Yesavage's Rookie of the Year aspirations could be challenged by Tigers' shortstop

Trey Yesavage was a late-season sensation for the Toronto Blue Jays in 2025, impressing in limited duty at the end of the regular season before making his star turn in October by authoring a 3.58 ERA and 35.8% strikeout rate in 27 2/3 playoffs innings. The team went 4-1 in his five postseason starts, including Games 1 and 5 of the World Series. At 22 years old, the sky is the limit for the right-hander in his first full big-league season and beyond.

Despite all those heroics, he'll be working with a clean slate in 2026, the same as everybody else. None of his postseason stats will count toward his Rookie of the Year campaign, giving all other freshmen in the American League a fighting chance at taking home the award.

That's emboldened MLB.com's panel of experts to pick Detroit Tigers top prospect Kevin McGonigle as their co-favorite for the AL Rookie of the Year award... despite the fact that he's never played above Double-A.

Trey Yesavage disrespected by MLB.com in AL Rookie of the Year predictions

Yesavage and McGonigle both earned 25% of the vote in the prediction poll, blowing every other candidate out of the water. In the former's case, that makes sense after his meteoric rise from Single-A starter to October legend, but the latter has yet to even appear at Triple-A.

Now, in fairness to the 21-year-old shortstop, he's an excellent prospect who just won Arizona Fall League MVP honors after posting a .362/.500/.710 slash line. He was tremendous across three levels in 2025, posting a 182 wRC+ while walking more than he struck out.

Still, the jump from Double-A (where's he played just 46 games) to the majors is huge, especially for hitters. Plus, the Tigers are mostly set on the infield dirt with Gleyber Torres at second base and Colt Keith at the hot corner, meaning McGonigle would have to displace Javier Baez and/or Zach McKinstry in order to see real playing time in 2026.

One other thing working in Yesavage's favor is the Blue Jays' proximity to championship contention. The Rookie of the Year award rarely prioritizes team success, but in a tiebreaker scenario, it helps the right-hander's case that his team made the World Series last year, while the Tigers collapsed down the stretch and nearly missed the playoffs.

There have been plenty out-of-nowhere Rookie of the Year winners in the past, and few had the hype surrounding McGonigle right now. But no rookie in MLB history has ever had the postseason track record Yesavage established last year — until proven otherwise, he should be considered the obvious favorite for the AL Rookie of the Year award.