Poll: AL Cy Young award voting
Posted by Andy on October 4, 2007
We've already voted on the NL MVP, and I think the AL MVP (A-rod) and NL Cy Young (Peavy) are locked up already.
So let's have a vote on AL Cy Young.
Here's a blank ballot:
1st place (5 points):
2nd place (3 points):
3rd place (1 point):
To vote, you must pick all three positions, and simply paste your ballot into a comment on this post. I believe a total of 28 journalists will vote on the real award, so I'll keep this open until we have 28 total ballots.
Here are the statistical leaderboards for 2007, just to give you some names to consider, but obiously you can vote for any eligible pitcher.
ERA
| Lackey-LAA | 3.01 |
| Carmona-CLE | 3.06 |
| Haren-OAK | 3.07 |
| Bedard-BAL | 3.16 |
| Sabathia-CLE | 3.21 |
| Beckett-BOS | 3.27 |
| Santana-MIN | 3.33 |
| Escobar-LAA | 3.40 |
| Kazmir-TBD | 3.48 |
| Buehrle-CHW | 3.63 |
Wins
| Beckett-BOS | 20 |
| Carmona-CLE | 19 |
| Lackey-LAA | 19 |
| Sabathia-CLE | 19 |
| Wang-NYY | 19 |
| Escobar-LAA | 18 |
| Verlander-DET | 18 |
| Wakefield-BOS | 17 |
| Batista-SEA | 16 |
| Halladay-TOR | 16 |
Won-Loss %
| Verlander-DET | .750 |
| Beckett-BOS | .741 |
| Sabathia-CLE | .731 |
| Wang-NYY | .731 |
| Bedard-BAL | .722 |
| Escobar-LAA | .720 |
| Carmona-CLE | .704 |
| Halladay-TOR | .696 |
| Lackey-LAA | .679 |
| Hernandez-SEA | .667 |
| Marcum-TOR | .667 |
BB + H per IP (WHIP)
| Santana-MIN | 1.073 |
| Bedard-BAL | 1.088 |
| Shields-TBD | 1.107 |
| Vazquez-CHW | 1.140 |
| Sabathia-CLE | 1.141 |
| Beckett-BOS | 1.141 |
| Burnett-TOR | 1.189 |
| Haren-OAK | 1.208 |
| Guthrie-BAL | 1.209 |
| Carmona-CLE | 1.209 |
Bases on Balls/9IP
| Byrd-CLE | 1.31 |
| Sabathia-CLE | 1.38 |
| Shields-TBD | 1.51 |
| Blanton-OAK | 1.57 |
| Silva-MIN | 1.60 |
| Beckett-BOS | 1.79 |
| Halladay-TOR | 1.92 |
| Buehrle-CHW | 2.01 |
| Vazquez-CHW | 2.08 |
| Lackey-LAA | 2.09 |
Strikeouts/9IP
| Bedard-BAL | 10.93 |
| Kazmir-TBD | 10.41 |
| Santana-MIN | 9.66 |
| Burnett-TOR | 9.56 |
| Vazquez-CHW | 8.85 |
| Matsuzaka-BOS | 8.84 |
| Beckett-BOS | 8.70 |
| Verlander-DET | 8.17 |
| Sabathia-CLE | 7.80 |
| Hernandez-SEA | 7.80 |
Saves
| Borowski-CLE | 45 |
| Jenks-CHW | 40 |
| Putz-SEA | 40 |
| Rodriguez-LAA | 40 |
| Jones-DET | 38 |
| Nathan-MIN | 37 |
| Papelbon-BOS | 37 |
| Accardo-TOR | 30 |
| Rivera-NYY | 30 |
| Reyes-TBD | 26 |
Strikeouts
| Kazmir-TBD | 239 |
| Santana-MIN | 235 |
| Bedard-BAL | 221 |
| Vazquez-CHW | 213 |
| Sabathia-CLE | 209 |
| Matsuzaka-BOS | 201 |
| Beckett-BOS | 194 |
| Haren-OAK | 192 |
| Shields-TBD | 184 |
| Verlander-DET | 183 |
Adjusted ERA+
| Carmona-CLE | 145 |
| Lackey-LAA | 144 |
| Haren-OAK | 143 |
| Bedard-BAL | 141 |
| Beckett-BOS | 139 |
| Sabathia-CLE | 138 |
| Santana-MIN | 133 |
| Kazmir-TBD | 132 |
| Meche-KCR | 131 |
| Escobar-LAA | 127 |
October 4th, 2007 at 11:51 am
1st place: Beckett
2nd place: Carmona
3rd place: Lackey
October 4th, 2007 at 11:52 am
1st place (5 points): BEDARD
2nd place (3 points): CARMONA
3rd place (1 point): BECKETT
October 4th, 2007 at 12:25 pm
1st place (5 points): Sabathia
2nd place (3 points): Lackey
3rd place (1 point): Beckett
October 4th, 2007 at 12:43 pm
1st place (5 points): Sabathia
2nd place (3 points): Lackey
3rd place (1 point): Carmona
[edited by Andy]
October 4th, 2007 at 12:48 pm
Whoever voted Bedard 1st is clueless
October 4th, 2007 at 12:55 pm
Oops... if it's not too late, please swap Carmona (should be 3rd) and Lackey (should be 2nd) on my ballot. (stupid math)
I was all set to vote Carmona/Escobar/Beckett, and just wanted to confirm my choices with the WS, VORP and RSAA rankings. Glad I did. I guess things really changed in those last few weeks. I knew Sabathia and Lackey had been good, but didn't realize they'd been THAT good. And I didn't realize Escobar's September was so brutal. Ouch.
