Monday’s roundup: Seager is NL’s rookie of the year
Corey Seager won the National league rookie of the year award unanimously.
Seager was announced as the winner Monday night, when votes from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America were made public.
Seager’s victory was almost a foregone conclusion after he hit .308 with 26 home runs and 72 RBIs this year for the Dodgers.
Seager received the maximum 150 points in the NL vote, followed by Washington outfielder Trea Turner (42) and his teammate, Los Angeles pitcher Kenta Maeda (37).
Seager is the 17th Dodgers player to earn rookie of the year honors — easily the most of any team — but the franchise hadn’t had a winner since Todd Hollandsworth in 1996.
The Dodgers, of course, had the first rookie of the year when Jackie Robinson won in 1947. They also had four winners in a row from 1979-82 and five in a row from 1992-96.
Seager, a first-round pick in 2012, was the second player in a row to win unanimously.
Seager joins a list of Dodgers Rookie of the Year winners that includes luminaries like Robinson, Fernando Valenzuela (1981) and Mike Piazza (1993).
Two of 10 take offers
Mets second baseman Neil Walker and Phillies pitcher Jeremy Hellickson have accepted $17.2 million qualifying offers, giving up free agency to stay with their teams.
Eight other free agents did not accept the offers from their former teams by Monday’s 5 p.m. deadline: outfielders Jose Bautista (Toronto), Yoenis Cespedes (N.Y. Mets), Ian Desmond (Texas), Dexter Fowler (Chicago Cubs) and Mark Trumbo (Baltimore); designated hitter Edwin Encarnacion (Toronto); closer Kenley Jansen (L.A. Dodgers); and third baseman Justin Turner (L.A. Dodgers).
Walker and Hellickson could be eligible for free agency again after next season.
“Happy to say I’m back in Orange and Blue for 2017!! Let’s go Mets!” Walker tweeted on Monday.
Around the horn
The popularity of winning a World Series will be accompanied by schedule changes for the Cubs.
According to the team’s website, their 2017 opener against the Cardinals has been moved from April 3 to April 2 at 7:35 p.m. at Busch Stadium to accommodate national TV.
April 3 now will serve as a day off for both teams, who will resume their series on April 4 game starting at 7:15 p.m. and an April 5 game at 12:45 p.m.
The switch of the first game was first reported by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.