Why I Couldn’t Vote for Jacob deGrom for Cy Young

Even though the IBWAA awards really do not amount to much, I take my voting responsibilities seriously. So when it came time to cast my vote for NL Cy Young (although I do not think we are allowed to call it that!), I had to go with my conscience and not place Jacob deGrom at the top.

Jacob deGrom is still the Cy Young front-runner despite my possibly outdated view.Back in 2010, I was angry that Felix Hernandez won the AL Cy Young with a 13-12 record and a league-leading 2.27 ERA. My headline said “ridiculous” — that a pitcher with barely a .500 record would win the top prize over pitchers with more than 20 wins to go along with very respectable ERAs.

It is eight years later and I still feel…