In similar fashion to my American League Rookie of the Year pick, the N.L. Cy Young went from no-brainer to borderline toss-up.
In what was an open and shut case for Tim Lincecum, turned to a two horse race with him and Johan Santana. An impressive second half by Santana, fueled by an outstanding August/September, closed the gap that Lincecum created.
This is not to say that Lincecum fell apart in the second half, rather, to give Santana his due for an outstanding stretch run.
There was never really a question who the winner and runner-up for this award would be, as I selected Lincecum No. 1 and Santana No. 2. Where the question is raised occurs with the third best start in the National League. With four or five legitimate contenders, it took a variety of statistics to come to a conclusion of who the head of the rest of the pack would be.
Here is what I wrote for the BDD writer picks,
When I first sat down to make my picks, I wasn’t even going to look into the numbers. I figured I knew the story and didn’t need any convincing. While my opinion didn’t change after I eventually looked at the numbers, it became surprisingly close after looking at VORP, WPA, WS, PRC, and SNLVAR. Lincecum came away on top, with Santana finishing second, and fellow Canadian Ryan Dempster completing his full circle surprise season.
I’m not shocked that Dempster isn’t getting more play in the upcoming days of Free Agency, but I am shocked that he isn’t getting much love from writers on the Cy Young ballot.
I will be incredibly shocked if Dempster tops Dan Haren, Brandon Webb, Cole Hamels, and Edinson Volquez, despite being substantially more qualified. In fact, half-season wonders CC Sabathia and Rich Harden are likely to get just as much respect as Dempster.
Which leads to an interesting dilemma-what is the Cy Young award? Is it for the leagues best pitcher, or for the leagues most valuable pitcher? In fact, aren't these two things one in the same?
That is, could any of the aforementioned full season National League pitchers have replaced Harden and specifically, Sabathia? If the answer is no, then how can another pitcher be tabbed as better? Worse yet, this adds Brad Lidge to what was supposed to be a fairly straight forward discussion.
It is fortunate for Tim Lincecum that Johan Santana had such brutal bullpen support. Had the Mets simply been 'OK' at holding leads, Santana would have added an extra couple of wins and the Mets certainly would have found themselves in the playoffs. It would be that combination of meaningless statistics that would encourage the BBWAA to give this award to Santana.
That didn't happen, and despite what will be a fairly tight competition, the award will go to the appropriate pitcher.
Similarly, the runner-up will go to the appropriate pitcher, being Santana. Many anticipated this to be Santana's award to lose entering the season. While he didn't hurt his case, Lincecum was simply the superior pitcher and the BBWAA won't screw this one up.
Where it gets interesting is the area that I mentioned, from the third best pitcher in the National League, down to the 10th. I can't see a scenario where Lincecum and Santana don't receive the top two votes from any of the writers; however, I also did not envision a scenario where Joey Votto would receive a vote over Geovanny Soto.
That being said, for argument's sake I'll stick with Lincecum and Santana collecting all of the top two votes, with a 32 writer toss-up among third place ballots. Clearly Dempster should take third place, but I imagine it will go to Sabathia or Lidge. It won't be justified, but people won't be overly disappointed.
As fans, we are fortunate that the writers must submit their ballots prior to the start of the playoffs. If not, Cole Hamel's miraculous postseason performance may have been enough to put him into the Lincecum-Santana discussion.
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about 1 month ago
You give the writers much too much credit. They are in love with Wins, so Santana will get dissed and Webb will run neck-and-neck with Lincecum.
I would give the #3 spot to Hamels, just edging out Dempster. Their ERA and strikeout totals are comparable, and Hamels has a better SNLVAR and WHIP.
from about 1 month ago
Mich,
I actually hate the BBWAA. I think their voting process is a joke and hardly respect a player for winning Cy Young, MVP, etc.
Hamles trails Dempster in VORP and WPA. It's a very close race between those two though, you are right.
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