Trevor Bauer of the Cincinnati Reds was awarded the Cy Young in the National League by the BBWAA tonight. Amazingly, Bauer becomes the first Cy Young award winner in Reds’ history.
Bauer made the most of his free agent season with a league-leading 1.73 ERA over 73 innings, including 2 complete game shutouts. Bauer showed up in the postseason for the Reds as well, going 7 2/3 innings allowing just 2 hits while striking out 12 and walking none. During the regular season, opponents hit just .159 against him, the best mark in the league.
That represents quite the platform for a freshly minted free agent. Teams will also have to consider Bauer’s frustrating 2019 campaign, though he was dealing with injuries for much of the year and his comeback left little to be desired. Bauer is one of the most entertaining, enigmatic, and opinionated personalities in the game, and now he’s heading into the open market as the reigning NL Cy Young Award winner.
As close as the race seemed leading up to the event, Bauer ran away with it, taking 27 first-place votes and 201 total points. Yu Darvish finished 2nd with 3 first-place votes and 123 total point, and Jacob deGrom finished 3rd with 89 points. 12 different pitchers received at least one vote for the award.
No surprise
Degroms legacy hurt by a short season…. tough
lmao really dude?
You really think Bauer would have beat him???
Why COULDN’T he? deGrom is the best pitcher but that doesn’t mean he’ll always have the best season. Maddux would’ve won 12 Cy Young awards if being the best meant you automatically win
YES,
Not even close this year.
Degrom, is really good, but this was Trevors year.
in a full year? no, but wins dont mean as much ad career shares imo. he gets another nice bump even not winning this one.
Degrom would have won
We’ll never know, but Bauer pitched against significantly worse teams all season long so I think the doubts are justified
DeGrom finished third and that’s where he should have been. No shame. Maybe he’ll take the top spot back next season.
Really? How would you define significantly worse considering 6 of the 9 teams Bauer played went to the playoffs vs 5 of the 9 deGrom faced.
Any time
Well, he did. He’s the Cy winner.
id actually argue he should have been at best 4th. Fried got scammed
Thats completely debatable. 4 out of 5 teams in their division went to the playoffs. Also they had minor league games against playoff teams like the white sox, twins, and indians.
Hiflew:
based on runs scored, those playoff teams were all bottom 10 in MLB!
Degrom got 4 against playoff team Miami with a low scoring offense. Facing Atl, Phi, Tor, Bos is a noticeable difference over the teams Bauer faced. But not enough.
Very tough vote. I’d look West but it’s still tough to pick someone other than Bauer.
Gallen had 3 starts against top 3 offenses and 1 in Coors.
Senzatela had 6 starts against top 3 offenses (and 2 more in Coors against non-top offense). Senzational seazon!
Considering quality of competition, I’d try leaning Senzatela’s way but was the quality/environmental difference big enough to overcome what Bauer did? Ultimately, no. In my opinion.
Hiflew
Bauer made eleven starts. Ten of those starts were against offenses that ranked in the bottom 15 in runs scored and OPS in the entire league.
Degrom made twelve starts. Eight of those were against teams in the top 15 in runs scored and OPS. The four starts that weren’t against a top 15 offense were the Marlins, in four straight starts.
Bauer’s opponents were markedly worse, but that’s not to say that he doesn’t deserve votes.
They had worse offence, it’s measurable. And one reason so many central teams got to the playoffs was that those divisions were mediocre and tight.
Just admit it Mets sucked, Covid or not, Bauer won Cy move on, Mets have a lot to work on to keep up w/ Marlin’s, ha
Bauer was damn good this year and easily deserved it. To assume if Degrom was pitching he would have topped Bauer is crazy talk.
FYI I saw a portion of an interview he did on ESPN where he said he’d been miserable for most of his career and playing for the Reds was the best group of guys he’s played with to date. I completely believe him it wasn’t one of those typical answers you get from players he basically eluded to not enjoying Cleveland. But I still don’t see Cincinnati being able to sign him but worth noting. Up until then the narrative Id gotten was he’d pitch to whomever paid the most. He still may but maybe it isn’t as simple as I had assumed before the interview. I don’t love everything he says but I like him because he’s one of the few genuine players there is.
you mean like against the NL Central where FOUR teams made the playoffs?
Yes Really
While Bauer certainly deserved it, it was one bad game that tossed deGrom out of the running. And it was a bad one.
It didn’t hurt his legacy.
It actually strengthens it. Another elite season for the resume.
I think this is a silly comment, even as a Mets fan who wanted DeGrom to win. By winning two Cy Youngs, he’s already gotten recognition that only a fairly select group of pitchers have. Whatever his legacy is, it won’t be hurt by a season where he was just a finalist rather than a winner.
