
What the numbers will tell you is that Harper had a very good season, certainly worthy of winning the award. He hit .270, 22, 59 with 98 RS, 18 SB and 9 3B. Frazier hit .273, 19, 67 with .829 OPS- higher than Harper's .819. Miley, the closest to catching Harper, went 16-11, 3.33 in 29 starts for the Diamondbacks. He had a WHIP of 1.182 and a 125 ERA+. All three deserve the acknowledgment for the seasons they had.
But what about Rosario? He finished forth, but hit .270, 28, 71 for Colorado and had .843 OPS, higher than both Harper and Frazier. And he was not eligible to win the award? And Aoki hit .288, leading all eligible rookies, to go along with his 10, 50, 37 2Bs, 30 SBs and 81 RS. Aoki may not have won the award, but should have gotten more votes. He probably would have had their been an open ballot. As well as Frazier played, I think Rosario and Aoki could have taken up more votes if they were eligible. My top five vote would have been 1-Harper, 2-Rosario, 3-Miley, 4-Aoki and 5-Frazier. But voters were not allowed to vote that way. Rosario and Aoki were not eligible to finish above 4th or 5th. For the record, San Diego's Yonder Alonso led all NL rookies in GP (155) and 2Bs (39).
All this says is that it was a great season for NL rookies. And while all the attention will go to Harper for winning the award, though he deserved it, not enough attention will be given to Rosario and Aoki. And they should have been added to the ballot. I understand this "finalist" thing is in its first season, but it should be tweaked when necessary. Having five finalists in the NL for ROY would have worked out better than three.