St. Louis Cardinals: Can Dylan Carlson win Rookie of the Year in 2021?

We asked our Twitter followers who has a better chance of winning Rookie of the Year in 2021: Dylan Carlson or Randy Arozarena. The results are in.

On Friday afternoon, Redbird Rants co-site experts Matt Graves and Robert Murray ran a poll on our Twitter account. Who has a better chance of winning Rookie of the Year in 2021: Randy Arozarena or Dylan Carlson?

There were 267 votes and 54 percent of you said Arozarena, the Tampa Bay Rays outfielder who dominated the postseason by hitting .358 with 10 home runs and 14 RBI. Despite both seeing major-league playing time in 2020, they maintain rookie eligibility in ‘21.

So let’s take a look at the numbers and get a better understanding of both players.

Randy Arozarena, Tampa Bay Rays:

Arozarena, of course, was traded by the St. Louis Cardinals and president of baseball operations John Mozeliak along with Jose Martinez and a Competitive Balance Round draft pick to the Rays for pitching prospect Matthew Liberatore and others.

The move was made to create opportunities for Tyler O’Neill and Lane Thomas. It did not work out.

O’Neill shined on defense, but hit .173 in 139 at bats. Thomas hit .111 36 at bats, with Mozeliak later revealing Thomas struggled to breathe following a bout with COVID-19. And Arozarena became a postseason hero, with his playoff performance leading the Rays to the World Series. When asked after the season why he traded Arozarena, not someone else, Mozeliak told reporters, “When you look at our offensive struggles, it’s a fair question to ask why him and not someone else. I will own that. That’s on me.”

It was refreshing honesty from Mozeliak, but it won’t bring back a player whose postseason heroics will be turned into a movie. Mozeliak and the entire organization will have to learn from this move to make sure it does not happen again, especially since their offense ranked toward the bottom of the league.

Meanwhile, the arrow continues to point up on Arozarena. He is considered by most to be a future star. And for the Cardinals, he will forever be the one that got away.

Dylan Carlson, St. Louis Cardinals:

Carlson should be the only lock in the outfield in 2020. His promotion to the majors was delayed  because of service time manipulation and with O’Neill, Thomas, Harrison Bader and Dexter Fowler creating a difficult path to immediate playing time.

When Carlson was called up, he struggled. He hit only  .162 in 79 at bats and was quickly sent back to Satellite Camp. There were some in the organization who believed the pressure of being the Cardinals’ top prospect and the team needing most of its roster to quarantine after a COVID-19 outbreak played a factor in his struggles.

Carlson was called up after a brief 10-day reset and displayed the potential that made him the Cardinals’ consensus top hitting prospect.

He finished the last 12 games of the regular season hitting .278. He hit cleanup in the postseason and recorded four hits and four walks in 14 plate appearances. His playing time in the majors is still limited, but Carlson’s outlook heading into 2021 is positive and scouts believe he is just scratching the surface of his potential.

The two will forever be linked considering their Cardinals connections. It is likely that Arozarena outperforms Carlson, at least early on considering he has more experience, but St. Louis and their fans have a ton of reasons to be optimistic about what’s to come.