A 10-year victory drought in the All-Star Game has the National League looking for ways to end the streak and capture home-field advantage in the World Series for the first time since 2002.

 

The rookie class of '06 could be just the thing the Senior Circuit needs.

 

There are many excellent candidates, but so few places on the ballot to put them.

 

So many first-year NL players stepped up big-time during the regular season that the Baseball Writers Association of America members voting for the Rookie of the Year award could have a tough time choosing just one guy.

 

Two beat writers from each NL city cast their ballots -- naming their top three choices. A first-place vote is worth five points, second is worth three points and a third-place votes nets one point.

 

How good is this NL rookie class? Well, the first no-hitter in nearly two years was thrown by 22-year-old Anibal Sanchez, a Florida Marlins right-hander making the 13th start of his MLB career. His teammate, Josh Johnson, ranked among the league leaders in ERA, and another Marlin, second baseman Dan Uggla, emerged as possibly the best Rule 5 draftee in MLB history.

 

While the Marlins relied on youth to challenge for a Wild Card playoff spot, the Los Angeles Dodgers were equally rewarded in their hunt for the NL West championship. Imagine where the team would be without first-year standouts Andre Ethier, catcher Russ Martin and closer Takashi Saito.

 

It seems only fitting that the Dodgers would have a plethora of ROY candidates. The award is named after Jackie Robinson, the famed former Dodgers infielder who captured the first-ever Rookie of the Year Award in 1947.

 

Since then, 15 Dodgers have won the award, the most recent being Todd Hollandsworth in 1996 -- the organization's fifth consecutive ROY recipient. That's a record.

 

The qualifications for rookie status are simple: A player must not have had 130 career at-bats, pitched 50 innings, or spent 45 days (excluding September) on an MLB roster.

 

Here's a quick look (alphabetically) at the field of first-year players in the NL during the 2006 season:

 

Head of the class:

 

Andre Ethier, OF, Dodgers: A strained left groin suffered by veteran outfielder Ricky Ledee prompted the Dodgers to promote the player they received in an offseason trade with the Athletics for Milton Bradley. And the rest is history. Ethier joined the team on May 2, went 1-for-4 against the Diamondbacks and found a new home in left field, batting at least .300 in May (.324), June (.344), July (.362) and August (.316).

 

Prince Fielder, 1B, Brewers: The son of former AL home run champion Cecil, Prince has been a lineup fixture from Opening Day, providing offensive production that would make his daddy proud. The 22-year-old shattered the club record for most home runs by a rookie, which had been 17, shared by Danny Walton (1970) and Greg Vaughn ('90). Fielder also owns the club mark for most RBIs.

 

Josh Johnson, RHP, Marlins: Since moving into the Marlins starting rotation on May 4, the 22-year-old was rock solid. Fourteen of his first 18 Major League starts were quality starts (three or fewer earned runs in at least six innings) and he had ranked among the league leaders in ERA for much of the season. Being in the right place at the right time has worked out splendidly for the 6-foot-7 hurler.

 

Dan Uggla, 2B, Marlins: Uggla, 26, could be the next Rule 5 poster child. The Marlins selected him from the Arizona Diamondbacks organization last December during the Winter Meetings and he has been simply sensational, earning an invitation to the All-Star Game. Uggla blossomed in May, when he batted .356 and drove in 18 runs.

 

Ryan Zimmerman, 3B, Nationals: He was the only rookie in either league to drive in at least 100 runs, which says a lot about his ability to hit with runners on base. The fourth overall selection in the 2005 First-Year Player Draft has come a long way in a short time and has stardom written all over his collector's card.

 

Others who have made good first impressions:

 

Pitchers

Matt Cain, RHP, Giants: A one-hit shutout victory over the Athletics in May indicates just how high the ceiling is for this 21-year-old right-hander. A future ace of the pitching staff, make no mistake about that.

 

Cole Hamels, LHP, Phillies: His much-anticipated MLB debut came on May 12 when he pitched five scoreless innings, allowed only one hit and struck out seven. But it's far too early to compare him to former Phillies star lefty Steve Carlton.

 

Takashi Saito, RHP, Dodgers: There was a big gulp within the organization when battle-tested closer Eric Gagne underwent season-ending surgery in June. But after trying (and ruling) out former Devil Rays closer Danys Baez, the all-important job fell into the capable hands of Saito, a 36-year-old from Japan. He registered 18 saves in his first 20 save chances.

 

Hitters

Josh Barfield, 2B, Padres: A walk-off, three-run home run against All-Star lefty Brian Fuentes on Sept. 4 provided the biggest highlight of the season for the 23-year-old son of former MLB star Jesse Barfield. But Josh was a steady contributor in all phases of the game during his rookie season.

