Major League Baseball

Lincecum wins second Cy, no thanks to me

Published Nov. 20, 2009 1:01 a.m. ET

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Ken Rosenthal

I voted for Adam Wainwright for the National League Cy Young award, but I'm entirely comfortable with Tim Lincecum winning it.


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The race, as many predicted, was one of the closest in the award's history. I went back and forth among Wainwright, Lincecum and Chris Carpenter in the final weeks of the season.

Entering the final weekend, I was ready to cast my ballot for Carpenter. I ultimately chose Wainwright. And looking at it again now, maybe I should have stuck with Lincecum all along.

My ballot looked like this:

1. Wainwright.

2. Lincecum.

3. Carpenter.

Carpenter had the lowest ERA by nearly a quarter of a run; Lincecum was second, but pitched 32 2/3 more innings. Ultimately, I leaned against Carpenter because of the five weeks that he missed with a strained left ribcage muscle early in the season.

Two voters — Will Carroll of Baseball Prospectus and Keith Law of ESPN.com — left Carpenter off their ballots entirely for that reason. I don't agree with their logic, but understand it. The more a pitcher works, the greater his value.

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