Congratulations Max!

Mandatory Credit: Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports

I would like to be the first to congratulate former Diamondbacks pitcher Max Scherzer on winning the American League Cy Young Award, given to the best pitcher in the AL.  It is a big accomplishment even if Scherzer is on a different team.  It has been four years since Scherzer last pitched for the Diamondbacks, but to me it seems like yesterday.  I remember when he was first called up in 2008 and then when he was traded to the Tigers in December of 2009 as part of a three-team trade between the Detroit Tigers and New York Yankees in which the Diamondbacks sent Scherzer and Daniel Schlereth to the Tigers, the Yankees sent Austin Jackson and Phil Coke to the Tigers and Ian Kennedy to the Diamondbacks, and the Tigers sent Curtis Granderson to the Yankees and Edwin Jackson to the Diamondbacks.

Looking back on that trade, none of the players Arizona traded for are still with the team as  Jackson is long gone, traded in July of 2010 to the Chicago White Sox for Daniel Hudson and David Holmberg, while  Kennedy was traded in September of this year to the San Diego Padres for Matt Stites and Joe Thatcher.  In other words the two pitchers we received for Scherzer never quite lived up to the hype and what Scherzer has been doing for the Tigers.  Granted with the D-backs he went 9-15 with a 3.86 ERA in two years and with the Tigers he is 64-30 with a 3.62 ERA in four seasons.  Obviously hindsight is always 20/20, but this is one trade I wish we could go back and reverse.  Scherzer is a great pitcher who I see having a bright future.  Congratulations again!

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