Kershaw received 29 of the 30 first-place votes. The Cardinals' finished second Adam Wainwright finished second and the Marlins' Jose Fernandez -- who was named NL Rookie of the Year on Monday -- finished third.
Kershaw had his best season to date, posting a 1.83 ERA. It was the first time a starter has done that since 2000 (Pedro Martinez), and the first time it's been done in the NL since 1995 (Greg Maddux).
To go along with his ML-leading ERA (for the third straight year), he posted a ML-best 0.91 WHIP, a 6.3 hits per nine innings, a 2.0 BB/9 and an 8.8 K/9. Coincidentally, it was the first time in Kershaw's career he didn't strike out at least a batter an inning.
He also had a 6.5 WAR, 2.39 FIP and 2.88 xFIP. And he's about to get paid.
Kershaw is going into the last year of arbitration and is set to make roughly $18.25 million. The Dodgers have been trying to get him signed long-term, and I think it'll happen sooner rather than later. The Dodgers -- despite their seemingly infinite money -- can't afford to let Kershaw reach free agency. He's the best pitcher on this planet and should be paid as such.
Kershaw beat out Roy Halladay for the Cy Young award in 2011 and finished second to R.A. Dickey last year (a race he probably should have won).
Congrats, Clayton. Now how about some World Series hardware?
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Nick Punto signed with the A's today. He's guaranteed $3 million for the 2014 season and has a vesting option for the 2015 season.
Punto was surprisingly not terrible this season, but I think I summed up his season with a tweet earlier.
No more head-first slides at 1B or getting picked off 2B in the playoffs. You won't be missed, Punto (but you were better than expected).
— Dustin Nosler (@FeelinKindaBlue) November 13, 2013
Happy trails, Lil' Pony (never liked that nickname anyway).
Photo credit: Dustin Nosler, Feelin' Kinda Blue
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