Guardians fans losing their minds over Kevin McGonigle's ROY win is music to Tigers' ears

Kevin McGonigle won American League Rookie of the Year on Monday night with an overwhelming 28 out of 30 first place votes. Guardians pitcher Parker Messick picked up two. Unsurprisingly, Guardians fans are throwing a fit.

Surprisingly, the discussion has erred more on the civil side when it comes to this very old rivalry that can certainly get anywhere from petty to ugly. Both Tigers and Guardians fans have had to acknowledge the magnitude of the seasons McGonigle and Messick both put together.

But that doesn't mean that Guardians fans aren't making their displeasure known. Not only them, but a shocking number of commentators have been far too comfortable taking Messick's side in this race — but we guess that's why prominent talking heads and fans don't vote on the awards.

"Unanimous for Messick" is laughable, and Guardians fans have been trying to use Cleveland's advancement to the postseason as a "gotcha" that just doesn't work. These are individual awards for a reason, and one player doesn't make or break a team.

Guardians fans can cry all they want — it's not going to change the results.

Tigers fans can only enjoy the sound of Guardians fans crying over Kevin McGonigle's AL Rookie of the Year win

We've said it before, but we'll say it again: McGonigle only sat out of six games this season. He led the American League in plate appearances. Messick's 186 1/3 innings pitched is certainly a feat in this era of pitchers constantly getting hurt, but that doesn't even being to touch the level of productivity and consistency that McGonigle showcased almost every day of the season.

The grind of the long season tends to wear on even the most iron of men, but McGonigle got better in September, hitting .298 with an .896 down the stretch. Only five players this century reached base safely at least 252 times in their rookie seasons: Aaron Judge, Ichiro Suzuki, Albert Pujols, Mike Trout, and Kevin McGonigle. All went on to win Rookie of the Year.

It's just undeniable: McGonigle was more valuable to the Tigers than Messick was the Guardians. That's where the conversation should start and stop.

While the argument that Messick is also a Cy Young finalist has crept into Guardians fans' wailing, it's negligible because he probably won't win, probably won't take home a single first-place vote. This isn't to say he'll never win, but McGonigle will almost certainly go on to be in MVP conversations, whereas Messick won't.

That's the simple truth. McGonigle just deserved it more.

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