One of the most telling awards that baseball offers its athletes is Rookie of the Year. Both of this season's winners were so successful throughout the year that the race was basically over in July at the all-star break. Any athlete, manager, team executive or fan, would tell you that the most important thing to any of them, is winning. This season, Evan Longoria of the Tampa Bay Rays and Geovany Soto of the Chicago Cubs, were both integral parts to their teams success. Sometimes the Rookie of the Year award is won mainly because of a lack of competition. The National League did not offer much competition for catcher, Geovany Soto. The only real threat to his victory was first baseman for the Cincinnati Reds, Joey Votto. Votto, never really stood a chance against the outstanding rookie for one of America's favorite teams. Not only did Soto put up fabulous offensive numbers for a Rookie and he did it playing the most difficult position. Evan Longoria in my opinion was the most valuable player for the Rays this season. When they really needed it most, he was the guy that carried them on his shoulders down the final stretch of the season. It is no wonder he was the unanimous Rookie of the Year in the American League. Even after starting off the season slow, and then missing 5 weeks with a broken wrist, Longoria sparked one of the best turnarounds in any franchises history. Longoria was up against other talented rookies such as Alexei Ramirez of the White Sox, but was the clear favorite. What I am going to propose is that a Rookie of the Year should be able to earn a greater salary in his second season, rather than have to wait to become arbitration eligible. Sometimes a team will give a player a bonus when they don't have to, but it is never an amount close to what they truly deserve.
As the title of my blog points out, the catching gear is nicknamed "The Tools of Ignorance". Catching is the most difficult job as a position player. The last National League catcher to win this honor was Mike Piazza for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1993. Soto was a member of the best Chicago Cubs team in a long time. Unfortunately for him, and the rest of Chicago, their best chance at breaking the curse in a long time was spoiled by bad defense, and a red hot Manny Ramirez. Nonetheless, the 25 year-old Soto earned $401,000 during his Rookie of the Year campaign. Soto is set to make $500,000 during the 2009 season. Here is one of the fundamental problems I have with executives in baseball. Soto, who is clearly an upcoming talent in the major league's is going to make to earn about as small a salary as one can. Meanwhile, backup catcher Henry Blanco, is all set to earn $3 Million in salary. I understand that Blanco is a proven veteran, but it still boggles my mind when the back up is earning significantly more than the starter. I think that baseball should impose a rookie success rule, that allows players who attain a certain amount of success to be given a hefty salary increase.Apparently the Ray's knew they had something special in Longoria, because they signed him to a long term deal worth up to $44.5 Million over 9 seasons. What a smart move, because when his deal is up with the Ray's, you will see him signing one of those insanely large deals with the Yankees or Mets. The Rays now have Longoria locked in to a long term deal, and a player to build their franchise around during future transactions. These types of deals are happening more often in baseball today, and I see it as the "smart play". The Florida Marlins just signed 2006 Rookie of the Year, Hanley Ramirez, to a contract extension for 7 years and $70 Million. If Ramirez were to go into free agency you can bet he would have received a deal much more elaborate than that. He is one of the brightest young stars in baseball, but like any other business, security is of great value. It is a classic win-win situation. The Marlins signed one of the top players in baseball for a reasonable price, and Ramirez has given himself lifetime security.
I am not sure whether the Cubs think that Soto is not worth a long term contract yet, or he just greatly exceeded expectations. Either way he is going to earn $500,000 with very little security while Longoria is set for the future. Baseball should seriously consider rewarding its rookies who perform at the highest levels. If their teams are not willing to offer them a long-term contract, they should at least be able to earn the salary of one of the better players in the league.
