We Got Wood - 42.01 - 2041 Top Rookie

[7teen]

Let's shake the rust off of this lack of Team News by getting into the "Team Awards" season and hand out four awards. The first award of the off-season goes to the top rookie on the Lumberjacks for the 2041 season.

As an expansion team, the Lumberjacks saw plenty of first timers take the field in 2041. Faical Engeitado debuted this season and played in 118 games for Portland. He hit .277 with a .779 OPS. His 15 homeruns placed him 2nd on the team in that category. His shady defense in RF however only allowed the rookie to produce a 0.5 WAR and therefore he did not win the award.

Teruo Jouda and Masamichi Kubo also debuted but neither claimed the honor as the team's top rookie. The utility man Jouda disqualified himself thanks to a -1.4 WAR and poor defense at SS. We honesly thought his defense would allow him to be at replacement level. Kubo only played 48 games as a 5th outfielder type. He did produce a 0.2 WAR but that wasn't enough to get on the radar here.

Instead, the recipient of the team's top rookie award goes to Jorge Lopez. Lopez is the clear cut winner here thanks in large part to his 1.9 WAR which ranked as tied for second on the team among offensive players. Lopez hit .275/.345/.465 with 14 homeruns and 59 runs batted in. Mainly as a platoon player against Right Handed Pitching, Lopez still played in 126 games while producing a whopping +15.9 zone rating in LF en route to a Frick League Gold Glove Award at the position.