The Final Score

I have no idea how the voting it going to turn out, but my quick analysis is the NL Cy Young award should go to the Giants' Tim Lincecum.

Why? Because he was the best pitcher in the NL in 2008.

Brad Lidge had a perfect season, but 41 saves isn't that many these days. He'd have to get closer to 50 to get the top spot on my ballot.

CC Sabathia? 11-2 in a half-season with the Brewers? Nice, and worthy of MVP consideration more than Cy Young.

Here's what MLB.com says about Lincecum. I could plagiarize it or re-phrase to sound like I'm really smart and have a lot of stats at my fingertips, but this is a blog, not a newspaper story, so I can just copy it and give them the credit:

The youngster notched an eye-popping 18-5 record for a team that lost 90 games. Lincecum posted an NL-best 2.62 ERA, a .221 opponents' batting average and a Major League-leading 265 strikeouts. He finished prominently in the pitching Triple Crown categories, as he led in strikeouts while finishing second in wins and ERA. He also led the NL in fewest hits per nine innings (7.22). Among NL pitchers, only Johan Santana had a better ERA, while only Adam Wainwright had a better winning percentage.

I'm sold. Lincecum it is. Then Lidge, then Sabathia, then Santana, then Brandon Webb.

I would have given it to Webb, but then I would have had to listen to Davidoff talking about how meaningless wins are.