So, MLB’s Rookie of the Year awards were given out today, and Gordon Beckham finished fifth in the American League voting, behind Andrew Bailey, Elvis Andrus, Rick Porcello and Jeff Niemann.

Bailey seems to be a bit of an upset win, but he did put up some ridiculous numbers this year. From Sports Illustrated’s Tom Verducci:

In the DH era, only two pitchers ever posted a lower WHIP when pitching as many innings as Bailey did: Pedro Martinez (2000) and Jeff Zimmerman (1991). And Bailey is only the league’s sixth closer in the DH era to get 25 saves (he had 26) with an ERA 1.84 or better and at least 80 innings pitched — the first to do it in 19 years. Major league hitters batted .167 against him, including .081 with two outs and runners in scoring position.

That’s pretty damn impressive. And for as solid as Beckham was at the plate since being called up in June — .270 average with 14 homers and 63 RBI  — he simply can’t top that mastery. And the four guys that finished in front of him were all there on the opening day roster, which carries some more weight for voters. Porcello had 14 wins as a rookie while Niemann had 13; Andrus wasn’t that impressive at the plate, but his stellar defense (10.7 UZR) more than made up for it.

I guess in the end, this was a wide-open field, and voters decided to key on pitching and defense from guys that were there from the start, instead of the offensive production of a guy that came up in June and struggled at times to learn a new position at third base. Does Beckham deserve to be higher than fifth? Probably. But does he deserve to win the award over Bailey? No.

Who knows? In a few years with his move to second base, it might be Beckham who’s actually the best player out of these five, which is all that really matters anyway.