Padres fans will find humor in Pirates' blunder despite Jackson Merrill getting hosed

Don't look so shocked, Padres fans. Yes, the Baseball Writer's Association of America screwed up, but this was always going to be the outcome. There was no way that MLB's new golden boy was going to be denied the 2024 National League Rookie of the Year Award.

If you need more proof, look no further than the fact that the NL Cy Young Award has become so watered down that Paul Skenes is up for that honor as well despite only throwing 133 innings this season. The MLB offseason awards don't always go to the most deserving player (obviously), but sometimes the most marketable.

Padres' OF Jackson Merrill was screwed out of NL Rookie of the Year in favor of Pirates' RHP Paul Skenes

Skenes took home NL Rookie of the Year honors on Monday night, and the vote wasn't really that close. Skenes received 23 of the 30 first-place votes, with San Diego Padres' rookie Jackson Merrill receiving the other seven. Had Merrill (rightfully) won the award, the Padres would have received an extra draft pick as part of MLB's Prospect Promotion Incentive (PPI).

During the last contract negotiations between the league and the Players' Association, the topic of service time manipulation was brought to the forefront. For far too long, teams would keep some of their top young talent in the minor leagues just long enough to tack on an extra year of team control. But the PPI was installed to help mitigate that moving forward.

Last year, as a result of Gunnar Henderson and Corbin Carroll winning Rookie of the Year, both the Baltimore Orioles and Arizona Diamondbacks received an extra pick at the tail-end of the first round of the 2024 MLB Draft. New York Yankees' pitcher Luis Gil helped the Bronx Bombers earn an extra pick in next year's draft after taking home the AL Rookie of the Award.

Padres fans will find humor in Pirates' blunder despite Jackson Merrill getting hosed

But hilariously, despite Skenes winning the award on the NL side, the Pittsburgh Pirates will not be receiving an extra draft pick. Why? Because Pittsburgh — in classic Pirates' fashion — didn't call up Skenes until mid-May. Therefore, the flame-throwing right-hander didn't meet the minimum requirement of 172 days on the active roster, meaning that the Pirates won't qualify for the extra draft pick.

You want something else to laugh about, Padres fans? Get this! Because Skenes won the award, he will effectively accrue a full year of service time. So that precious extra year of team control that Pittsburgh was trying to secure by keeping Skenes in the minors has vanished into thin air.

It's been tough for Padres fans who were hoping to see Merrill take home the NL Rookie of the Year Award, but at least the Friar faithful can bask in the Pirates' stupidity. That's worth a little something, right?

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