Following his promotion from Double-A, Braves rookie outfielder Michael Harris II did nothing but impress at the major league level. Slashing .297/.339/.515 while hitting 19 HRs and swiping 20 bases, the 21 year old put together one of the most impressive debuts in franchise history, all while playing elite level defense.
As a result Harris took home the NL Rookie of the Year award for 2022. Not only that, but in mid August, the club also extended the centrefielder’s contract to the tune of 8 years and $72M with two club option years which could tie him to Atlanta through 2032.
“He’s very calm, and he’s very consistent,” manager Brian Snitker said of Harris. “It’s the whole thing. He can beat you a lot of different ways. With his glove, with his arm, with his legs, with his bat. That’s pretty good qualities to have in a player that can do so much to impact the game.”
As impressive as Harris’ season was, he certainly saw his fair share of competition for the honour, most of which came from within his own organization.
Rookie pitcher Spencer Strider finished second in ROTY voting, earning 8 first place votes and 103 points compared to Harris’ 22 first place votes and 134 points.
Strider went 11-5 with a 2.67 ERA and 202 K’s in 131.2IP. Had the 24 year old not gotten injured down the stretch, there’s a case to be made that the righty could have edged out Harris for the award when all was said and done. Not to be outdone though, Strider also earned himself some financial security this season as he inked a massive 6yr/$75M extension with a club option for 2029 as well.
Meanwhile in the American League, Seattle Mariners slugger Julio Rodriguez fell one vote shy of earning unanimous AL Rookie of the Year honours. Rodriguez, who slashed .284/.345/.509 with 28 HRs and 25 stolen bases, earned 29 of a possible 30 first place votes, beating out Orioles catcher Adley Rutschman and Guardians OF Steven Kwan.
The 21 year old helped propel the Mariners to their first playoff berth since 2001 which mercifully ended the longest active drought in North American professional sports.
Rodriguez joins Kyle Lewis, Ichiro, Kazuhiro Sasaki and Alvin Davis in the Mariners Rookie of the Year club. His prodigious hitting prowess earned himself an unprecedented payday as well.
Seattle signed the Dominican outfielder to a massive 12yr/$209M fully guaranteed contract which included a $15M signing bonus. While the deal will pay him an average of $17.5M, because of the sheer number of incentives built into the contract, the total value of the deal could balloon to as much as $470M.
Not bad for someone whose only accumulated 132 games of Major League experience.
-Kyle Skinner
Twitter: @JKyleSkinner
Photo: D. Benjamin Miller. This file is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication