Greinke wins AL Cy Young

Quote :

KANSAS CITY -- Zack Greinke won again on Tuesday -- this time taking the Cy Young Award as the American League's best pitcher -- and he did it in a landslide.

The Royals' right-hander received a rousing 25 of 28 first-place votes and had 134 total points in the Baseball Writers' Association of America voting. Runner-up Felix Hernandez of the Mariners had 80 points, with two first-place votes.

The remaining first-place vote went to the Tigers' Justin Verlander, who was third in the balloting with 14 points. Also receiving votes were the Yankees' CC Sabathia (13) and the Blue Jays' Roy Halladay (11).

Hernandez, Verlander and Sabathia all were 19-game winners, and there was the suggestion that Greinke's 16-8 record, a rather modest win total for a Cy Young winner, might override his Major League-best ERA of 2.16. But that did not happen.

Greinke thought Hernandez, who was 19-5 with a 2.49 ERA, would get more support.

"I was really surprised at that," Greinke said. "I thought Felix had an amazing year and that he would get a little more credit than he did with that. Everything was fantastic with him, and I thought it'd be closer than it was between the two of us."

Certainly, there was no argument that Greinke was one of the most dominating pitchers of 2009 in either league. His performance and his award brightens what was a disappointing season for the Royals.

"Zack Greinke has always been a potentially tremendous talent, and we were all fortunate to watch him perform this past year," Royals general manager Dayton Moore said. "He was everything that he and all of us expected him someday to be."

Greinke becomes the third Cy Young winner in club history. Bret Saberhagen won in 1985 and 1989; David Cone won in 1994. Cone was the only other starter to win the AL award with as few as 16 wins, and he did it in a strike-shortened season. Brandon Webb (2006) was the last starter to win the National League award with so few.

Definitely well-deserved award for Greinke. I am however surprised that it wasn't closer as Geinke even talked about.