Yesterday, the baseball blogs of SB Nation announced the American and National League Rookies of the Year. Today, we continue handing out the internet hardware by announcing the SB Nation American League Cy Young winner. Who was the best pitcher in the Junior Circuit according to the bloggers of SB Nation?
| Num | Name | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Justin Verlander | 22 | 2 | Ê | Ê | Ê | 162 |
| 2 | CC Sabathia | 2 | 17 | 4 | 1 | Ê | 96 |
| 3 | Jered Weaver | Ê | 5 | 10 | 4 | Ê | 58 |
| 4 | James Shields | Ê | Ê | 3 | 8 | 6 | 31 |
| 5 | C.J. Wilson | Ê | Ê | 4 | 4 | 5 | 25 |
| 6 | Dan Haren | Ê | Ê | 3 | 5 | 4 | 23 |
| 7 | Josh Beckett | Ê | Ê | Ê | Ê | 3 | 3 |
| 8 | David Price | Ê | Ê | Ê | 1 | Ê | 2 |
| 9 | Jon Lester | Ê | Ê | Ê | 1 | Ê | 2 |
| 10 | Brandon McCarthy | Ê | Ê | Ê | Ê | 2 | 2 |
| 11 | Mariano Rivera | Ê | Ê | Ê | Ê | 1 | 1 |
| 12 | Doug Fister | Ê | Ê | Ê | Ê | 1 | 1 |
| 13 | Felix Hernandez | Ê | Ê | Ê | Ê | 1 | 1 |
| 14 | Gio Gonzalez | Ê | Ê | Ê | Ê | 1 | 1 |
Congratulations to Justin Verlander of the Detroit Tigers for winning this year's SB Nation AL Cy Young award!
For Verlander, it was no contest. There was definitely a case to be made for the Yankees' CC Sabathia; he did barely edge out Verlander in FIP and FanGraphs Wins Above Replacement (fWAR). But with Verlander's superior ERA and superlative single-game performances (particularly his no-hitter earlier in the season), it was going to be a tough case to deprive him of the title of AL Cy Young winner. My guess is that the bloggers of SB Nation certainly did not put a premium on Verlander's 24 wins, but rather in his stellar overall performance that included a 2.40 ERA and 2.99 FIP in 251 innings pitched.Jered Weaver, C.J. Wilson, and Dan Haren all got nods as runners up, but neither was close to competing with Verlander or Sabathia. Among the random lower place votegetters were Brandom McCarthy and Gio Gonzalez of Oakland Athletics, both of whom had strong but unspectacular seasons, and Doug Fister of the Detroit Tigers, who may have been the best pitcher going at the end of the season. All of these pitchers were deserving of some recognition, but this season appeared to be Verlander's to win, and he did so in the eyes of the SB Nation bloggers. Congratulations Justin Verlander!