ROY

Congrats to Craig Kimbrel!!  Not only for winning the National League's Rookie of the Year Award, but for doing it in such a strong fashion.  It was a unanimous decision for Kimbrel.  Who was the last rookie to do that?  You might have heard his name before.  Albert Pujols.  That's certainly nice company for Craig to be in.

How dangerous is the Braves closer and how do other teams view him?  Well, look at it this way.  The Phillies tried to re-up Ryan Madson quickly.  When they hit a road block, they immediately went after and signed Jonathan Papelbon.  Yes, the Phillies are tired of collapsing in the playoffs and signing Papelbon was part of rectifying that.  But also, the road to winning the NL East goes through Atlanta and the Phillies know what they're up against when facing Craig Kimbrel.  They're trying to fight fire power with fire power.  I'd take Kimbrel over Papelbon any day. 

Freddie Freeman finished a strong number two in the National League voting and I couldn't be happier for him!  The Braves have numbers one and two in the Rookie of the Year voting.  It speaks volumes about the Braves scouts and farm system.  I can hear the champagne corks popping in Atlanta, Gwinnett, Rome and Mississippi.  They all played a huge part in this.  And let's not forget.  The Braves had the National League's number two vote-getter last year in Jason Heyward. 

Craig Kimbrel is the fifth Atlanta Braves player to win Rookie of the Year.  The number should truly be six and don't even get me started on that.  It still gets me all wound up when I think about it...