Top 5 - NY Cy Young Candidates

Here are my top 5 choices for the NL Cy Young

1. Roger Clemens Astros
2. Chris Carpenter Cardinals
3. Dontrelle Willis Marlins
4. Pedro Martinez Mets
5. (tie) Roy Oswalt Astros (tie) John Smoltz Braves

Jake Peavy just misses the cut. In my mind his stats are aided by playing half his games in extreme pitcher's park Petco. Andy Pettitte also just misses the cut but 3 pitchers from the Astros would have been a bit much.

This race has the feel of 1990 when Clemens was beaten by Bob Welsh who had a career year. Welsh lead the league in wins but had an ERA a full run higher than Clemens. Welsh went 27-6 with a 2.95 ERA to win the award. Clemens went 21-6 with a 1.93 ERA. It should be noted that Welsh was supported by the awesome A's offense of McGwire, Canseco, Rickey Henderson and Carney Lansford while Carpenter has Pujols, Edmonds and Rolen. Carpenter leads Clemens by 5 wins but the ERA is not quite a run higher than Clemens (2.26 for Carpenter to Clemens 1.36).