2008 MLB Awards: NL Rookie of the Year

Chicago Cubs catcher Geovany Soto was a near-unanimous choice among voters as the National League Rookie of the Year. Soto received 31 of the 32 first-place votes, with one vote going to Cincinnati's Joey Votto.

Below, check out the top candidates by clicking on either "Previous candidate" or "Next candidate." Then see the choices of ESPN baseball analysts and contributors, both individually and collectively. Who was your pick?

•  NL rookie hitting | NL rookie pitching | AL Rookie of the Year page

THE TOP CANDIDATES

• GEOVANY SOTO, C, CHICAGO
  

  G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
  141	494	66	141	23	86	.285	.364	.504	.868

  
  Arguably the Cubs' MVP, Soto finished third on his team in home runs, RBIs and slugging.

  AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast
  

• JOEY VOTTO, 1B, CINCINNATI
  

  G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
  151	526	69	156	24	84	.297	.368	.506	.874

  
  Led his team and all NL rookies in home runs, slugging percentage and batting average.

  AP Photo/Tony Tribble
  

• JAIR JURRJENS, RHP, ATLANTA
  

  G	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	W-L	WHIP	BAA	ERA
  31	188.1	188	77	70	139	13-10	1.37	.260	3.68

  
  When injuries depleted the Braves' staff, Jurrjens emerged as the ace, leading the team in wins.

  Don McPeak/US Presswire
  

Previous candidate

  

Next candidate

ESPN'S NL ROOKIE OF THE YEAR PICKS
Jorge Arangure Jr. ESPN The Magazine Geovany Soto C, Cubs	Jim Caple ESPN.com/Page 2 Geovany Soto C, Cubs	Jerry Crasnick ESPN.com Geovany Soto C, Cubs	Peter Gammons ESPN Geovany Soto C, Cubs
Pedro Gomez ESPN Geovany Soto C, Cubs	Orel Hershiser ESPN Geovany Soto C, Cubs	Eric Karabell ESPN.com Fantasy Geovany Soto C, Cubs	Jonah Keri ESPN.com/Page 2 Geovany Soto C, Cubs
Bob Klapisch ESPN.com contributor Geovany Soto C, Cubs	John Kruk ESPN Geovany Soto C, Cubs	Tim Kurkjian ESPN The Magazine Geovany Soto C, Cubs	Keith Law ESPN.com/Scouts Inc. Geovany Soto C, Cubs
Sean McAdam ESPN.com contributor Geovany Soto C, Cubs	Amy Nelson ESPN.com Geovany Soto C, Cubs	Rob Neyer ESPN.com Geovany Soto C, Cubs	Buster Olney ESPN The Magazine Geovany Soto C, Cubs
Peter Pascarelli ESPN/Baseball Today Geovany Soto C, Cubs	Steve Phillips ESPN Geovany Soto C, Cubs	Karl Ravech ESPN Geovany Soto C, Cubs	Phil Rogers ESPN.com contributor Geovany Soto C, Cubs
Enrique Rojas ESPNdeportes.com Geovany Soto C, Cubs	John Shea ESPN.com contributor Geovany Soto C, Cubs	Chris Singleton ESPN Geovany Soto C, Cubs	Larry Stone ESPN.com contributor Geovany Soto C, Cubs
Jayson Stark ESPN.com Geovany Soto C, Cubs	Gene Wojciechowski ESPN Geovany Soto C, Cubs
ESPN's choice (unanimous): Geovany Soto (26)

• Recommend0
• Tweet0
• Comments0
• Email
• Print
• Subscribe