October 4th, 2007 at 1:01 pm
1st place (5 points): Sabathia
2nd place (3 points): Beckett
3rd place (1 point): Carmona
October 4th, 2007 at 1:02 pm
I edited your vote.
And while I certainly don't agree with voting Bedard #1, such voting is the beauty of democracy.
October 4th, 2007 at 1:05 pm
1 Lackey
2 Beckett
3 Escobar
I worked up a top ten yesterday in anticipation of a ballot. Here are 4 through 10 even though they won't count.
4 Putz
5 Carmona
6 Sabathia
7 F. Rodriguez
8 Haren
9 Byrd
10 Kazmir
October 4th, 2007 at 1:09 pm
1. Sabathia
2. Beckett
3. Santana
October 4th, 2007 at 1:19 pm
No Wang, spartanbill?
October 4th, 2007 at 1:22 pm
Attn: Mikearmalis et al
The evidence you provide to back up your claim that I'm "clueless" is underwhelming. But I will bite, and explain my vote for Bedard.
First, I view CYA differntly than MVP. The lack of the term "value" leads me to downgrade the importance of Games/innings/time played. It leads me to upgrade factors that point to dominance of play.
Simply put, Player X with very good performance for a full season is more VALUABLE to a team than Player Y with superior performance for only 80% of the season. However, Player Y is superior in performance.
Bedard had a 62 OPS+ against: best among AL pitchers who QUALIFY FOR THE ERA TITLE. 2nd best is Beckett at 72. In other words, Bedard's replacement for the amount of time to equal Beckett's IP (20 innings) would need to yield an OPS+ of 162!!! to equal the total OPS+ of Beckett over the same number of innings. Its hard to find a replacement that bad.
Bedard also had the highest K/9 at 10.9, showing his sheer dominance.
As far as consistency, Bedard had QS% of 75%, behind only Carmona and Haren among CYA candidates.
Despite your accusation, I did put a fair amount of thought into my choices. So please save the "clueless" label for the first person to vote for Wang. Thanks.
October 4th, 2007 at 1:22 pm
1. Sabathia
2. Beckett
3. Bedard
October 4th, 2007 at 1:31 pm
While I agree with what you are saying, I can't see how a guy who missed almost a month of the season should be CYY. His numbers are amazing and I had him as the most likely person to top Santana this year in the preseason. While I don't think that Sabathia's numbers are the best, he is has the intangible factor this season. I am sad that the season is coming to a close and I just started paying attention to the stats of the day. This is awesome!!!!!!
October 4th, 2007 at 1:35 pm
Healthy debate is great. Let's just keep it polite, please.
October 4th, 2007 at 1:38 pm
I understand that some 'voters' would dock Bedard heavily for his time missed. I just take offense to the 'clueless' label. I might vote unconventionally, but I also vote thoughtfully. Anyway, if a gascan replacement for Bedard would bring a full season's stats down to the level of the other elite pitchers, that's saying something about how good he was (for a somewhat limited time).
October 4th, 2007 at 1:42 pm
I apologize for my clueless statement.
October 4th, 2007 at 1:43 pm
1st place (5 points): Sabathia
2nd place (3 points): Lackey
3rd place (1 point): Santana
October 4th, 2007 at 1:44 pm
I find it funny that so far that Sabathia has either gotten a 1st place vote or no votes at all. WOW
October 4th, 2007 at 1:47 pm
By the way, I had Kazmir on my fantasy team this year and his final numbers look good but for most of the year he struggled. He should in no way be in any conversation for CY. James Shields was much more consistant for the D Rays this year and I had him as well. I won my league with riding these horses.
October 4th, 2007 at 1:47 pm
I thought about Wang and Bedard and they were my last two cuts. Byrd, Haren, Kazmir, and Wang were tough to rank as they all had differenst strengths. had Bedard played a full season, he would've been ranked higher, but he didn't ao I downgraded him. In my mind Bedard amd Wang
weren about where 8 9 and 10 were, but when you have 5 guys and 3 spots, someone is left out.
October 4th, 2007 at 1:48 pm
I thought about Wang and Bedard and they were my last two cuts. Byrd, Haren, Kazmir, and Wang were tough to rank as they all had differenst strengths. had Bedard played a full season, he would’ve been ranked higher, but he didn’t ao I downgraded him. In my mind Bedard amd Wang and Haren were about where 8 9 and 10 were, but when you have 5 guys and 3 spots, someone is left out.
