The win was already dead

Wednesday was Cy Young day for baseball, the second-to-last day of awards before we can really get the offseason going. The American League was the more exciting race, and Blake Snell ended up winning, but the National League is getting most of the publicity. Jacob deGrom unsurprisingly ran away with that one, receiving all but one first-place vote. Everyone expected this to happen, but the takes are still coming because the takes can never stop. The most common takeaway from this win: The win stat is officially dead. This is true, but it’s true in the same way that Elvis is officially dead.

Wins or no wins, deGrom winning this award is not something that only would have happened in this new baseball environment of 2018. The Mets ace almost certainly would have taken this home last year, and the year before that, and the year before that, and the year before that, and you get the point. This wasn’t just a good year in which he didn’t happen to win many games. This was a downright bananas, silly season in which his team seemingly conspired against him to keep his win total down. Honestly, the only thing as impressive as deGrom’s work on the mound was his teammates’ work at the plate and in the field to prevent him from racking up W’s. But again, these kinds of seasons get rewarded, and have for years. deGrom only won ten games, but it was eight years ago now that Felix Hernandez won the American League Cy Young with only 13 wins. This isn’t an entirely new phenomenon.

Now, are there still people who emphasize wins more than they should? Yes, of course. And is it still possible to get unlucky and draw s Cy Young voting pool that disproportionately features voters like that? I suppose, though it’s very unlikely. There are people pointing to Blake Snell’s victory as evidence that wins do matter (hello, John Smoltz), but obviously Snell did a lot more than just win games. The majority of people recognize that, though the minority can still be vocal enough to make the group seem larger than it is. The win has been dead for a long time. deGrom’s 2018 should be celebrated for its greatness every chance we get, but it wasn’t the season that killed the win.

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