Jesse joined ESPN Chicago in September 2009 and covers MLB for ESPN.com.
San Diego Padres starter Blake Snell won his second Cy Young Award on Wednesday, this time in the National League, while New York Yankees hurler Gerrit Cole took home his first award unanimously after twice coming in second and finishing in the top five three other times.
Snell became the seventh player — and second left-hander — to win the award in each league, joining Gaylord Perry, Pedro Martinez, Randy Johnson, Roger Clemens, Roy Halladay and Max Scherzer. He previously won the AL Cy Young while a member of the Tampa Bay Rays in 2018.
“It feels amazing,” Snell said. “It definitely feels good and I’m trying to enjoy this more than the first one I won.”
Snell was 14-9 with an MLB-leading 2.25 ERA and 180 innings pitched in 2023. He also gave up the fewest hits (5.8) per nine innings while leading the majors in walks (99).
He’s the third pitcher to win the award while leading his league in free passes. Bob Turley and Early Wynn did it in 1958 and 1959, respectively.
Snell said he didn’t concern himself with walks, as he and Padres pitching coach Ruben Niebla simply focused on getting outs.
“Me and Ruben kind of just throughout the year were like, ‘The walks don’t matter,'” Snell said. “If you walk a guy, who cares, let’s get the next guy. ‘You got nasty stuff, believe in it and attack the zone, you’re going to be fine.'”
Snell also ranked first in opponent slugging percentage (.286) and second in strikeout percentage (31.5).
He’s the 22nd pitcher overall to win the award multiple times.
Asked how he’s a different pitcher now than when he won it the first time, Snell answered, “I was a kid. I thought I was going to win 40 of them. I thought I was invincible. I thought winning the Cy Young was just what I was going to do every year.”
Snell, who turns 31 next month, became a free agent after the World Series and rejected a $20,325,000 qualifying offer from the Padres on Tuesday to pursue a more lucrative contract.
“I haven’t thought about free agency at all, one time,” Snell said. “So I’ve just been really focused on this day, winning this award in front of my friends and family. From here forward, I’ll be thinking about free agency a lot more. Obviously, that’s next now.”
The four previous San Diego pitchers to win the Cy Young Award were Randy Jones (1976), Perry (1978), reliever Mark Davis (1989) and Jake Peavy (2007).
Snell received 28 of 30 first-place votes in balloting by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. San Francisco Giants right-hander Logan Webb finished second and Zac Gallen of the NL champion Arizona Diamondbacks was third. Webb and Gallen each received one first-place vote.
Cole, 33, was 15-4 with an AL-leading 2.63 ERA and league-high 209 innings. He also led the league in fewest hits allowed (6.8) per nine innings, as well as WHIP (0.981). He’s the second No. 1 overall pick to take home the award, joining David Price in 2012.
Cole was asked if it meant more to him to win the award as a member of the Yankees, the team he followed as a kid.
“It does,” he said. “It’s just such an historical franchise with such historical players, and it is just a bit surreal to be regarded with — just for example, the other five award winners that we’ve had over the years.”
Cole became the sixth Yankees pitcher to win a Cy Young and first since Roger Clemens in 2001, following Ron Guidry, Sparky Lyle, Whitey Ford and Turley. Cole and Guidry are the only unanimous winners for New York.
Cole finished fourth in voting for the NL Cy Young in 2015 while in Pittsburgh, then had a string of top-five finishes from 2018 to 2021. The six-time All-Star was runner-up for the AL Cy Young in 2019 while a member of the Houston Astros and in 2021 with the Yankees.
Cole credited a certain amount of comfortability as a contributing factor to his outstanding season.
“Taking lessons that I’ve learned in the past and applying them forward, always trying to evolve,” he explained. “I definitely feel more comfortable where we’re at, but the more settled my family and the more settled the organization and the city is rebounding off the pandemic, I think that overall contributes to at least feeling comfortable and getting things started off on the right foot.”
Castillo gets a $250,000 bonus for coming in fifth in the American League. Gray earned a $150,000 bonus and Gausman $100,000.
Cole reminisced about two of his favorite days of the season, including his final start when he authored a complete game shutout.
“Starting the All-Star Game was definitely a cherry on [top],” Cole said. “That was a wonderful day. And the last game of the season that I pitched in Toronto. I don’t know how many more starts in the All-Star will come around. That one was pretty special for me.”
Veteran left-handed pitcher Jose Quintana is joining the Milwaukee Brewers on a one-year, $4.25 million deal with $1 million in potential bonuses, according to multiple reports.
