THE WATERCOOLER

QUESTION: The American League Cy Young Award winner will be announced tomorrow. Who do you think deserves the award?

RICK HUMMEL
It should be very close between Kansas City’s Zack Greinke and Seattle’s Felix Hernandez but the nod here goes to Greinke by virtue of his 2.16 ERA, which is a full .33 ahead of Hernandez. Greinke also had 25 more strikeouts and his 16 wins compare to the 19 for Hernandez because Kansas City won 20 fewer games than Seattle.

JOE STRAUSS
Greinke will win the award and, who knows, he may actually deserve it. There’s a groundswell of support for Greinke because of what he overcame en route to this season. Media advocacy sent Albert Belle’s AL MVP to Mo Vaughn in 1995 and Andy Van Slyke’s (or Darryl Strawberry’s) NL MVP to Kirk Gibson in 1988. It happens. Greinke’s ERA is one-third run lower than his main competition, Seattle’s Felix Hernandez, who has been dismissed far too quickly by many. Hernandez ranked second in the AL in ERA while leading the league in wins and win percentage, numbers lampooned by spreadsheet types as statistics for the unwashed. Both pitchers deserve serious consideration. Greinke certainly received few favors via run support. In a close deliberation I’d side with him. However, it is curious to hear many espousing the virtues of ERA only four years after dismissing Roger Clemens’ claim as 2005 NL Cy Young over a pitcher with more wins but a noticeably higher ERA.

JEFF GORDON
I love Justin Verlander. He was nails for my fantasy baseball team this season. But . . . experts like Jayson Stark of ESPN have convinced me that Zack Greinke is the man. Pitching for that doomed team can’t be easy, but he had phenomenal stuff all season. His comeback story is compelling, too. Fans on Missouri’s West Coast need something to cheer about, so give it to Zack.

KEVIN WHEELER (Host of “Sports Open Line” on KMOX)
Zack Greinke. While I hate wins being used as a means to evaluate pitchers, I know that voters consider it and having 16 wins on a 65-win club that was the second-lowest scoring team in the American League should mean something to those voters. What I care more about is the fact that he had the lowest ERA in Major League Baseball. To me, the pitcher who allows the fewest runs per 9 innings is the one doing his job the best. Greinke was also 2nd in the AL in strikeouts and he held opposing hitters to a .230 average while notching 3 shutouts. A vote for CC Sabathia would be a crime. The only pitcher in the AL this year who was close to Greinke was Felix Hernandez, who should finish second but may ultimately edge out Greinke because he had 3 more wins on the season.

THE WATERCOOLER

QUESTION: Do you think the money the Yankees spend on payroll in any way diminishes their World Series championship? It seems many fans cry “foul” about the Yankees payroll. But don’t most fans want their favorite teams’ owners to spend as much as possible to field a winner?

JEFF GORDON
The high payroll absolutely diminishes the title. A team that outspends rivals by such an enormous margin should play in every World Series. Period. The Yankees can buy elite talent AND replace ineffective players on the fly AND buy quality replacements for injured guys. They can outspend their front-office mistakes and outspend any injury misfortune. They can keep spending all the way to the end of the season. The variables most franchises wrestle with from year to year don’t apply to the Yankees. The players still have to play, of course, but the Yankees should enter every postseason with the best team.

DERRICK GOOLD
Absolutely not. The money the Yankees threw at their lineup in no way diminishes their World Series title. It only gave them better access to October to win their 27th World Series. The notion that a championship can be bought in baseball is cliché and fiction. Big-budget payrolls only help a team like the Yankees avoid the cycle of competion we’ve seen from Florida, Tampa Bay, Cleveland, et al. The Yankees, Red Sox and, in some ways, the Cardinals defy the law of averages by spending enough to assure a place in the postseason. What they do when they get there has everything to do with how they spent their money, not how much they spent. All fans should want their teams to spend more, sure, but it’s much better to spend it more wisely.

RICK HUMMEL
Baseball had its best television ratings in years. People want to watch the Yankees — many to see them lose — but they are the best entertainment in the sport. The Yankees’ payroll was about the same as it was the previous season — of course, it was over $200 million.

DAN O’NEILL
I don’t think the Yankees’ payroll necessarily diminishes the World Series win. The Yankees have been baseball’s biggest spenders for many years, yet this is their first World Series win since 2000.

