Pirates outfielder Jason Bay, in my book, is the National League Rookie of the Year -- period. And he's getting no respect. Perhaps I'm a bit biased. Or perhaps I don't view the ROY award, like the MVP, as something that ought to be given to a player on a contending team. On the third hand, maybe people are just idiots and don't like to give the Pirates credit for anything.

Yesterday -- the same day the Bucs started mounting a serious campaign to get Bay the award -- this CNN/SI story came out, saying that Padres shortstop Khalil Greene is the pretty clear ROY choice and that "his biggest competition" will come from Bay. Other national outlets will mention him only in passing. Let's look at the stats and maybe I'll see where I'm wrong here:

BAY: 22 HR, 67 RBI, .297 AVG/.372 OBP/.581 SLG/.953 OPS
GREENE: 11 HR, 58 RBI, .269 AVG/.345 OBP/.417 SLG/.762 OPS

Bay's 22 rookie home runs are eye-opening given the fact that he missed the first 7 weeks of the season recovering from a shoulder injury. He only has 321 at bats -- which puts him on pace to break the all-time National League record for home runs per at-bat by a rookie. On defense, Bay has just one error in 96 games -- and his .994 fielding percentage ranks him fourth in the league. Clearly defense is Greene's strong suit. He can be a one-man highlight reel in the field. But he's committed the third MOST errors among NL shortstops, with 18. His fielding percentage is 11th at .968.

What the heck am I missing, other than his flashy grabs on SportsCenter and the fact that he's playing for a wild card contender? It will really piss me off if Bay doesn't get it. I'm just hoping he finishes with 25+ HR, 75+ RBI and a .300 average. That can't possibly be ignored. Can it?

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