First look at the 2007 American League ROY

The 2007 year is winding down to the playoffs. As many team have fallen out of contention, the talk now shifts to post-season awards. There are many players that are worthy, but I wanted to take a look at the top players, as I see them.

Rookie of the Year should be awarded to the most outstanding rookie player to enter the Major Leagues. Some of the past winners have gone on to do great things...Ichiro Suzuki, Carlos Beltran, and Derek Jeter to name a few. Some of them, Ben Grieve, Pat Listach, and Angel Berroa, have faded away just as fast as they arrived.

So who will it be this year? Will this player rise to an All-Star, or fade into Oblivion? Only time will tell, but here is a list of the players that I think should be in consideration for the 2007 American League Rookie of the year:

Brian Bannister, SP, Royals. He's 12-7 with a 3.16 ERA for the Royals this year. He's been a great addition to the staff and he seems to always come away with a quality start. They Royals got him in a trade in the off-season, and he has paid huge dividends giving the Royals a great young pitcher to go along with Gil Meche.

Dustin Pedroia, 2B, Red Sox. He's batting .329 with 6 HR's, and 45 RBI's. Plus, he's playing a very good defensive 2B with only 5 errors on the year. He's been very consistent for the Red Sox.

Josh Fields, 3B - LF, White Sox. He's batting .241 with 18 HR's and 54 RBI's. He leads all rookies in HR's, and he's only played in 80 games since being called up. He strikes out a little too often, but he's getting better. He supplies a lot of Pop to the lineup.

Daisuke Matsuzaka, SP, Red Sox. He's 14-11 with a 4.11 ERA. He's been consistent and fun to watch, but his numbers just aren't good enough for the ROY. His popularity may get him enough votes though.

Hideke Okajima, RP, Red Sox. He's 3-1 with a 1.54 ERA while setting up closer Jonathon Papelbon. Okajima has been a huge relief for the Sox coming into late game situations.

Delmon Young, OF, Devil Rays. Delmon has quietly put together a very impressive rookie year. He's batting .295 with 10 Hr's and 75 RBI's. He hasn't had the Pop they expected, but he's delivered in all other areas.

Alex Gordon, 3B, Royals. Alex started off very slow this year, but has really picked it up lately to bring his totals to .250 avg, 14 HR's, and 54 RBI's. If it wasn't for the slow start, he would probably be the frontrunner.

Reggie Willits, OF, Angels. He doesn't have any power, but the kid can hit and run. He's batting .292 with 0 HR's and 25 SB's. He's been consistent for the Angels and a pest on the basepaths, but that kind of production doesn't win post-season awards.

Well, those are the guys that I think are most deserving for the American League Rookie of the Year award. Lots of good young talent this year to choose from, although we will have to wait about a month or so before the actual winner is chosen. Any of these guys can win it still, especially if they have a hot September. Let's just hope that whoever wins the ROY of 2007 (and even those who don't) go on to many more great accomplishments in Major League Baseball.