October 4th, 2007 at 2:02 pm
I'll go with:
1st: Sabathia
2nd: Beckett
3rd: Carmona
October 4th, 2007 at 2:02 pm
1. Carmona
2. Sabathia
3. Bedard
October 4th, 2007 at 3:19 pm
1. Beckett
2. Bedard
3. Sabathia
October 4th, 2007 at 3:46 pm
1. Sabathia
2. Bedard
3. Santana
October 4th, 2007 at 4:30 pm
1. Wang
2. Sabathia
3. Lacky
October 4th, 2007 at 4:37 pm
Who's Lacky?
October 4th, 2007 at 4:53 pm
1. Lackey
2. Sabathia
3. Beckett
This is going to be a VERY hard one for the voters. I'm anticipating at least 3-4 first-place votegetters.
October 4th, 2007 at 6:00 pm
1. Sabathia
2. Beckett
3. Lackey
October 4th, 2007 at 6:06 pm
Truman there is someone more clueless than you. LOL Someone actually voted for Wang. They must be a Yankees fan!
October 4th, 2007 at 6:27 pm
1st place (5 points): Beckett
2nd place (3 points): Bedard
3rd place (1 point): Santana
October 4th, 2007 at 7:04 pm
1. Sabathia
2. Beckett
3. Bedard
October 4th, 2007 at 7:54 pm
1. Bedard
2. Sabathia
3. Santana
October 4th, 2007 at 9:03 pm
That's 19 ballots...we've got room for 9 more.
October 4th, 2007 at 9:55 pm
1. Sabathia
2. Santana
3. Carmona
October 4th, 2007 at 10:59 pm
Hmm...
1st place (5 points): C.C. Sabathia
2nd place (3 points): Josh Beckett
3rd Place (1 point): Fausto Carmona
October 5th, 2007 at 7:48 am
I know I said I'd take 28 ballots, but if there are more by the time I get back on Tuesday, I'll count all of them.
October 5th, 2007 at 8:22 am
1st - Beckett
2nd - Sabathia
3rd - Bedard
October 5th, 2007 at 9:38 am
1st - Sabathia
2nd - Beckett
3rd - Kazmir
October 5th, 2007 at 9:43 am
See? Even a person with "yanks" in their screenname didn't vote Wang first.
I note that "Chien" is a very common Chinese surname and that Wang is from Taiwan.
October 5th, 2007 at 2:39 pm
1st - Fausto Carmona
2nd - C.C. Sabathia
3rd - Erik Bedard
October 5th, 2007 at 4:13 pm
1st-Sabathia
2nd-Lackey
3rd-Putz
October 5th, 2007 at 10:40 pm
1st place (5 points): Beckett
2nd place (3 points): Sabathia
3rd place (1 point): Verlander
October 6th, 2007 at 11:19 am
1st place (5 points): C.C.Sabathia
2nd place (3 points): J.Beckett
3rd place (1 point): R.Halladay
October 7th, 2007 at 11:13 am
1st place (5 points): Beckett
2nd place (3 points): Sabathia
3rd place (1 point): Wang
October 7th, 2007 at 7:35 pm
1st place (5 points): Beckett
2nd place (3 points): Verlander
3rd place (1 point): Carmona
(Honorable mention 4th place: Wang - he's a really good pitcher, but there are other pitchers who could have 19 wins with his run support)
I guess I wasn't all that impressed the times I watched Sabathia. If Scott Kazmir and Johan Santana had played for better teams and won more games, they would probably be contenders as well.
October 9th, 2007 at 8:21 am
[...] If you want to vote in the AL Cy Young race, just click here and leave a comment. Voting closes early tomorrow [...]
October 9th, 2007 at 10:33 am
1. Beckett
2. Sabathia
3. Lackey
October 9th, 2007 at 11:53 am
1st place (5 points): Bedard. Truman helped to persuade me.
2nd place (3 points): Sabathia. He wasn't always overwhelming, but his lead in innings pitched adds some extra value.
3rd place (1 point): Putz. The league's most dominant reliever ought to get at least one mention.
Despite the lack of K's and the Divisional Series problems, Wang logged the most innings and was often very effective for a team desperate for starting pitching if it were to right itself and make the playoffs. Let's praise our favorites and ease up on criticizing everyone else.
October 9th, 2007 at 2:58 pm
1. Carmona
2. Sabathia
3. Lackey
October 10th, 2007 at 6:33 am
Voting is now closed. Thanks.
October 11th, 2007 at 9:00 pm
I like Wang a lot - he's what Mets fans wish Mike Pelfrey could be - but I think a lot of people are anti-Wang for Cy Young coming off his inexplicable #2 finish in 2006 (Well, it's partially understandable when you consider voting history and the over-emphasis on W's).