The lone writer who left
Puig finished second, with the other four first-place votes. He got 25 second-place votes.
Voters list three candidates on each ballot, in order of preference. John Maffei of UT San Diego omitted Puig from his ballot, the only writer to do so. The omission had no impact on Puig's second-place finish.
In deciding his vote, Maffei said, he settled quickly on Fernandez for first place.
"To me, that was easy," Maffei said.
"He won 15 games, and his club won his last five starts -- and seven of eight -- in a pennant race," Maffei said.
That left third place to either Puig or
Maffei said he realized Puig would finish strongly in the voting. He said his third-place vote was not about rejecting Puig but about rewarding Gyorko.
"A second baseman hit 23 home runs and played great defense," Maffei said. "Maybe Puig's antics were in the back of my mind, but I really think the guy [Gyorko] deserved a third-place vote. I just felt he deserved it, not that Puig didn't."
Gyorko got two votes for third place, the other from Jack Magruder of Fox Sports Arizona.