Wednesday was a big day for pitchers. Shane Bieber unanimously won the American League Cy Young Award, while Trevor Bauer ran away with a National Cy Young Award that seemed to be a closer call than the votes ultimately showed. Bauer won 27 of 30 first-place votes, with runner-up Yu Darvish taking the other three.
The White Sox can claim a certain amount of success, because Dallas Keuchel finished only five points off the podium in the American League, with Lucas Giolito a more distant seventh:
- Shane Bieber, 210 points
- Kenta Maeda, 92
- Hyun-Jin Ryu, 51
- Gerrit Cole, 50
- Dallas Keuchel, 46
- Lance Lynn, 22
- Lucas Giolito, 18
- Chris Bassitt, 10
The biggest surprise on that list is Bassitt, because he managed to post a 2.29 ERA over 11 regular-season starts without getting the chance to muzzle his former team even once. Of course, he capitalized on his postseason opportunity, which probably counts more.
Keuchel didn't have the postseason he wanted, but just about everything else was gravy. He posted a 1.99 ERA over his 11 starts and 63⅓ innings, and while history will note that 2020 wasn't a standard season and the abbreviation minimized complications from Keuchel's back spasms, the White Sox can claim they got a top-five Cy Young finish from one of their two marquee free agents. Offseason signings during the Rick Hahn era tend to be as bad as they looked, so I won't fault anybody for enjoying a free agent performance that's maybe a little too good to be true.
(Also, if Giolito is at a point where a seventh-place finish in Cy Young voting feels disappointing, everybody involved is in a great place.)
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As for future free agent pursuits, the pitching market narrowed considerably on Wednesday, because both Kevin Gausman and Marcus Stroman accepted the one-year, $18.9 million qualifying offer. Gausman wasn't a surprise, if only because of his sketchy track record and rumors that the Giants had an interest in locking him up for longer.
Stroman was reportedly leaning toward rejecting the qualifying offer, and his tweeted rejection of the White Sox's hiring of Tony La Russa suggested he had an eye on the open market. Perhaps he likes what new Mets owner Steve Cohen might have in mind.
Stroman's decision registers as a blow to a number of White Sox fans, at least if the Offseason Plan Project is any indication. Stroman wasn't just the most popular free agent pitcher in the O.P.P. -- he was the most popular free agent period. His name showed up in a whopping 48 of 109 offseason plans, or 11 more than the next-most in-demand player. That's Jose Quintana, whom most of our GMs had the idea of acquiring for a much lower rate.
Gausman appeared in only seven plans, which struck me as a little low for a guy who resembled a real-deal third behind Giolito and Keuchel, at least in last year's form. Then again, the valuations were all over the place, so perhaps people didn't feel comfortable assigning a significant number on such an erratic track record.
The market is considerably thinner now, especially with the high-variance Robbie Ray heading back to Toronto on a one-year deal. Here's how they rank in terms of Offseason Plan Project popularity:
Marcus Stroman (48)- José Quintana (37)
- Trevor Bauer (25)
- Taijuan Walker (9)
Kevin Gausman (7)- Masahiro Tanaka (4)
- Mike Minor (4)
- James Paxton (4)
- Corey Kluber (3)
- Adam Wainright (3)
- Brett Anderson, Anthony DeSclafani (2)
Also receiving support: Chris Archer, Jake Arrieta, Ross Detwiler, Mike Fiers, Mike Leake, Collin McHugh, Jimmy Nelson, Jake Odorizzi, Garrett Richards, Matt Shoemaker, Tomoyuki Sugano, Drew Smyly.
Options remain, but the White Sox now have to spend top-of-market money to get a free agent who stands a good chance at making Keuchel the third starter instead of the second. That's the goal, because as we saw in the reviews of last year's front-line starting pitchers and starter depth, teams generally got what they paid for. With Bauer now having a Cy Young to his name, his price tag won't be coming down any. At least he's not preemptively crossing the White Sox off his list.
(Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire)
