The results of the first poll are in, and it was a tie between Mark Teixeira and Miguel Cabrera among AL hitters. The next poll is National League pitchers. I excluded Johan Santana because I felt he was the most obvious choice. I also excluded young candidates such as Cole Hamels and Tim Lincecum because they have not yet pitched five seasons. Thus, four candidates emerged:
1) Jake Peavy: 87 wins, 2007 Cy Young winner, 2 All-Star appearances
2) Brandon Webb: 87 wins, 2006 Cy Young winner and runner up in 2007 and 2008, 3 All-Star appearances
3) Carlos Zambrano: 97 wins, 3 All-Star appearances, two-time Silver Slugger, no-hitter in 2008
4) Roy Oswalt: 129 wins, 3 All Star appearances
To this author, none of these four are a slam-dunk candidate for the Hall at this time. I also considered adding Tim Hudson to this poll (146-77, 3.48 career ERA), but with his Tommy John surgery I am hesitant to predict the future for him. Of these four, Brandon Webb seems to be the most likely to continue improving his game. Both Peavy and Oswalt have taken a step back in recent years, and Zambrano is volatile.
So this should be an interesting poll. Vote early and vote often.
The 2024 Chicago Cubs
22 hours ago
As of today, Oswalt. He has been very consistent since 2001. Peavy has been very up and down in his career.
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