By MIKE FITZPATRICK
AP Sports Writer
NEW YORK — Jose Fernandez of the Miami Marlins and Wil Myers of the Tampa Bay Rays were selected baseball’s Rookies of the Year on Monday.
Fernandez stood out in a very deep National League class, and the pitcher received 26 of 30 first-place votes from a Baseball Writers’ Association of America panel. His debut season was so superb that he’s one of three finalists for the NL Cy Young Award, with the winner to be announced Wednesday.
Myers took home the American League prize after putting up impressive offensive numbers in barely half a season. The right fielder was chosen first on 23 of 30 ballots, beating out Detroit shortstop Jose Iglesias and Rays teammate Chris Archer.
Myers became the third Tampa Bay player in six years to be selected Rookie of the Year, joining Jeremy Hellickson (2011) and Evan Longoria (2008).
“It’s awesome,” Myers said in an interview on MLB Network. “It’s a huge honor to win this. I’m very excited about it.”
Fernandez easily topped runner-up Yasiel Puig of the Los Angeles Dodgers. The right-hander was the fourth Marlins player in 11 years to win, following Chris Coghlan (2009), Hanley Ramirez (2006) and Dontrelle Willis (2003).
After the Marlins dumped nearly all of their high-priced stars last winter, Fernandez was a rare bright spot in Miami’s 62-100 season. He made the All-Star team at age 20 and went 12-6 with a 2.19 ERA and 187 strikeouts in 172 2-3 innings.
The 22-year-old Myers batted .293 with 13 home runs and 53 RBIs in only 88 games after he was called up from the minors June 18. He immediately added much-needed power to the middle of the Rays’ lineup, helping them reach the playoffs as an AL wild card.
Myers was rated one of baseball’s best hitting prospects when he was traded from Kansas City to Tampa Bay last December in a seven-player deal that sent pitchers James Shields and Wade Davis to the Royals.
The Rays were 36-33 before Myers arrived this season and went 56-38 the rest of the way. They won a tiebreaker at Texas for the final AL playoff berth and beat Cleveland in the wild-card game before getting eliminated by eventual World Series champion Boston in the division series.
Myers finished with 131 points in the balloting to 80 for Iglesias, traded from the Boston Red Sox to Detroit Tigers just before the deadline in late July. Archer and fellow pitcher Dan Straily of the Oakland Athletics each had one first-place vote.
The announcements marked the beginning of awards week in baseball. NL and AL Manager of the Year will be revealed today.
Jackie Robinson
Rookies of the Year
NL voting
First-, second- and third-place votes and total points on a 5-3-1 basis.
Player 1st 2nd 3rd Tot
Jose Fernandez, Miami 26 4 – 142
Yasiel Puig, LA Dodgers 4 25 – 95
Shelby Miller, St. Louis – 1 9 12
Hyun-jin Ryu, LA Dodgers – – 10 10
Julio Teheran, Atlanta – – 7 7
Jedd Gyorko, San Diego – – 2 2
Nolan Arenado, Colorado – – 1 1
Evan Gattis, Atlanta – – 1 1
NL Rookies
(Recent selections)
x-unanimous
2013 — Jose Fernandez, Miami
2012 — Bryce Harper, Washington
2011 — x-Craig Kimbrel, Atlanta
2010 — Buster Posey, San Francisco
2009 — Chris Coghlan, Florida
2008 — Geovany Soto, Chicago
2007 — Ryan Braun, Milwaukee
2006 — Hanley Ramirez, Florida
2005 — Ryan Howard, Philadelphia
2004 — Jason Bay, Pittsburgh
2003 — Dontrelle Willis, Florida
2002 — Jason Jennings, Colorado
2001 — x-Albert Pujols, St. Louis
2000 — Rafael Furcal, Atlanta
1999 — Scott Williamson, Cincinnati
1998 — Kerry Wood, Chicago
1997 — x-Scott Rolen, Philadelphia
1996 — Todd Hollandsworth, Los Angeles
1995 — Hideo Nomo, Los Angeles
AL voting
First-, second- and third-place votes and total points on a 5-3-1 basis.
Player 1st 2nd 3rd Tot
Wil Myers, Tampa Bay 23 5 1 131
Jose Iglesias, Bos./Detroit 5 17 4 80
Chris Archer, Tampa Bay 1 5 15 35
Dan Straily, Oakland 1 2 4 15
J.B. Shuck, LA Angels – 1 1 4
Cody Allen, Cleveland – – 2 2
Martin Perez, Texas – – 2 2
David Lough, Kansas City – – 1 1
AL Rookies
(Recent selections)
x-unanimous
2013 — Wil Myers, Tampa Bay
2012 — x-Mike Trout, Los Angeles
2011 — Jeremy Hellickson, Tampa Bay
2010 — Neftali Feliz, Texas
2009 — Andrew Bailey, Oakland
2008 — x-Evan Longoria, Tampa Bay
2007 — Dustin Pedroia, Boston
2006 — Justin Verlander, Detroit
2005 — Huston Street, Oakland
2004 — Bobby Crosby, Oakland
2003 — Angel Berroa, Kansas City
2002 — Eric Hinske, Toronto
2001 — Ichiro Suzuki, Seattle
2000 — Kazuhiro Sasaki, Seattle
1999 — Carlos Beltran, Kansas City
1998 — Ben Grieve, Oakland
1997 — x-Nomar Garciaparra, Boston
1996 — x-Derek Jeter, New York
1995 — Marty Cordova, Minnesota
