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First of all, Schmidt deserved the Cy Young last year. He was the best pitcher in the National League; Gagne's consecutive saves record is a very superficial one. When Gagne came in for a save, he already had a lead, and he would be pitching to just about any part of the order -- that means lots of 6-7-8, 7-8-9. I'm not doubting his tremendous ability, but it isn't like the degree of difficulty was extremely hard. And when you consider that the times when he was brought in to hold a lead, he did an exceedingly poor job (I'm breaking my own rules by making that kind of statement without a link to back it up, but google it and see for yourself; I'm not pulling it out of my ass). So tell me how valuable he was when the times he was brought in to really save the team, in the most important situations and against the best hitters on the opposing team, he didn't get the job done?
The consecutive saves thing is misleading because it gives people the perception that every time he went out there he pitched well. And people also forget that most of the time, in save situations he had a cushion. With a 2 or 3 run lead, even if he gave up a run or two, he still got the save.
Jason Schmidt had the lowest ERA and 17 wins on a 100 win team. He came through when the Giants really need him. Gagne didn't really do that for the Dodgers.
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