David 1, Goliath 0

The BBWAA named Dustin Pedroia the American League Rookie of the Year this afternoon, to the surprise of nobody outside of Tampa Bay. It was a great season and postseason, made even greater when it was revealed this week that he had been playing with a broken for all of September and October with a broken hamate bone. He played nitty, gritty, grindstone baseball from the first week of April to the last week of October, and we all loved him for it. Click the link above for his regular and postseason stats.

The success of Pedroia, Ellsbury, Papelbon and Lester is really a testament to the work and discretion that the baseball operations staff has employed in rebuilding the farm system.