USA TODAY International Edition
Scherzer and Kershaw win Cy Young awards
Scherzer was majors’ only 20- game winner; for Kershaw, a second win.
There was virtually no intrigue to the results of the Cy Young Award voting announced Wednesday, with the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw and the Detroit Tigers’ Max Scherzer runaway winners.
The size of their next contracts and who will be signing them? Now that draws plenty of interest.
Kershaw and Scherzer each received at least 28 of the 30 first- place votes in balloting by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America to easily claim the Cy Young in the National and American leagues, respectively, and they had plenty of stats to prove their cases.
What remains to be determined is how much they’ll cash in on their achievements. Both are in their prime and eligible for free agency after the 2014 season, with Kershaw — a two- time winner at 25 — a shoo- in to land the biggest deal ever for a pitcher.
Kershaw clarified a recent comment that any player would be curious about free agency once he got this close, adding, “That’s kind of what you work for. That’s definitely why you play the game. You get that option.”
Asked later whether the Dodgers would be his No. 1 option, Kershaw was non- committal.
“Right now I’m in L. A. for one more year regardless,” he said. “That’s kind of as far as I look. No talks have happened yet this offseason.”
There are convincing reasons to think Kershaw will remain with the Dodgers, who had the second- largest payroll in baseball history in 2013 and have made it clear money won’t hinder their pursuit of a title.
The parties seemed close to an extension last season, and Kershaw’s value hasn’t declined. He’s the first pitcher to lead the majors in ERA for three years in a row since Greg Maddux ( 1993- 95).
Kershaw’s performance was again reminiscent of Dodgers legend Sandy Koufax, who didn’t win the first of his three Cy Youngs until 27.
Kershaw went 16- 9 with a career- best 1.83 ERA while leading the league in strikeouts ( 232) and the majors in WHIP ( walks plus hits per innings pitched) at 0.915.
Only three times in 33 starts did Kershaw allow more than three earned runs in a game.
The Tigers also fell just shy of the World Series, but little went wrong for Scherzer. He won his first 13 decisions and started 19- 1 before finishing 21- 3 with a 2.90 ERA.
By coming of age as a pitcher at the right time, Scherzer has raised his market value to the point of prompting speculation that the Tigers might look to trade him this offseason.
Scherzer said he’d like to stay — at the right price.
“I am open ( to an extension). I love it in Detroit,” he said. “We’ve got a team that’s capable of winning every single year. Who wouldn’t want to be a part of that? I’m all about trying to win a World Series. I realize I have a good situation in Detroit. But it also takes two to dance.”