Baseball Capsules: New-age stats shed light on old Cy Young votes

For so many years, the formula for winning a Cy Young Award was pretty simple: Win a lot of games.

Denny McLain was a unanimous pick in 1968 and deservedly so. He posted 31 victories — the combined total of this year’s Cy Young starters, Tim Lincecum and Zack Greinke.

A whopping win total, a good ERA and a bunch of strikeouts often brought home the hardware.

But the perception of pitching has changed, with fans and voters now relying more heavily on new-age stats such as WHIP (hits plus walks per inning) and FIP (a designer equation that factors out a team’s defensive ability).

Pitchers have taken notice, too. Greinke talked about his Fielding Independent Pitching after this week’s win and Lincecum pointed to his WHIP.

A look back at some Cy Young races and how they might’ve been seen under modern light:

2005 AL: Bartolo Colon leads the league at 21-8 and takes the award by a wide margin. Johan Santana is a distant third at 16-7, despite a better ERA (2.87 to 3.48), more strikeouts (238 to 157) and being the only starter in the AL with a WHIP under 1.00.

1998 NL: Tom Glavine takes the award as the league’s only 20-game winner. Braves teammate Greg Maddux is way back in fourth place with an ERA that’s a quarter-run better. Maddux is the lone NL pitcher with a WHIP under 1.00; Glavine isn’t in the top 10.

1996 NL: John Smoltz is the overwhelming pick with 24 wins and 276 strikeouts. Kevin Brown barely gets a look with 17 victories — plus an ERA that’s a full run better and a more impressive WHIP.

1993 AL: Jack McDowell goes 22-10 with a 3.37 ERA for the White Sox and is an easy winner. Kevin Appier is far back in third at 18-8 with a 2.56 ERA and a sizable edge in WHIP.

1990 AL: Bob Welch breezes on the strength of 27 wins for Oakland. Roger Clemens is runner-up with 21 wins despite a 1.93 ERA that’s a run under Welch’s, more strikeouts and a better WHIP.

Pricey gift: MLB offers Series film set for $2,229

NEW YORK — Major League Baseball has the perfect gift to bust a budget in a recession.

A 20-DVD set of World Series films can be bought for $2,229, and it contains authenticated autographs of 12 Hall of Famers, including Yogi Berra, Bob Gibson, Reggie Jackson and Mike Schmidt.

A limited edition run of 100 sets was put together by Major League Baseball Productions, A&E Home Entertainment and Mounted Memories, the companies said Friday.

There are 65 films from 1943-08 that run for more than 50 hours. The package also has autographs from Johnny Bench, Gary Carter, Bob Feller, Rollie Fingers, Carlton Fisk, Whitey Ford, Brooks Robinson and Bruce Sutter.

MLB spokesman Jeff Heckelman said the set is also available without the autographs for $179.99 on MLB.com and in stores with a suggested retail price of $229.

National League

Grabow gets $7.5 million, 2-year deal from Cubs

CHICAGO — Pitcher John Grabow became the first of the 171 free agents to reach agreement on a new deal, getting a $7.5 million, two-year contract Friday from the Chicago Cubs.

The 31-year-old left-hander combined to go 3-0 with a 3.36 ERA last season in a career-high 75 relief appearances with the Pittsburgh Pirates and Cubs.

"I pretty much let everyone know before I left there that I wanted to come back. It’s a good situation for me and my family," said Grabow, who said he has a house in Arizona where the Cubs conduct spring training.

Staying in the NL Central and being with a veteran club were also appealing for Grabow.

"It was kind of a no-brainer," he said.

He pitched 30 games and had a 3.24 ERA for the Cubs after he was acquired on July 30 along with left-hander Tom Gorzelanny for pitchers Jose Ascanio and Kevin Hart, and minor league infielder Josh Harrison.

Selected by the Pirates in the third round of the 1997 amateur draft, Grabow is 20-15 with six saves and a 4.03 ERA in 420 major league relief appearances with the Pirates and Cubs.

As one of the Cubs most experienced relievers, Grabow said he has no preference what his role might be.

"If it’s the sixth inning or if it’s the ninth inning, it doesn’t matter. Your job is to go in there and get guys out," he said.

Grabow said he’d been pitching with bone chips in his elbow for about three years, but it hasn’t been a major issue.

"Throwing a baseball for all these years your arm is going to develop different things that are just part of the wear and tear," he said. "It’s something you learn to manage and I got a routine I do every day before the game starts to prepare my arm to be able to pitch that day."

Nationals add McLaren, Lett, Radison as coaches

WASHINGTON — Former Seattle Mariners manager John McLaren was hired Friday as bench coach for the Washington Nationals, who rounded out manager Jim Riggleman’s staff by also adding Jim Lett as bullpen coach and Dan Radison as first-base coach.

McLaren replaces Pat Corrales, Lett takes over for Randy Knorr, and Radison replaces Marquis Grissom.

Hitting coach Rick Eckstein, pitching coach Steve McCatty and third-base coach Pat Listach will keep their jobs with the Nationals in 2010.

Riggleman was McLaren’s bench coach with Seattle at the start of 2008, then replaced him as the team’s manager when McLaren was fired during that season.

McLaren was a special assignment scout for the Tampa Bay Rays in 2009.

Lett was a coach in Milwaukee’s minor league system the past two years and has been a bench coach for four clubs during 11 major league seasons.

