 BB:K and 6/9 SB% in 372 AB. Moss went 12-6 with a 3.42 ERA on a 111:89 K:BB with 140 H and 20 HR allowed in 179 IP.

In determining the players to whom we believe the awards should have gone, we examined several factors to compile a list of the three best pitchers and three best hitters who qualified for the award in each league. The next task was to find a way to somewhat objectively compare the players on that list. When looking at numbers we focused on the park adjusted stats found at Baseball Prospectus, concentrating on Value Over Replacement Player(VORP).

Wilkerson, Kearns, and Moss were bunched fairly close together, but we gave the edge to the offensive players and credited Wilkerson for his defense and additional time in the lineup. While we understand how Jennings ultimately won this award, we still believe it would have been more properly given to one of these three, preferably Wilkerson.