Obviously everyone will know he is great. He could have been the 3rd pitcher to win 3 in row I think. That’s insane. Bauer deserve it but Degrom would have won if the season was a full season imo.
Shut up dude. Just because your guy didn’t win doesn’t mean you gotta go freak out and act like the sky is falling. Stop wanting everyone to feel bad for you and deGrom when Bauer clearly was the best pitcher THIS year
Degrom was the best pitcher this year. Bauer having better stats doesn’t change that. Hitters would rather face Bauer and teams would rather have Degrom. Hence being the better pitcher
@mets so do you think Trout should’ve won MVP this year because he is the best MLB player?
It’s different. Degrom would have won the CY unless he got injured. But yes most of these awards don’t really count. Like for example. The marlins manager doesn’t win coach of the year bc the marlins wouldn’t have made the playoffs. Bauer would have kept his leado m Degrom. He just isn’t as good. Degrom really doesn’t have commotion in the NL right now. Who in the NL is in the same level as Degrom?
@Metsfan22- Damn, you just can’t tip your cap to Bauer. You have to come on these boards with your “but deGrom” this n that non-sense. Maybe Bauer WOULD have beat him through a 162 game season. I agree that deGrom is currently baseball’s best pitcher but that doesn’t mean he is guaranteed to win.
Bauer wound NOT have beat him. I can’t believe people believe that. Look at degroms 2nd half stats the last two year. He would have separated himself just like he did that last two years.
you can’t say the last two years especially the second half of last year because darvish was probably the best during the second half last year
Mets22:
No disrespect intended, but your argument is DeGrom is the best pitcher and would’ve won if there had been a full season (which obviously didn’t happen). As your substantiating point, you assert that although Bauer’s stats are better DeGrom is a better pitcher thus should have won.
Do you see the subjectivity and circular logic, which is based on your personal feelings, coupled with a season that never took place?
Now, I agree DeGrom 9/10 seasons beats Bauer, but circumstances shifted in Bauer’s favor and he won, fairly. Think of an analogy this way: if the Astros and Red Sox didn’t cheat in ‘17 & ‘18 respectively, the Yankees would have #s 28 & 29, right? Who the hell knows because it didn’t happen that way….
If only the award was a single season award not who would you rather have
Sounds pretty ridiculous Metsfan. The reality is, like Kershaw in 13, he would have had to undoubtedly been best this year to get to 3 straight Cys. He was not
You are ridiculously stupid. Stop talking about baseball because you’re literally nothing but than an idiotic homer.
Though I don’t agree, I understand the logic. It is possible (some might even argue likely) that DeGrom would be the better pitcher over a full season. That said, the season wasn’t 162 games this year. It was 60.
And Bauer was the best pitcher over that span.
But besides that, this HARDLY hurts his legacy. Get real.
Not just the short season, but the division only opponents too. 8/12 of deGrom’s starts were vs playoff teams while Bauer & Yu got to pick on the pretty garbage NL & AL central.
Did you miss how many Central teams made the playoffs?
Degrom faces some of the worst offensive teams in the league. Both had mediocre competitors this year. In reality, most pitchers did…
Laughing
Go the game logs of the pitchers in question. Bauer faced bottom 15 offenses ten out of his eleven starts.
Just one more reason why a Cy Young award in 2020 is a joke. You could wind up making eleven starts, ten of those against offenses that rank in the bottom half while other candidates have to face AL and NL East teams. Look at Aaron Nola’s game log compared to Bauer. Its not even close.
Look it up. The NL central had only ONE batter over .271 this year! Bauer had great success against the most pathetic competition imaginable.
Oh So deGrom should win because he’s awesome … kind of like Ozzie Smith win gold gloves until he was 50… when there were clearly better defensive shortstops for his last 5 years…. Ozzie owes Barry Larkin about 5 hold gloves… It should be based on this year not someone’s legacy … hence the reason Molina is pouting ..
Lowercase d, Mr. Met. Can’t even spell the guy’s name right. Also give it a rest. He’s legacy isn’t hurt. Everyone dealt with the short seasoned. Bauer performed better than deGrom in the alotted time. No point in dealing in “what-if scenarios” unless you’re Uatu the Watcher. deGrom is still the cream of the crop.
Lowercase d, Mr. Met. Can’t even spell the guy’s name right. Also give it a rest. His legacy isn’t hurt. Everyone dealt with the short season. Bauer performed better than deGrom in the alotted time. No point in dealing in “what-if scenarios” unless you’re Uatu the Watcher. deGrom is still the cream of the crop.