I think the picture is bigger. I think a lot of people feel anything the Yankees do is diminished because of their payroll budget. It certainly helps them be in position to contend on a regular basis. But if anything, in the big picture, the Yankees are living proof you cannot just go out and buy a championship. There’s more to it than that.

KEVIN WHEELER (Host of “Sports Open Line” on KMOX)
It doesn’t diminish what the Yankees players have done but it certainly illustrates how much easier it is for Brian Cashman and the Steinbrenners than it is for just about everyone else. They were unhappy with their team so they sign spent $340 million on Mark Teixeira and CC Sabathia in their effort to win another championship. Must be nice.

Interestingly enough, the Yankees payroll was actually down $8 million compared to 2008. Also, under the luxury tax system in MLB, the more you spend the more you wind up handing off to other teams. The Yankees are going to pay $27 million in luxury tax for 2009 on top of their $201,449,189 payroll and by the time that check clears they will have paid $175 million in luxury taxes over the last 7 years.

What’s ironic to me is that so many Americans cry foul about “sharing the wealth” when those words are uttered within the political spectrum, yet that’s exactly the kind of system they want for their sports leagues. Interesting dichotomy, no? I like the “free market with limits” rules that Major League Baseball has compared to the strict spread-the-wealth-evenly systems in the NBA, NHL and NFL, but fans seem to gravitate toward those systems. I like the idea that owners in baseball can do whatever they want — as long as they’re willing to pay the price of doing business like the Yankees do.

THE WATERCOOLER
(Post-Dispatch columnists and beat writers share their thoughts on a question of the day.)

Question: Is there anything that the Cardinals did or didn’t do at this year’s winter meetings that surprised you?

BERNIE MIKLASZ
No surprises here, because I had low expectations, but I was caught a little off guard by their interest in Brian Fuentes. I assumed he’d be out of their price range. We’ll see what happens. But I do think GM John Mozeliak made good use of his time. He takes a methodical approach and the winter meetings were a prime opportunity for Mozeliak to set the table for deals to come later.

JOE STRAUSS
I’m surprised to the degree the Cardinals have shown their willingness to deal Rick Ankiel for pitching help. Likewise, it’s surprising the market is so tepid for a player of Ankiel’s talent, but the explanation can be found in the overabundance of outfielders in the free agent market.

DERRICK GOOLD
On Monday evening, Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak dismissed his team’s chances of signing Brian Fuentes and doubted they would even engage the lefty in talks. At the same time, the market was pushing them together. I wasn’t so much surprised by what the Cardinals did or didn’t do at these winter meetings, but I am surprised by what these meetings and this market could allow them to do. The closer they needed and couldn’t afford has dropped into their bidding bracket. The starter they must have for depth will still be around in January. The Cardinals may have had a best-case scenario calculated for this offseason, but even their rainbow dreams and pigs-fly aspirations couldn’t have looked as good for them as what has actually happened. Now, all they have to do is pull it off.

RICK HUMMEL
I’m not surprised that nothing major happened for the Cardinals. Sometimes the meetings serve more as groundwork. They’ll get a closer sooner than later but there will be plenty of starting pitchers out there, even into spring training when needs can better be identified.

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MIDDAY NEWS AND THOUGHTS

BIG APPLE BITES BACK: If CC Sabathia had landed in St. Louis, I think folks here would be doing cartwheels. Not necessarily so in The Big Apple. In fact, New York Daily News columnist Mike Lupica takes the Yankees to task today about the $161 million deal. Lupica points out that though the Yankees like to talk about their farm system, that’s just talk. He adds that the team shelled out the richest pitching contract ever just a year after they didn’t make the playoffs and right before they are about to move into a new ballpark … and they’ll ask the fans to pay for it. “The Yankees panhandle like this in broad daylight, by the way, and without a hint of embarrassment,” Lupica says.

Welcome to New York, CC.

WHEN ONE DOOR CLOSES: Blues goalie Manny Legace is day-to-day after being kneed in the head last night; here’s Chris Mason’s chance to show he’s the man … The Rams game will be blacked out locally this week; local football fans should now have the chance to see a good game on TV Sunday … The Cardinals appear to be leaving Las Vegas without pitching help; that just means the top of the tree hasn’t been pared enough yet … The Mets land closers Francisco Rodriguez AND J.J. Putz; that should clear away some of that pesky primo fruit … The Avalanche’s Joe Sakic breaks three fingers in a snowblower accident; it doesn’t affect the back injury that was supposed to keep him out until mid-January anyway … Pacman Jones’ is likely out for season due to a neck injury; at least no one else got hurt … Three Heisman finalists are announced; Chase Daniel is spared a trip to New York and can go ahead and start packing for San Antonio.

