Yasiel Puig had one of the most impactful rookie seasons in Dodgers' history this year, igniting a fire in June when the Dodgers were in dead last place in the NL West. He ended up hitting .319 with 19 homers, 42 RBIs, and 11 stolen bases.
All awesome numbers... but still not good enough to beat Jose Fernandez for Rookie of the Year.
In what turned out to be pretty much a blowout, Fernandez took home 26 of a possible 30 first place votes in winning the National League Rookie of the Year. He's the fourth Marlin to take home the prize.
As much as I'm a believer in how Puig helped turned a dreadful season around in LA, I can't say I'm surprised by this. If this was voted on in June, July, or August, then Puig would have easily won. But as Puig slowly cooled off, and the negative attention started coming his way, Fernandez was red hot to close out the season, despite being shut down after a September 11 start against the Braves.
The argument can be made that Puig's team not only made the playoffs, but went to the NLCS, while the Marlins were eliminated... well, pretty much once Opening Day hit. But, if that's the stance that people are going to take, then that takes away great seasons by players who have bad teammates, which isn't right.
Puig still has plenty to be proud of, as he was so good this season, the Dodgers seem open to at least exploring the possibilities of trading Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier, or Carl Crawford. In other words, right field belongs to Puig and no one else.
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