These AL Rookie of the Year Candidates Won’t Win but Still Deserve Praise

This year, the AL and NL Rookie of the Year Awards will be announced on November 18, a few weeks after the World Series ends and we find ourselves knee-deep in the start of free agency and the Juan Soto ‘hot stove watch’.

In the American League, the votes appear to be heading to the AL East, with Orioles outfielder Colton Cowser (who was recently voted AL Outstanding Rookie by his fellow players) and Yankees starter Luis Gil gaining most of the attention and boasting the best odds to take home the honor.

The National League is a bit more intriguing, in that Pirates right-hander and budding superstar Paul Skenes, who would be a runaway favorite most years, is gaining some stiff competition from Padres outfielder Jackson Merrill, who continued to get better as the days wore on in the regular season.

Regardless of who takes home the award in each league, there are plenty of additional rookies who shone brightly on the big league stage and should gain some down-ballot attention from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.

Here are three players from the AL who won’t take home the honor but deserve their flowers after their own impressive rookie campaigns.

These AL Rookies Deserve Some Praise

Cade Smith, RHP – Cleveland Guardians

A product of Abbotsford, B.C., right-hander Cade Smith made the Guardians bullpen out of spring training and never looked back on the opportunity.

Joining a relief corps that already featured one of the top arms in baseball (Emmanuel Clase), Smith quickly became one of the next pitchers in line. He was a big part of the league’s top bullpen that boasted a collective 2.57 ERA.

Smith posted a 1.91 ERA through 75 appearances. He led the entire Guardians reliever brigade with 75 1/3 innings pitched this season and allowed just 51 hits, 61 earned runs, and 17 walks compared to 103 strikeouts.

He finished the year with a 12.3 K/9 and a 0.903 WHIP. He led the entire Major Leagues in FanGraphs reliever WAR (2.7) and FIP (1.40) and accumulated 28 holds while working in plenty of close-game situations, becoming a go-to arm for manager Stephen Vogt.

Smith also added his first big league save to his resume. Those opportunities were few and far between with Clase on the roster, but Smith’s first showcase in MLB was impressive. He turned a lot of heads in the postseason as well.

He stands behind the likes of Cowser, Gil, and Yankees catcher Austin Wells when it comes to Rookie of the Year odds, but Smith should garner some attention from the BBWAA even though he pitched for a small-market Guardians squad.

Wilyer Abreu, RF – Boston Red Sox

The Red Sox entered the season preparing for another fifth-place finish in the AL East, yet they ended up third in the division with a .500 record. At times they held onto a postseason spot toward the end of the season, but they ended up finishing five games back, missing the mark for a third straight season.

Although the Red Sox finished outside the playoff picture, the emergence of Wilyer Abreu in the outfield was a positive note from their 2024 season.

After a cup of coffee in 2023, a full season in the big leagues lay ahead for Abreu. He cracked the Opening Day roster and eventually finished the campaign with 132 games and 399 at-bats under his belt. Had he not suffered a right ankle sprain in early June, forcing him to miss a few weeks, he likely would have had another 15-20 games under his belt.

Abreu finished his rookie campaign with a .253/.322/.459 slash line, a .781 OPS and a 114 OPS+. The lefty batter collected 15 home runs, 58 RBIs, and eight stolen bases while posting a .206 ISO and ranking in the 94th percentile in hard-hit rate (50.5%).

For the Venezuelan product, his calling was in the outfield, where he finished with a +9 fielding run value (per Baseball Savant).

Spending most of his time in right field, Abreu racked up +17 Defensive Runs Saved and +7 Outs Above Average. He finished the year with nine outfield assists and a .969 fielding percentage in the corner outfield spot.

He’s a finalist for the AL Gold Glove Award alongside Jo Adell (Angels) and Juan Soto (Yankees), and he ranked ahead of both of them in terms of DRS this past season. He also finished just one outfield assist behind Soto. Abreu already earned the Fielding Bible Award for right field as well.

Looking ahead, Abreu will make up a 2025 outfield group that also features Jarren Duran, Ceddane Rafaela (who also plays shortstop), Masataka Yoshida (who spent a lot of time in the DH spot this season), and Rob Refsynder, who has a $2 million club option for next season.

Just Baseball’s No. 1 overall prospect Roman Anthony will be knocking on the door, but Abreu is still in a position to play every day next season.

When it comes to the AL Rookie of the Year Award, Abreu gained some favorable value from the oddsmakers down the stretch, and his 15 home runs and top-notch barrel numbers could help him stand out. Look for the Red Sox prospect to slot in either third or fourth in the voting when the dust settles.

Spencer Horwitz, 1B – Toronto Blue Jays

Taking home an award like Rookie of the Year is tough to do when you get called up almost midway through the campaign, but Blue Jays prospect Spencer Horwitz put forward a valiant effort.

With Toronto looking for some offensive help, the club DFA’d Cavan Biggio to make room for Horwitz to play in the big leagues, and the 24th-round draft pick from the 2019 MLB Draft took advantage of the opportunity after an impressive showing in Triple-A to begin the year.

Appearing in 97 games and taking 381 plate appearances, Horwitz mustered a .265/.357/.433 slash line with a 125 OPS+ and 42 walks. Always tough at-bat given his plus plate discipline, Horwitz didn’t qualify to rank on any rate state leaderboards, but he would be near the top 20 in the league with his 4.14 pitches per plate appearance, tying Paul Goldschmidt and sitting ahead of the likes of Kyle Schwarber, Brandon Nimmo, Colton Cowser, and Aaron Judge.

Horwitz impressed in 2024 with his improved power production, which included 19 doubles and 12 home runs with 40 RBIs thrown in. He finished the season with a .168 ISO mark – seven points higher than the MLB average.

He also finished on the right side of the league averages in terms of strikeout and walk percentages and sat above the 50th percentile in chase rate, K-rate, squared-up rate, whiff rate, launch angle sweet-spot rate, and walk rate.

Horwitz won’t find his name near the top of the AL Rookie of the Year voting, but he could gain a handful of third-place votes after an impressive showing during his first ‘full’ season in the big leagues.

He will turn towards 2025 looking for a roster spot amongst a smorgasbord of infield prospects in Toronto vying for the same opportunities. However, he stands a good chance of making the Opening Day roster if he can produce early in spring training.