Quintana, 36, is coming off a 2024 season in which he went 10-10 with a 3.75 ERA in 31 starts for the New York Mets. He struck out 135 and walked 63 in 170⅓ innings. Over his past six regular-season starts, Quintana gave up four runs — three earned — in 36 1/3 innings.
He started the deciding game of New York’s NL Wild Card Series matchup with the Brewers and pitched six shutout innings in the Mets’ 4-2 victory, though he received no decision. Quintana had a total of three postseason starts, allowing six runs — five earned — over 14 1/3 innings.
The Brewers could use some rotation depth as two-time All-Star Brandon Woodruff and Robert Gasser come back from injuries. Woodruff missed all of 2024 while recovering from shoulder surgery, and he won’t be ready for the start of the season. Gasser, who is recovering from Tommy John surgery, isn’t expected to be available until late in the season.
Milwaukee got more bad news Monday night when left-hander Aaron Ashby, a candidate for a rotation spot, left his start against the Cincinnati Reds with an injury. Murphy told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that Ashby appeared to have an oblique issue and would undergo an MRI.
When he makes his Brewers debut, Quintana will have pitched for every team in the NL Central. He was with the Chicago Cubs from 2017-20 and split the 2022 season between the Pittsburgh Pirates and St. Louis Cardinals.
Quintana owns a 102-103 record and 3.74 ERA in 359 career appearances, including 333 starts. He’s also had stints with the Chicago White Sox (2012-17), Los Angeles Angels (2021), San Francisco Giants (2021) and Mets (2023-24). He was selected to the All-Star Game in 2016.
NEW YORK — The Nationals and Orioles ended a legal fight over television rights dating to 2012 when Major League Baseball announced Monday that Washington will be freed from its deal with the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network after the upcoming season.
MLB said Nationals games will be broadcast by MASN in 2025 under a new, one-year contract.
“After this term, the Nationals will be free to explore alternatives for their television rights for the 2026 season and beyond,” MLB said. “As part of the settlement, all disputes related to past media rights between the Nationals, Orioles and MASN have been resolved, and all litigation will be dismissed.”
MASN was established in March 2005 after the Montreal Expos relocated to Washington and became the Nationals, moving into what had been Baltimore’s exclusive broadcast territory since 1972. The Orioles were given a supermajority partnership interest in MASN, starting at 90%, and Washington made a $75 million payment to the network for an initial 10%.
The agreement called for the Nationals’ equity to increase 1% annually, starting after the 2009 season, with a cap of 33%. The network’s rights payments to each team were set at $20 million apiece in 2005 and 2006, rising to $25 million in 2007, with $1 million annual increases through 2011.
After that, the network was to pay fair market value with disputes over the Nationals’ rights to be resolved by MLB’s Revenue Sharing Definitions Committee, a group of three MLB club officials. The RSDC started to hear the case in 2012 and lawsuits over the decision were filed two years later in New York Supreme Court.
Litigation over the 2012-16 fees resulted in a 2019 RSDC decision that valued them at $296.8 million. After arguments that went to the New York Court of Appeals, the sides agreed to a settlement in June 2023.
A 2023 RSDC decision held Washington was owed about $304.1 million by MASN for 2017-21, after an adjustment downward of almost $45.5 million for the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. That decision was confirmed in New York Supreme Court.
Another RSDC decision in December had awarded the Nationals approximately $320.5 million for 2022-26. The rights fee was set at about $72.8 million each for 2022 and ’23 — matching 2021 — and dropped to approximately $58.3 million annually from 2024-26, citing deteriorating economics of regional sports networks.
A court hearing on that decision had been scheduled for March 13.
The one-time All-Star and Gold Glove winner is expected to be sidelined for four to six weeks with a cracked rib on his left side, the team said Monday.
Top prospect Drake Baldwin is a candidate to replace Murphy behind the plate for Opening Day at San Diego on March 27.
Murphy, 30, struggled last season after an abdominal strain on Opening Day and batted .193 with 10 homers and 25 RBIs in 72 games with the Braves in 2024. He is a career .233 hitter with 77 homers and 240 RBIs in 510 games with the then-Oakland Athletics (2019-22) and the Braves.
The Braves declined Travis d’Arnaud‘s $8 million option during the offseason, clearing the path for Murphy to be the No. 1 catcher. D’Arnaud signed with the Los Angeles Angels.
Chadwick Tromp is the only other catcher on the Atlanta 40-man roster. He hit .250 in 19 games in 2024.
Murphy made the National League All-Star team in 2023 and collected a Gold Glove at catcher with the Athletics in 2021.
Field Level Media and The Associated Press contributed to this report.