Ohtani, Acuna named top rookies
Twins’ Mauer officially retires
NEW YORK — Two-way star Shohei Ohtani was a singular sensation in voting for AL Rookie of the Year.
A standout on the mound and at the plate for the Los Angeles Angels, Ohtani was an overwhelming pick for American League Rookie of the Year after becoming the first player since Babe Ruth a century ago with 10 homers and four pitching wins in the same season.
Atlanta Braves outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr. was a runaway pick for the NL honor over Washington outfielder Juan Soto in a contest between 20-year-olds.
A 24-year-old right-hander who joined the Angels last winter after five seasons with Japan’s Nippon Ham Fighters, Ohtani received 25 first-place votes and four seconds for 137 points from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America in balloting announced Monday.
A pair of New York Yankees infielders followed. Miguel Andujar was second with five firsts and 89 points, and Gleyber Torres was next with 25 points.
Ohtani was 4-2 with a 3.31 ERA and 63 strikeouts over 51⅔ innings in 10 starts, limited by a torn elbow ligament that required surgery on Oct. 1 and likely will prevent him from pitching next year. As a designated hitter, he batted .285 with 22 homers and 61 RBIs and a .925 OPS in 367 plate appearances. He became the first player with 15 homers as a batter and 50 strikeouts as a pitcher in the same season.
Ohtani is the first Japanese player to win the honor since Seattle’s Ichiro Suzuki in 2001 and the fourth overall.
The 20-year-old Acuna
received 27 first-place votes and three seconds for 144 points. Soto got two firsts and 89 points, and Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Walker Buehler was next with one first and 28 points.)
Acuna, in Japan with a major league All-Star team, declined to do a morning conference call on the results, BBWAA secretary-treasurer Jack O’Connell said.
Acuna started the season at Triple-A and made his debut on April 25, the youngest player in the majors then at 20 years, 128 days. The Venezuelan hit .293 with 26 homers, 64 RBIs and 16 steals with a .917 OPS. He set a Braves record with eight leadoff homers this season and tied a franchise mark by homering in five straight games from Aug. 11-14.
The AL and NL Manager of the Year will be announced today. Boston’s Alex Cora, Tampa Bay’s Kevin Cash and Oakland’s Bob Melvin are the finalists for the AL honor and Atlanta’s Brian Snitker, Milwaukee’s Craig Counsell and Colorado’s Bud Black are the finalists for the NL award.
MAUER: Yes, the narrative of Joe Mauer’s career was missing a championship chapter. That plotline stalled for a few years while the star was set back by injuries.
Still, this story of the Minnesota native with the smooth left-handed swing who played for the Twins the entire time sure was made for a movie.
Six weeks after Mauer symbolically donned his catcher’s gear for one last crouch behind the plate in the final inning of the season , Mauer formalized his goodbye to the game at a tear-filled-yet-cheerful news conference to wrap up a 15-year major league career at age 35.
“I’ve been fortunate enough to have the personal accolades, and I really do believe that’s a byproduct of how the team does, and those things just come along with it,” Mauer said. “But I’d want to be known as a great teammate, a great person, and a guy who gave it everything he had.”
Mauer is the only American League catcher to win a batting title, a feat he accomplished three times: 2006, 2008 and 2009.
The six-time All-Star finished with a .306 lifetime average
“The naysayers will talk about maybe not enough career numbers, a little decline at the end … but there’s going to be a lot of numbers that put him right in the mix with some of the Hall of Famers,” Molitor said. “So I’m obviously a little bit biased. I’d love to see it happen.”
ASTROS: Starter Dallas Keuchel has declined the one-year qualifying offer the Houston Astros offered him.
Keuchel could still sign with the Astros, but if he signs with another team before next year’s draft the Astros will receive a compensation draft pick in the 2019 draft.
Monday was the deadline for players who received qualifying offers to accept or decline them.
Keuchel, the 2015 American League Cy Young winner, was drafted by the Astros in 2009.
He went 12-11 with a 3.74 ERA in an AL-leading 34 starts last season and is 76-63 with a 3.66 ERA in 192 games in his career.