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During the last week of the 2012 MLB season, 10 writers from Beyond the Box Score joined forces to create the greatest collaboration of baseball minds the world has ever known [citation needed]. This elite organization, known only as the BtBWAA, was formed for one and only one purpose: To conduct a player awards vote in which the truly meritorious take home the coveted hardware.
We've already announced our picks for MLB Executive of the Year, Silver Sluggers (AL, NL), Gold Gloves (AL, NL), and Rookies of the Year (AL, NL). This week, we turn our attention to the Cy Youngs, starting today with the American League.
Before we get to the results, a few words on the process. Voting began on October 1 (after 159 games had been played) and continued until October 5, with the balloting closing before the first playoff games started. Each writer voted for three candidates, with voting scored Each writer voted for three candidates, with ballots scored on a 9-7-5-3-1 basis.
Without further ado, here are the results:
Every major player award we've released so far has been unanimous, and Justin Verlander is keeping the streak alive with 10 first-place votes. Don't worry, devil's advocates—the NL results will be up on Thursday, and that one was quite close.
Felix Hernandez barely edges out David Price for second place—both if them also appeared on every ballot. Chris Sale rounds out the top tier while Yu Darvish, Max Scherzer, James Shields, CC Sabathia, Fernando Rodney, and Jered Weaver all got some support.
Personally, I voted for Verlander, Hernandez, Price, Sale, and Rodney in that order. So I'm pretty happy with the results.