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SOMETHING TO PONDER

DROPPING THE GLOVES: When Blues enforcer D.J. King went down with an injury earlier this season, I didn’t know if hometown boy Cam Janssen had the size needed to keep other teams honest. But the intensity Janssen brings to a brawl is something to behold and I’ve seen him bring the Scottrade crowds to their feet on many nights. Janssen may look small compared to some of the league’s other enforcers, but so far he has seemed to hold his own — and then some. And when the fight is over and he skates toward the box, Janssen just has this crazy-eyed expression that says, “Wow, that was fun.”

But how good is Janssen as a fighter? To answer that question I called up former Blues enforcer Reed Low and ask him to share his thoughts with me on the subject. Below is what he had to say:

REED LOW: Cam Janssen is pound-for-pound one of the toughest kids I’ve seen or played against since Tie Domi in his early days, when Domi used to beat down the biggest and toughest guys in the league. One of the things that makes Cam special is that his punching power is so much better than I have seen on a lot of guys twice his size. Mix that with his unusually long reach for a shorter guy and he can catch the big guys when they think they have him.

Before I retired, Cam and I used to train together boxing, and he hit the bag so hard it reminded me of Ivan Drago (Rocky IV). When Cam throws a punch in games, he pulls with the other hand to bring the opponent into him. That works for him because he is so strong that most guys can’t fend it off, and if they try and go toe-to-toe, Cam is willing and most likely to put the guy’s nose in line with his ears.

The biggest asset Cam has is his love of fighting. I had it too, and I loved to scare the other team and was a little crazy just to make sure that they knew I could go off. Cam has this burning in his blood and it is what makes him so good at what he does. He loves it … and I mean he loves it. Cam dreams about kicking people’s (behinds). He is working on his timing this year and he’s getting some ice time and trying to balance both jobs — which is by far the hardest job in the league.

But the best thing about Cam is that off the ice he has a huge heart and would do anything for anyone. He is the first to charity events and the last to leave. This is how most tough guys in the league are because they appreciate what they have and that people enjoy what they do. I hope that the league will recognize this instead of trying to eliminate it. This breed of player is far more that just hockey fighters, they are the fight in hockey. And without the Cam Janssens of hockey, it is nothing more than another Olympic sport.

EDITOR’S NOTE: In case you’ve forgotten how Reed Low patrolled the ice for the Blues, I nabbed this highlight video off of youtube. Enjoy.

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STAT OF THE DAY

11,271 yards — That Jacksonville running back Fred Taylor will miss the rest of the season because of an injury is not all that surprising given his injury history. What is surprising is that his 11,271 rushing yards ranks 16th all-time in the NFL. That’s pretty exclusive company. A look at Taylor and those above him in all-time rushing yards.

1. Emmitt Smith — 18,355
2. Walter Payton — 16,726
3. Barry Sanders — 15,269
4. Curtis Martin — 14,101
5. Jerome Bettis — 13,662
6. Eric Dickerson — 13,259
7. Tony Dorsett — 12,739
8. Jim Brown — 12,312
9. Marshall Faulk — 12,279
10. Marcus Allen — 12,243
11. Franco Harris — 12,120
12. Thurman Thomas — 12,074
13. Edgerrin James* — 12,002
14. LaDainian Tomlinson* — 11,535
15. John Riggins — 11,352
16. Fred Taylor* — 11,271

* active players

THE WATERCOOLER

(Post-Dispatch columnists and beat writers share their thoughts on a question of the day.)

Question: Did the Yankees overspend for CC Sabathia?

RICK HUMMEL
For anybody else, I would say yes. The Yankees, no. With a new ballpark and huge ticket prices (they will be sold out every game), the Yankees have almost unlimited resources. They also haven’t been to the World Series since 2003 and haven’t won it since 2000. And what better way to move the Mets and K-Rod off the back pages than to sign CC?

DERRICK GOOLD
Yes. But when has that ever stopped them? It’s like Atlanta manager Bobby Cox said here Monday: “You’ve got to do what you’ve got to do.” That’s what the Yankees had to do.