Radison was the minor league hitting instructor for St. Louis the past three seasons.

Knorr is going to be the manager of Washington’s Double-A Harrisburg affiliate next season. Grissom was offered another job within the Nationals organization but did not accept it.

Corrales will return to being a special consultant to general manager Mike Rizzo. Corrales held that role before shifting to the dugout when Riggleman was promoted from bench coach to replace fired manager Manny Acta in July. Riggleman managed on an interim basis through the end of last season, then was given the permanent job last week.

Nationals top pick Strasburg won’t need surgery

WASHINGTON — The Nationals say No. 1 draft pick Stephen Strasburg has a dislocation in his left knee joint and should be fine for spring training.

Strasburg was examined Friday by Dr. Lewis Yocum in Los Angeles. The Nationals say Strasburg will not require surgery, and that treatment will include rest and physical therapy.

The San Diego State right-hander twisted his knee during a workout Thursday and has been scratched from his start in the Arizona Fall League championship game.

Strasburg also was held out of a scheduled start in the Arizona Fall League Rising Stars game Nov. 7 because of a strained neck muscle.

Strasburg signed a record $15.1 million contract after being the top pick in June’s amateur draft.

Cardinals announce season ticket pricing

ST. LOUIS — St. Louis Cardinals season ticket prices are increasing an average of 3 percent next year.

The club said Friday that nearly one-third of season ticket holders will have no price increase and about half will see an increase of $1 or less per ticket.

The Cardinals say most of the areas with price increases have been flat since 2006. About a quarter of Cardinals tickets are less than $20.

The Cardinals drew 3.3 million fans last season.

Rockies add 5 to 40-man roster

DENVER — The Colorado Rockies have added four right-handed pitchers and a catcher to the 40-man roster.

The Rockies now have 38 players on the roster with the additions Friday of pitchers Alberto Alburquerque, Edgmer Escalona, Juan Nicasio and Chaz Roe, along with catcher Michael McKenry.

All were in the minor leagues last season.

American League

Indians add 7 to 40-man roster

CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Indians have added pitchers Kelvin De La Cruz of Class-A Mahoning Valley and Jeanmar Gomez of Double-A Akron and five other minor leaguers to their 40-man roster.

The other additions announced Friday were infielder-outfielder Jordan Brown and infielders Jason Donald and Wes Hodges of Triple-A Columbus, and infielder Carlos Rivero and outfielder Nick Weglarz of Akron.

De La Cruz went 2-0 with a 1.50 ERA in two starts at Class-A Kinston and missed the rest of the regular season with a strained left elbow. The 21-year-old left-hander later made three starts for the Arizona Rookie League club in Goodyear, Ariz.

Gomez, a 21-year-old righty, went 12-6 with a 3.30 ERA in 26 starts at Kinston and Akron.

Chicago White Sox close to deal with Omar Vizquel

CHICAGO — The Chicago White Sox are closing in on a contract agreement with free agent shortstop Omar Vizquel.

The deal could be announced as soon as Monday, according to a person familiar with the negotiations who spoke on condition of anonymity because the team has not commented.

Vizquel, who will be 43 in April, has played 21 major league seasons. Last year he was in a utility role with the Texas Rangers, playing shortstop, third base and second base while appearing in 62 games. He batted .266.

Vizquel, who broke in with the Mariners in 1989, has long been known as one of the game’s best fielding shortstops. He’s also played for the Indians and Giants. He is a career .273 hitter with 2,704 hits in 2,742 games.

Vizquel would give the White Sox depth and experience as a backup in the infield where newly acquired Mark Teahen will play third, Alexei Ramirez will be at short and Gordon Beckham will switch from to second. Vizquel would play for fellow Venezuelan Ozzie Guillen, who will be 46 in January.

Chicago had no comment on the deal Friday.

The imminent agreement was first reported by Foxsports.com

-- Rick Gano

College

Arizona State baseball coach Murphy resigns

TEMPE, Ariz. — Pat Murphy has resigned after 15 seasons as baseball coach at Arizona State.

No reason was given for the surprise move, which was announced by the university in a brief news release on Friday.

The colorful and often outspoken Murphy led the Sun Devils to the College World Series four times — 1998, 2005, 2007 and 2009. The program has produced several major league players, including Andre Ethier of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Dustin Pedroia of the Boston Red Sox, who appeared along with Muhammad Ali at a recent Murphy fundraiser.

He took over the historically successful Sun Devil program in August 1994 after seven seasons at Notre Dame. Under Murphy, Arizona State compiled a 629-284-1 record.

"Coach Murphy has an outstanding record of success on the playing field," athletic director Lisa Love said in a prepared statement. "I thank him for 16 years of hard work and service to the university and the sport."

The Sun Devils had won the last three Pac-10 titles, with Murphy named conference coach of the year each time. Murphy, 50, had offered no hint publicly of his impending resignation in recent interviews.

The move creates a vacancy in one of the most attractive jobs in college baseball. The university said an interim coach would be named, and a national search for a permanent replacement would begin immediately.

Murphy was just the third coach in Arizona State’s modern baseball history, following Jim Brock and Bobby Winkles.

Murphy could not be reached for comment. The university said his cell phone was broken.

His overall record at Maryville, Tenn., Claremonte-Mudd Scripps, Notre Dame and Arizona State is 1,000-457-4. Murphy’s final Arizona State team finished 51-14.