Austin Jackson had a nice rookie campaign for the Tigers in 2010. It just wasn’t quite good enough because he finished second to Neftali Feliz for AL ROY of the Year. When you look at Wins Above Replacement, these two were nearly identical (Jackson had a slight edge with 2.5 to Feliz’s 2.4) so this could have gone either way. Feliz had the flashy numbers though and he set the rookie save record with 40 on the season. I think it also helped that the Rangers made the playoffs. Jackson did garner eight first place votes so a few people felt he was more deserving.
Ironically, Danny Valencia finished with the same WAR as Jackson despite playing only a little more then half the season. Part of that may have been his position but he had a nice season with a .799 OPS.
Brennan Boesch came in fifth place in a three way tie at the bottom. I still think when you look at this crop of rookies, Brian Matusz will be the standout. I like the Orioles in a few years.