Let’s Go Mets
As a Braves fan, I’m obligated to say Max fried got screwed! … but TB deserves this without question
Max Fried deserved 4th. Yu and deGrom had home beat a little bit
Still a total douchebag
You 2 have something in common then.
Zing. Good comeback…for a junior higher.
Because “total douchebag” is such a clever, mature comment.
Do people really still say “zing”?
Boom! Wazzzzzzzup
Takes one to know one.
For a junior higher? This guy deserves to be trolled.
Degrom is MLB best pitcher at the moment and yes Bauer took the quarter mile race.
If the quarter mile is all that’s being run, then he won the race.
That’s the thing: it wasn’t a quarter mile race. It was the full season. Everyone knew going into the season that it was 60 games. Bauer performed better than deGrom over the course of this full season. It’s not like deGrom was only one facing these circumstances. There was never going to be a full season in 2020. It wasn’t even an option.
Now he signs with the dodgers on a 1-2 year deal.
he is signing with the angels.
Yes, he’ll be wearing Angels red in 2021!
Or, he and college BFF Cole make up and the Yankees have another pitcher?
Only way he ends up in NYY is if his aav is better than Cole
haha the old BFF that reamed Bauer out in front of UCLA teammates?
Only if Yankees give Bauer a higher AAV to rub in Cole’s face?
Let’s go Trev! I’ve had faith in this dude ever since I started watching his channel. Just the amount of work he puts in you’d think he was a college player. I want to see him go on a tear with whatever team signs him, and I wish him the best of luck in his future endeavors.
Here come the Met whiners
Why so many butt-hurt Mets fans? And you have no idea if DeGrom would’ve won with a 162 game schedule. Whos to say TB wouldn’t have had just the same amount of success with a bit tougher schedule? I can’t stand Bauer and his antics, but without question he was the best pitcher in the league this year.
Because Mets fans are use to being screwed. The fact Dodgers got new owners a decade ago but Mets didn’t even though most people would say a Ponzi scheme is worse than a divorce except Bud Selig. The Utley incident where Joe Torre openly said he wanted the Dodgers to win that series. The 2015 WS when Royals were using cameras to cheat. The Beltran scandal that punished the Mets with no compensation. Baseball allowing Stroman to cheat the system.
The Dodgers couldn’t make payroll in June dude… Get over yourself most millionaires have bad investments. No MLB owners fail to make payroll in the middle of the season
It’s like defaulting on a loan. Do you really get to keep going after?
Have you really been feeling sorry for yourself for the last eight years?
Are you referring to the secret loan that MLB gave the mets but wouldnt do for the dodgers at the time? Especially when the mets were 400 million in debt at the time along with a billion dollar lawsuit hanging over their head from the madoff scandal. The loan that kept Seligs good friends the Wilpons from selling off the team. Along with multiple loans so they could continue operations and make payroll?
The team was in debt up to their eyeballs but Selig did everything he could to keep the mets with the wilpons but could care less about the dodgers being with the mccourts. With the wilpons out the mets would have been paying out a payroll closer to what would be for a top media market team. Maybe not the yankee or dodger levels but consistently top 10 and not mid of the pack to lower end. There were even years the pirates and marlins were ahead of the mets in payroll.
The myth of the Mets not spending has gone on too far. Track the numbers. They were always spending, just not spending wisely. Their payroll never dipped that far down. And they were always near the top 10.
Mets fans were annoyed because they never spent like the Yankees. Now they can.
spotrac.com/mlb/payroll/2020/
Well deserved…glad to see the writers didn’t allow their bias to influence this vote for once
The arguments here remind me of that old Miller Lite commercial…
“Tastes great!”
“No, Less filling!”
Tastes.. Great
Degrom got zero first place votes
Mets fans need a heavy dose of reality
That’s a tall order. In their defense, though, they haven’t had anything else to brag about since Keith Hernandez was on Seinfeld.
Yes teams like 2 play Mets it puts one in the Win column, teams fear Braves and Marlins now
Prediction:,Bauer to the Angels for $40m per season.
One voter didn’t have Darvish in his top five.
Not surprisingly, it was the LAD voter.
Did the strike in ‘94 hurt Pedro’s legacy?
Nope. But his career stats would look even that much better.
Anyways, I’m thinking Cohen might bring Bauer to the Mets. Alderson already went out of his way to give him a very positive mention. So hopefully either way we will have the defending CY winner on our staff next year.
Oh and Kenny Lofton deserves to be in the hall of fame.
I agree on Lofton. The 1994 strike potentially robbed Montreal of a WS championship which would have looked even better on the resumes of Pedro and Walker (who never won).
