The fifth of my random thoughts for tonight, again with possible quotes from the Joe Morgan and Jerry Crasnick chats from today (see this entry for links to the chats):
AL Cy Young Award:
It appears to be a three-horse race now, between Bartolo Colon, Johan Santana, and Mariano Rivera. Rivera is having one of his best seasons, with a microscopic 1.32 ERA and 41 saves; Santana has a 2.98 ERA and 223 strikeouts; and Colon has 20 wins and a 3.34 ERA. I am firmly against the idea that more wins equals better pitcher, and I don’t think Colon’s other stats are extremely amazing. As for Rivera, I think he is amazing and one of the best closers of all time, but I think a closer’s stats are generally based on too small a sample size to say how good he really is. That leaves us with Santana, who has (again) had a great second half of the season, although this year’s first half was worse than last year’s. Still, his ERA and strikeouts, to go along with a .667 winning percentage, put him at the top of my list.
My vote: Santana, although I predict that Colon will win it.