Rays' Arozarena wins AL Rookie of the Year award
Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Randy Arozarena was named American League Rookie of the Year for the 2021 campaign.
♥️ the emotion
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) November 16, 2021
A big night for @RaysBaseball's @RandyArozarena pic.twitter.com/K5T1IpMFUv
Arozarena received 22 first-place votes to top Houston Astros pitcher Luis Garcia and his Rays teammate, Wander Franco, for the honor.
While Arozarena won by a large margin on points, it was a compelling vote. No one player was named on every ballot, and five players received first-place votes, second most in the AL award's history, per the BBWAA.
| Player | Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Randy Arozarena | TB | 22 | 4 | 2 | 124 |
| Luis Garcia | HOU | 2 | 15 | 8 | 63 |
| Wander Franco | TB | 2 | 5 | 5 | 30 |
| Adolis Garcia | TEX | 3 | 1 | 9 | 27 |
| Emmanuel Clase | CLE | 1 | 2 | 11 |
The 26-year-old takes home the honor one year after netting ALCS MVP during his record-setting run in the 2020 playoffs. Arozarena kept his rookie status this year despite playing in 42 regular-season games and 25 playoff contests across the 2019 and '20 campaigns. The previous winner with the most playoff experience prior to being named Rookie of the Year was St. Louis Cardinals reliever Todd Worrell in 1986 (11 postseason innings pitched).
Arozarena hit .274/.356/.459 with 20 homers, 69 RBIs, and 20 stolen bases for the AL East champion Rays this year. He led all rookie AL position players in WAR (3.3) and wRC+ (128), and was a Gold Glove finalist in left field after tallying seven defensive runs saved and five outfield assists.
Randy Arozarena is 1 of 4 MLB rookies with at least 20 steals, 20 HR and 30 doubles in a season.
— Stathead (@Stathead) November 16, 2021
The others: Nomar Garciaparra (1997), Ellis Burks (1987), Devon White (1987).https://t.co/T5RyssMTBl pic.twitter.com/2YSmBi1xyy
He's the fourth Rays player to earn the Junior Circuit's top rookie honor, joining Evan Longoria (2008), Jeremy Hellickson (2011), and Wil Myers (2013).
Arozarena also becomes the sixth Cuban to win, following Tony Oliva (1964), Jose Canseco (1986), Jose Fernandez (2013), Jose Abreu (2014), and Yordan Alvarez (2019), according to Sarah Langs of MLB.com.
Ryan Mountcastle, Shane McClanahan, and Alek Manoah were the other AL rookies to receive down-ballot votes. Mountcastle, who finished in sixth place, joins Gregg Jefferies (1988 and '89) and Ian Anderson (2020 and '21) as the only players to earn votes in multiple seasons; he placed eighth following last year's pandemic-shortened campaign.