 

Chris Duncan, OF, Cardinals: Another son of a former big-league player (his dad is Cardinals pitching coach Dave Duncan), the left-handed-hitting Chris Duncan spent most of April and May in the Minors but rocked big-time in the big-leagues in July (.324) and August (.361).

 

Russell Martin, C, Dodgers: His claim to fame so far is going to the same high school in Canada as teammate Eric Gagne. But Martin made a name for himself in '06, beginning with a two-hit, two-RBI MLB debut game against the Brewers on May 5.

 

Hanley Ramirez, SS, Marlins: The 22-year-old from the Dominican Republic finished among the rookie leaders in games played and at-bats. In his first 136 games in '06, he had 15 games with at least three hits. His defense is the only thing holding him back.

 

http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article...sp&c_id=mlb

Hanley! Hanley! Hanley!

very poor article

 

they dont talk much of hanley, they dont talk much of willingham (better then prince was really). Alot of things could of been better put, blah. Either head of the class? He had a horrible last couple of months.

All I care about is the ROY of the year coming back to TEAL LAND!! Do it!

Give it to Hanley!

Give it already to Uggla.

UGGLA! UGGLA! UGGLA! UGGLA!

I think you have to go with Uggla but Zimmerman is a close second

UGGLA!

I'd love to see Uggla get it but Zimmerman is close. Hanley is a longshot.

Hanley had the best year by far.

 

Also no mention of Scotty O? Boo.

What about Josh Johnson he has to be mentioned in the ROY talks.

Adjusting for position nobody deserves it more than Hanley. If they include defense it's probablay a close competition between Uggla and Zimmerman.

What about Josh Johnson he has to be mentioned in the ROY talks.

 

He was mentioned in the article quoted in the head of the class, just above Uggla. Unfortunately the Marlins rookies will probably split votes going their way and Zimmerman will end up on top. Not that he would be a terrible pick, but there are better choices on our team.

it better be a marlin....thats all im sayin'

it better be a marlin....thats all im sayin'

pretty much.

The Marlins have 4 better choices than Zimmerman.

The Marlins have 4 better choices than Zimmerman.

Easily. You could make a case for at least five Marlins deserving at the very least consideration for this award.

 

How about just giving it to the Marlins in general.

I'd only pick Hanley or Uggla over Zimmerman. Unless you're stuck on the wow factor of the no-hitter and like Sanchez, I think those 3 have to be on top. I would say JJ hands down though if he had finished the season better and kept his ERA under 3. When he was on from through till August he was amazing.

Aside from the RBI, which are hugely due to batting in front of Nick Johnson's ridiculous .428 OBP, Zimmerman's numbers are about average for his position.

Aside from the RBI, which are hugely due to batting in front of Nick Johnson's ridiculous .428 OBP, Zimmerman's numbers are about average for his position.

You could say something similar about Uggla batting in front of Cabrera, who well, you know how good Cabrera is. You could possibly make a similar case with Hanley - they will pitch to get him out because they don't want him on base when Cabrera comes up to hit.

This has got to be one of the most poorly written articles I've read. It basically says nothing much about the candidates and gets oher things flat out wrong. I can't stand it when writers make statements that they obviously took no time to research and verify. I love Dan Uggla, but calling him the best Rule V draft pick ever only confirms how clueless this writer is. Among other amazing players, Johan Santana was a Rule V draft pick.

 

With that said, he completely downplays the most deserving ROY candidate in the whole group, Hanley. Among all NL SS, Hanley ranked 2nd in VORP to Jose Reyes. He also stole over 50 bases. He did all of this while playing arguably the most difficult defensive position in the game.

 

If a had a ballot, my vote would go:

1) Hanley

2) Uggla

3) Zimmerman (I'd actually pick Josh Johnson, but I'll try to at least give the impression of objectivity)

Aside from the RBI, which are hugely due to batting in front of Nick Johnson's ridiculous .428 OBP, Zimmerman's numbers are about average for his position.

You could say something similar about Uggla batting in front of Cabrera, who well, you know how good Cabrera is. You could possibly make a similar case with Hanley - they will pitch to get him out because they don't want him on base when Cabrera comes up to hit.

he's trying to say that Zimmerman's RBI totals are inflated because of the OB ability of people in front of him...an outdated, overrated stat could influence the end result.

Yeah. I should have said Zimmerman hit behind Johnson, thus accounting for his RBI totals... Sorry.

The Marlins have 4 better choices than Zimmerman.

How about just giving it to the Marlins in general.

Sounds good to me.