It took the Detroit Tigers less than a month of watching Kevin McGonigle at the big-league level to decide he was worthy of a nine-figure contract.
Seven months later, McGonigle rewarded that confidence by becoming the runaway winner of the American League Rookie of the Year award Monday night. Cincinnati Reds slugger Sal Stewart — another precocious hitter — took home the National League honor after anchoring the middle of the team's lineup all season.
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FILE - New York Mets' Carson Benge waits on a pitch during an at-bat in a baseball game against the Texas Rangers, Sept. 22, 2026, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez, File)
FILE - Cincinnati Reds' Sal Stewart bats during a baseball game against the Milwaukee Brewers, Sept. 12, 2026, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Aaron Gash, File)
FILE - Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Payton Tolle delivers during the first inning of a baseball game against the Cleveland Guardians, Sept. 22, 2026, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)
FILE - Cleveland Guardians pitcher Parker Messick throws against the Tampa Bay Rays during the first inning in Game 5 of an American League Championship Series baseball game in Cleveland, Oct. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File)
FILE - Detroit Tigers' Kevin McGonigle runs out a double against the Washington Nationals during the third inning of a baseball game, Sept. 23, 2026, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)
McGonigle played most of the season at just 21 years old and had a .278 batting average and .806 OPS with 18 homers, 72 RBIs, 28 doubles and 12 stolen bases while splitting time between shortstop and third base. He's the first Tigers player to win the award since pitcher Michael Fulmer in 2016 and the first Detroit infielder since Lou Whitaker in 1978.
McGonigle's most remarkable trait might have been his consistency, providing steady production over the long MLB season.
“I'm trying to play my part and trying to help this team as much as I can and that's what drives me every day,” McGonigle said. “On the days you're tired, the days you need to rest, you've got to go out, lace the cleats up and go out for the guys in the clubhouse and this organization.”
The Tigers thought enough of McGonigle's potential that they signed him to a $150 million, eight-year deal in April, just a few weeks into his rookie season. He responded with a stellar all-around season that earned him an All-Star nod and helped the Tigers remain in the playoff race for much of the summer.
Stewart, 22, was a force for the Reds with 32 homers and 112 RBIs while playing in all 162 games, including 161 starts. He’s the ninth Cincinnati player to win the award and first since infielder Jonathan India in 2021. He was the first NL first baseman to take top rookie honors since Pete Alonso with the New York Mets in 2019.
Much like McGonigle, two of Stewart's best qualities were consistency and availability. The 6-foot-1, 224-pound first baseman was a first-round draft pick in 2022 after getting selected out of a Miami high school and said playing all 162 games was his favorite accomplishment this season.
“The people around my corner, they understand how hard that is, how difficult that is,” Stewart told reporters. “Being available for your teammates every single day — that’s something that kind of goes unnoticed at times. But I know my teammates always appreciate that, and I want them to know I’m always there for them.”
McGonigle received 28 of 30 first-place votes and finished with 204 points in balloting by the Baseball Writers' Association of America conducted before the postseason. The other two AL finalists were Cleveland Guardians left-hander Parker Messick and Boston Red Sox lefty Payton Tolle.
Messick came in second, earning two first-place votes and 122 points after going 12-9 with a 2.56 ERA and 193 strikeouts. He is also a finalist for the AL Cy Young Award to be announced Wednesday.
Tolle was third with 54 points. He had a 9-6 record with a 3.03 ERA and 171 strikeouts.
Stewart was selected first on 20 of 30 ballots and finished with 170 points. The other NL finalists were New York Mets outfielder Carson Benge and St. Louis Cardinals second baseman JJ Wetherholt.
Benge finished second with seven first-place votes and 107 points after hitting 20 homers and stealing 22 bases as a bright spot in a down year for the Mets.
Wetherholt hit .242 with 17 homers while playing excellent defense. He finished third with three first-place votes and 99 points.
By winning Rookie of the Year, McGonigle and Stewart each earned his team an extra pick after the first round of the 2027 amateur draft.
AL and NL Manager of the Year awards will be announced Tuesday.
See AP’s full MLB coverage here
FILE - New York Mets' Carson Benge waits on a pitch during an at-bat in a baseball game against the Texas Rangers, Sept. 22, 2026, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez, File)
FILE - Cincinnati Reds' Sal Stewart bats during a baseball game against the Milwaukee Brewers, Sept. 12, 2026, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Aaron Gash, File)
FILE - Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Payton Tolle delivers during the first inning of a baseball game against the Cleveland Guardians, Sept. 22, 2026, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)
FILE - Cleveland Guardians pitcher Parker Messick throws against the Tampa Bay Rays during the first inning in Game 5 of an American League Championship Series baseball game in Cleveland, Oct. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File)
FILE - Detroit Tigers' Kevin McGonigle runs out a double against the Washington Nationals during the third inning of a baseball game, Sept. 23, 2026, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate on Monday advanced bipartisan legislation aimed at speeding up permitting reviews to power data centers and other infrastructure projects, in the first major action since last week’s election that soundly repudiated President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans.
The Senate voted 73-25 to formally take up the bill, which senators and the president have pushed as a way to meet growing demand for electricity and other forms of energy that now face yearslong delays in getting to the grid.
