All MVP arguments, in some way and at some point, are about value. That is, quite literally, the name of the exercise. Many Cy Young arguments feel fundamentally similar, but there’s a crucial distinction to be made: Value is not in the name, or on the award, or anywhere else here. The Cy Young is given to each league’s most outstanding pitcher, not the most valuable. There isn’t much of a functional difference between “outstanding” and “valuable”; baseball certainly doesn’t emphasize it, and maybe it shouldn’t. Maybe it’s just semantics. But it’s also useful context, no matter how pedantic, and a handy framework for the 2018 AL Cy Young race.
Chris Sale and Blake Snell Are Compiling an AL Cy Young Race for the Ages