But more than anything the 1994 strike really hurt Ken Griffey Jr. He potentially could have been the first to 70, CLEAN. The way he was hitting, it may have even of cost him a spot or two on the all-time list regardless of the injuries that works happen later.
OT but I would think the writers on TV would know how trades work. Someone just said the bluejays could have to give up Bo Bichette+ for Lindor. Like what??? The Indians would give up Lindor plus for bo. They don’t understand value… I vomit in my mouth when when they ask could the Mets get Lindor without giving up Alonso and smith.. like what???? Lindor has 1 year left at 20 mil. You’re getting something like gimenez and Batty at best. Maybe another pitcher that isn’t a elite prospect. Same with the bluejays or Yankees. Who ever trades for him.
He is the first reds player to win it. But the award started in 1956. Prior to that the reds had the best pitcher in the NL in 1950 (Ewell Blackwell), 1947 (Ewell Blackwell), 1942 (Johnny VanderMeer), 1939 (Paul Derringer), 1938 (Paul Derringer), 1926 (Pete Donohue), 1925 (Pete Donohue), 1923 (Dolf Luque), 1906 (Bob Ewing), 1902 (Noodles Hahn) and 1901 (Noodles Hahn).
It’s always a good day when you can have a Noodles Hahn reference.
Nice
The “nice” was to Randal’s post. Nicely done.
AZ, great info as I didn’t realize that the CY started in ‘56. Johnny Vandermeer immediately lept to mind.
There was only one Cy Young Award for both leagues 1956 through 1966. Each league has had a winner starting with 1967.
And Noodles beat out one, Cy Young for the award. Too bad the pitchers aren’t winning the Noodles Hahn award.
Tom Terrific should’ve won as a Red, but Fernando mania robbed him. Total rip off.
Well deserved
Not a surprise but should’ve been way closer than it was. Like down to 2 or 3 first place votes.
Anyways. There shouldn’t have had any awards this 60game season because at the end of the day these awards will be look at as if it was 162 game season. Or should have covid i. Front of it
Covid cy young winner TB
Covid manager of the year Don Mattingly
Some of these Mets homers need to get real. I’m mean “he’s the best pitcher in MLB but he didn’t have the best year” is laughable.
You think Bauer is a better pitcher??? Lol. And that’s not even what we are saying. We all know statistically Bauer had the better year. But we all know he isn’t having a better year than Degrom if it was 162 games
How do you all know whether these guys would stay healthy if it was 162 game season?
Sell that crystal ball!
Neck tightness and a hamstring spasm in 2020 for Degrom, is he starting to show signs of breaking down?
Good season to dominate. Like him or not, Bauer does not come across as an unintelligent individual. My guess is that he may be looking for a 3-year deal with a contender at this point. That is based on COVID uncertainty. The guy seems smart and I think the smart guy cashes in while the market is uncertain.
Im happy for Bauer because the Mets have a good shot at having Degrom and Bauer as 1-2 in our rotation next year!! LFGM
So both winners that got to play against the AL and NL central teams.
Zero chance either win if they were playing in the East.
Can’t TB just have this one?JDG has his money and multiple CY Young plaques on his wall.I have no dog in this fight but it’s splitting hairs♂️
Hmm… did Bauer pitch well because those teams sucked or did those teams suck because they had to face Bauer… and Darvish, not to mention Sonny Gray and Luis Castillo? See how that works? Spare me your DeGrom tears. Bauer was better this year. Period.
No love for Marco Gonzales (sea).??
His performance was better than a few on the top 10 list.
Don’t get why people aren’t making more of a case for Yu who was jobbed in my opinion. He bettered the Bauer and Degrom in wins (not even close), WAR (not close) IP, FIP, BB/9 and K/BB plus lead his team to the division title.. Honestly should’ve been a slam dunk but Bauer was getting all the press during the short season. Their ERA’s were close as well as the other categories. I’m sorry but if I’m picking I’m taking the guy that goes deeper in the game, won more games and led my team to the division title.
Speaking as a Mets fan, I am asking all Mets fans to accept and recognize the legally held vote. It is time to recognize the integrity of the voting process. Even though our guy didn’t win this time doesn’t mean that he can’t go out there and compete for the next election. Baseball isn’t just about one pitcher, it’s a game with rules and norms, and it’s the greatest thing that America has ever done.
Mets fans, let’s focus on re-building within our own franchise and snarkily recognize that the REDS are clearly a communist organization (I mean, it’s right there in the name), and that with our new billionaire daddy, we will smash the competition with the awsome power of capitalism. We can’t buy an award, but we CAN buy a player who won the award, as our enemies across the East River have done for generations. #LFGM