Rodriguez, Harris II and Strider, the favorites

The journalists’ guild will announce the winners on Monday at 6 p.m. ET in a special program on the Major League Baseball (MLB) Channel. Previously, the BBWAA had announced the top three vote-getters for each of MLB’s most important annual honors, which also include Manager of the Year (Tuesday), Cy Young for pitchers (Wednesday) and Most Valuable Player (Thursday).

Rodriguez, outfielder Steven Kwan of the Cleveland Guardians and catcher Adley Rutschman of the Baltimore Orioles were finalists for the Rookie of the Year trophy in the American League, and Harris II, Strider and utilityman Brendan Donovan of the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League.

“J-Rod” earned a spot on Seattle’s roster at the end of spring training and finished his first season among the game’s luminaries, batting .284 with an .853 OPS, 28 home runs, 25 steals, 25 doubles, 84 runs scored and 75 RBIs.

The Dominican center fielder is the third player 21 or younger with 28 HR, 25 BR and 25 H2 since 1900, joining Mike Trout (twice) and Curacao native Andruw Jones. He is also the first major league rookie player to hit 25 homers and steal 25 bases. Two other rookies who had previously made their debuts, Chris Young (2007) and Trout (2012), also did so.

Rodriguez, who was called to the All-Star Game and won the Silver Slugger, has already won Baseball America and Baseball Digest’s Rookie of the Year. Earlier, he signed a historic 12-year contract that guarantees him $210 million over 12 years and contains options for both the player and the club that can extend the length of the pact and increase its total value to $470 million.

From Venezuelan slugger Luis Aparicio becoming the first in 1956 to Cuban outfielder Randy Arozarena in 2021, a total of 24 Latin Americans have received the Rookie of the Year award. Of the group, 14 did so in the American League.

By country of origin of the winners, the Dominican Republic (7) leads the crop, followed by Cuba and Puerto Rico (6), Venezuela (3), Mexico (1) and Panama (1). Relief pitcher Neftali Feliz, of the Texas Rangers, was the last Quintana Roo native to receive the trophy, in 2010 in the young circuit.

Kuan, 25, batted .298 with 19 steals, 89 hits and won the Gold Glove for his defensive excellence. With 168 hits, he set a record for a Cleveland rookie in the expansion era (since 1961).

Rutschman, 24, hit 35 doubles, 13 homers and 70 homers in 113 games. He is trying to become the eighth member of the Orioles franchise to win Rookie of the Year and the first since Gregg Olson in 1989.

In the old circuit, the fight is primarily between two teammates: Harris II, 21, led all rookies in the league with 5.3 WAR and batted .297 with 20 steals, 19 home runs and 75 runs scored in 114 games. Strider, 24, led rookie pitchers with 3.7 WAR and had an 11-5 record, 2.67 ERA and 202 strikeouts in 131.2 innings.

In the last 50 years, four pairs of teammates went 1-2 in the Rookie of the Year battle. Coincidentally, the last was the Braves (Craig Kimbrel and Freddie Freeman) in 2011.

Donovan, who played six positions during the season and won the Gold Glove, batted .281 with 21 doubles and 64 hits in 126 games.