=== CC Sabathia and Mariano Rivera ===

Their arguments are that they pitched under the bright, hot lights, and led the Yankees where they were supposed to lead them.

Remember when Sabathia got rocked his first start?  An awful lot of men have been run out of New York, haven't they.

It's one thing to have the lowest scoring average on the PGA, and a different thing to win majors.  The sport gears up for the majors.  CC Sabathia was facing Red Sox and Rays and Tigers teams that loaded up on the scouting and the games were played like wars. 

Greinke often played in Royals-A's type games in which the pitching switches weren't quite to the same extent...

I'm not saying that one player "leads his team to the pennant."  But I don't throw a hissy fit, if a sportswriter argues that Greinke might have fared differently in New York... to me that's a point worth consideration.

...........

Rivera pitches high-leverage innings.  He comes into the game when he's going to decide it.  He's the greatest closer ever.  It would be legit to give it to him, too.

.

=== Roy Halladay ===

When I think of "the best pitcher" in the American League, I think of Halladay.   I judge pitchers over a series of seasons, and not based on their last 20-30 starts.

Roger Clemens for 15-20 years was great; in some particular year Frank Viola or Pat Hentgen or Bartolo Colon might run lower ERA's.  Did that make them "better pitchers" than Clemens?

The Cy does say "best pitcher that year."   That's still a little different than "best results" that year.   Have we normalized for strength-of-opposition?  Have we normalized for context?   Are we talking about "best pitcher if you have a big game Friday," or "best average performances"?

Halladay's argument is that his season follows other, similar, seasons and his 2009 season is not an accident.  It's a skill.

............

It's interesting that Halladay isn't even on the board, oddswise.   Wow.  He's got 240 (!) innings pitched and an ERA way down into the 2's.   That makes him #3 in runs saved -- Halladay saved almost +10 more runs than Felix Hernandez did.

Greinke had an awesome season.  How sssuuuuuuure are you, really, that he's going to repeat?

Halladay was merely repeating his own established level of performance.  That's important.

.

=== Justin Verlander ===

Dominance is the big argument here:  269 strikeouts is a lot in this day and age.  And isn't missing bats the biggest single thing a pitcher can control?

Verlander "pitched his team to the playoffs," too, in a real sense.   He's the whole package:   19 wins ... single-figures losses .... gigantic strikeout totals ... vicious stuff that can demoralize an enemy before the game begins ... pitched for a 1st-place team.

He was #2 to Greinke in terms of runs saved (which considers ERA* and IP together).

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=== Dr's R/X ===

I'm the wrong guy to ask who deserves it.  Why?  Because I don't care.

I'm the kind of rotodweeb who spends all his prep time on rounds 2-25.  I don't care who my first-round pick is, as long as he's healthy.   Felix?  Halladay?  Verlander?  They're all death-on-a-stick.   Why pick one when no such distinction really exists?

What I'd like to see, honestly, is a 6-way split of the trophy -- just, This was the year six guys won it.

But let's say they all called tomorrow, and said Hey Jeff, it goes to whoever you say.

I'd call Silentpadna :- )

Cheers,

jemanji