The legislation’s sweeping changes would shorten the timeline to get big energy projects started — both for clean energy and fossil fuel projects — and make sure data centers pay for the energy they use. Anger over artificial intelligence data centers and rising electricity prices helped usher in a wave of Democrats pledging to clamp down on the massive, energy-hungry structures.
Trump urged senators to vote for it, calling it a “BIG WIN for U.S. ENERGY INDEPENDENCE and DOMINANCE.” in a social media post on Sunday. The bill will “ensure that we can build Pipelines, Mines, and Power Plants faster than ever before, lowering Energy Costs for American Families,” Trump wrote.
Major industry groups representing developers in clean energy and in the oil and gas sector also support the bill.
However, many environmental organizations have panned the deal because they say it would lock in fossil fuel development, weaken environmental safeguards and make it harder for communities to challenge energy project approvals.
While the bill has received bipartisan support, the Democrats' sweeping midterm win could complicate its passage.
Some Democrats say the party should use its stronger position in the next Congress to pass legislation that produces needed clean energy but limits expansion of oil, natural gas and mining. Some critics have said the permitting bill as proposed could lead to a vast increase in exports of liquefied natural gas and facilitate a “reckless” build-out of data centers powered by natural gas.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, a New York Democrat who is expected to become speaker in January, criticized the bill last week, with his office saying it “falls short” in a number of areas.
Major environmental groups, including the Sierra Club and National Wildlife Federation, have strongly opposed the measure in recent days, citing concerns about its limits on judicial review and changes to the National Environmental Policy Act and Endangered Species Act. The environmental policy law, known as NEPA, requires agencies to consider a project’s possible impacts and allows the public to be heard before a project is approved, but supporters of an overhaul say that causes yearslong delays in federal permitting.
The bill's four main champions — two Democrats and two Republicans — released a detailed set of amendments Saturday designed to bolster support for the legislation.
The four senators, who lead the chamber’s energy and environment panels, negotiated the deal weeks before the election. Republican Sens. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia and Mike Lee of Utah and Democratic Sens. Martin Heinrich of New Mexico and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island say Americans are tired of paying more in utility bills while projects that could lower costs sit stuck in the planning phase for years.
"Americans can’t afford to wait for lower electricity prices. We need to pass this bill now,” said Heinrich.
Trump promotes expanding production of oil, natural gas and coal and he particularly dislikes offshore wind. His administration has been paying energy companies to walk away from offshore wind projects under development. It has spent nearly $4 billion on such settlements.
Whitehouse said a provision in the permitting bill would end the buyouts, so the administration will no longer be able to use public money to pay clean energy developers to relinquish wind energy leases and oblige them to invest in fossil fuels instead.
Trump told reporters Monday that he still opposes wind energy. When told that wind is part of the bill, Trump replied: “Well, the bill hasn’t been fully negotiated. I will not approve wind turbines because wind turbines are a major loser.”
Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland voted against moving the legislation forward, in part due to Trump’s opposition to offshore wind. Van Hollen said the bill does not fully address the administration’s efforts to block Maryland’s pending offshore wind project, which he said would lower energy costs for households across the state and create thousands of jobs.
At a press conference with Heinrich on Monday, Whitehouse said the bill is “the floor, not the ceiling, of our climate and environmental aspirations. And we look forward to working to accomplish big things with our big Democratic majorities” over the next two years.
Whitehouse said Trump's support should help the bill move toward a vote in the House.
Heinrich said he worked hard to incorporate feedback from tribal leaders on the initial proposal, adding that the amended version requires federal agencies to consult with tribes on projects that affect important cultural sites.
Sponsors also extended the window for objections to agency reports and strengthened opportunities for states to weigh in, Heinrich said.
If passed, the bill will save households billions on electricity costs, create jobs, cut emissions and force big corporations to pay their full share for data centers instead of pushing energy costs on consumers, he said.
Capito called the bill “a win for America,'' adding: “We cannot let this moment pass by. The reality is this, over the next several years, we will have no choice but to increase our national energy production. This is an unprecedented opportunity ... to come together to show the American people we are listening to you.”
Industry leaders are advocating for the bill's passage, including leaders of the American Clean Power Association, which represents clean energy developers, and the American Petroleum Institute, the oil and gas industry’s top lobbying group.
But Bradley Campbell, president of the Conservation Law Foundation, said it would be a “terrible mistake” to proceed with the bill in the waning days of the current Congress.
While changes announced Saturday address a few concerns, the bill also comes with a gauntlet of new — and at times conflicting — rules, Campbell said. He said the bill maintains a veneer of federal safeguards while in fact stripping the power of federal agencies, states, tribes and communities to identify and prevent serious harm to health and the environment.
Sara Amundson, president of the Humane World Action Fund, said the bill weakens the scientific foundation of the Endangered Species Act and could create new opportunities to exclude needed wildlife protections.
“This proposed rewrite of the ‘best available science’ standard could give agencies new grounds to unfairly dismiss credible research, including science showing that stronger protections are needed for species at risk," she said, urging lawmakers to drop the provision or oppose the bill.
McDermott reported from Providence, R.I.
FILE - Meta data centers operate Sept. 5, 2026, near Social Circle, Ga. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart, File)
FILE - Ranking member Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., speaks during a hearing on Capitol Hill, June 18, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., walks through the Capitol basement, Monday, Nov. 9, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Allison Robbert)
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., speaks at a news conference in Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
The Capitol is seen under a gray autumn sky in Washington, Thursday, Nov. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
