HIT 'EM WHERE THEY AINT

Is it really fair to consider a 30 year old with 10 years of professional baseball experience for Rookie of the Year honors? I've got my hand raised for no, but Major League Baseball says otherwise. Don't get me wrong, I fully beleive that Kosuke Fukudome will be worthy of some form of accolade at seasons end. But I don't think that award should be NL Rookie of the Year. The guy is in his prime and already a legend in his native country. Should he really be a contender for an award typically given to 25-and-under's playing their first full season in the show? When you think of some of the players who've lost eligibilty to win the award (Justin Upton, Carlos Gomez, Matt Kemp) it just seems crazy to pardon a guy like Fukudome. With that being said, he's been pardoned from my final four!

With Fukudome out of the picture, I'm left trying to find a way around giving three of the final four spots to the boys from Cincinnati. Unfortunately, there's just no way around it. If Homer Bailey had been more impressive this spring, the Reds could have had a shot at taking all four. The future looks exciting in Cincy, finally.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Cueto vs Rasmus

Rasmus has long been considered one of the best hitting prospects in the National League. The 21-year-old has 5-tool potential and above average plate discipine for a masher. In time Rasmus could develop into a legit 30/30 candidate as evidenced by his 29 HR and 18 SB in less that 500 at-bats for AA Springfield last year. Given a shot at a starting job this spring, Rasmus failed to beat out Skip Schumacher and will start the season in AAA. He should be up before the All-Star break but that won't give him enough to time to catch Johnny Cueto. Cueto jumped onto everyones radar after his major league debut against the Diamondbacks last week. A year ago he was largely unknown as a prospect but he quickly made his rise from High-A Sarasota to AAA Louisville in 07'. Cueto posseses 3 plus pitches that he's able to command with above average proficiency. His 10 strikeouts against the Diamondback might be a little deceiving as he's never posted a K-rate quite that high in his career. He'll be quite menacing during his first trip around the league making 150 K's and an ERA under 4.00 a realistic possibility.

Votto vs Bruce

Hmmm....Scott Hatteberg, Joey Votto. Yeah, Dusty will take Hatteberg. Votto has nothing left to prove in his case for a big league job. He's got it all...the patience to draw 70+ walks and hit for average, 20+ HR power and double-digit stolen base speed- but Dusty Baker is still conflicted. With that being the case, Votto will struggle to get 400 at-bats putting a serious damper on his shot at winning the ROY award. Jay Bruce is waiting in the wings at AAA Louisville and widely regarded as the best prospect in all of baseball. There is no way the Reds front office will be able to justify keeping the 21-year-old phenom out of the bigs for more than a month or two. Bruce will get his chance early this summer and there will be no turning back. I fully expect him to take his 300-350 at-bats and turn them into a .300 average, 15 HR and 50 RBI giving him the nod over Votto in this matchup.

Cueto vs Bruce

Not even Dusty Baker can keep one of his Cincinnati Reds from winning the NL Rookie of the Year award in 08'. Thats no credit to him, there are just simply too many viable contenders. Like most ROY races, opportunity is king once again. Cueto will likely have the award locked up before Bruce gets a shot at making his case. Johnny Cueto is the NL Rookie of the year in 2008.

Joey Votto (1B) Cincinnati Reds

Jay Bruce (OF) Cincinnati Reds