BRYAN BURWELL
The Yanks probably did overspend on him, but when you’re basically negotiating against yourself, that usually happens. But here’s the bigger puzzle with the Sabathia deal. Does he really want to be in NY in the first place or is he only going because the money is so overwhelming? By all indications, that extra year at $20 million seems to be a NYC usage tax (he clearly was reluctant to go there and that extra money and length of contract was what it took to get him to sign). And that puts him in a delicate competitive predicament with Yankee fans, who are harsh and overly demanding anyway. It’s no exageration (well, a slight one) to believe that Sabathia will be expected by Yankee fans to produce nothing less than three Cy Youngs, three World Series rings and a couple World Series MVPs. I just hope he has the guts to deal with the ridiculous expectations that come with playing in the city. Not everyone can handle it.

JEFF GORDON
Yes, the Yankees overspent for Sabathia. The franchise can afford to overspend, but that doesn’t make it smart. CC is the ultimate workhorse, but he does NOT bring New York a classic shutdown postseason starter. New York could have purchased a couple of other high-end hurlers for that same price. And imagine what $161 million over seven years would yield through the traditional means of team building. For that kind of money, a franchise could clean up in Latin America and grab one of the Scott Boras pitching studs in each amateur draft (they usually drop to the big spenders). That money could allow a franchise to build the best-ever scouting network and flood its minor-league system with elite instructors.

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MIDDAY NEWS AND THOUGHTS

MARQUIS JAMMING UP MARQUEE DEAL: According to a report in the San Diego Union-Tribune, former-Cardinal and current-Cubs pitcher Jason Marquis might be part of the holdup in the Cubs getting Jake Peavy from the Padres. Marquis, who has been on the trade block for weeks, “has been the hangup” to getting the Peavy talks moving, the paper reports. The Padres want the Cubs to pay more than half of Marquis’ salary if they take him. Other clubs also are asking for a large discount.

Imagine that, Marquis finally doing something to help the Cardinals.

IT COULD BE WORSE: As Cardinal fans wait … and wait … and wait to see what GM John Mozeliak is able to get done at this week’s winter meetings, just remember that it could be worse. You could be a Brewers fan. Not only did the Brewers lose Sabathia to the Yankees via free agency, but they are likely to see the longtime pitching face of the club, Ben Sheets, walk away soon, too. That’s a heavy hit for any rotation. And the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that the Yankees signing of Sabathia was the ulimate rude awakening for Brewers GM Doug Melvin.

I guess the Brewers got what they wanted out of their short-term “rental” of Sabathia — a playoff appearance. But for that brief postseason appearance the Brewers dealt über-prospect Matt LaPorta (coming to a Major League outfield near you soon) to Cleveland along with three other minor leaguers. On the flipside, as Class A free agents, Sabathia and Sheets will net the Brewers two high picks next June after they’ve both signed with other clubs. So there is that.

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A FEW THINGS TO PONDER

IF A TREE FALLS IN THE FOREST … If the Rams final two home games of the season (vs. Seattle Sunday and San Francisco Dec. 21) are blacked-out on TV because of an abundance of tickets remaining, will anyone notice? I don’t know how anyone can blame fans for not buying tickets. I’ve been to almost every home game this season and with the team often trailing by huge margins by halftime, the environment is miserable. And I’m getting paid to be there.

THE STEEN MACHINE: Folks let me know yesterday that they thought I was a little premature in judging Blues acquisition Alex Steen. Per my expectations, many of you correctly reminded me that Brad Boyes didn’t exactly burn it up upon his arrival with the Blues either. But that’s worked out OK. Then Tom Timmermann does an excellent piece on Steen in this morning’s paper that points out that the kid definitely has skills, but perhaps he just needs time to find his niche with his new team. Taking all of that into account, I’m calling myself out and taking a wait-and-see approach. And if he starts to light the lamp with some regularity at any point this season, feel free to remind me not to be so quick to pass judgment next time.

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STAT OF THE DAY

5.4 — That’s the yards-per-carry through 13 games this season for Carolina RB DeAngelo Williams. Questioned as an every-down back while splitting carries with DeShaun Foster the past two seasons, and still overlooked among the games’s elite runners, Williams has carried the ball 213 times for 1,144 yards and 13 TDs. For good measure, he’s tacked on two TDs receiving also. The scary thing is imagining Williams numbers if his teammate, rookie running back Jonathan Stewart, hadn’t siphoned off 141 carries (to the tune of 5.0 YPC and 8 TDs.)