It seems like the baseball writers may finally be coming around. They selected Felix Hernandez as the 2010 American League Cy Young Award winner, and for the second year in a row, they’ve opted to overlook win-loss record and give the top pitcher’s award to a pitcher who truly deserves it. With a 13-12 record, Hernandez looks like one of the most average pitchers in the game, but when you look deeper, you’ll find that his record is a gross misrepresentation of what he did.

Hernandez wasn’t a unanimous decision, but he was a runaway selection ahead of David Price and CC Sabathia. This season, Hernandez lead the league with a 2.27 ERA and with 249.2 innings pitched. He finished second in strikeouts with 232, just one behind Jered Weaver. He also held opposing hitters to a .585 OPS, best in baseball by far, including National League pitchers who throw to opposing pitchers a few times a game. It was an incredible season for the king.

Despite all that he accomplished himself, 12 losses still looks pretty bad. How could a guy even worthy of Cy Young discussion rack up 12 losses? Well it’s easy when you play for the worst team in the league. Hernandez only gave up a total of 14 runs in those 12 losses. Read that again. Got it? Now try to digest the fact that in nine of those losses, the Mariners only scored once or not at all. It’s awfully hard to win games when you’re team throws up goose eggs every night you pitch.

The baseball writers finally seem to understand that a pitcher on a bad team can win a Cy Young Award. It’s just too bad that MVP still seems to be a team award for an individual, which is why Josh Hamilton is still considered to be a favorite, despite what Miguel Cabrera and Jose Bautista did this season. Hamilton had a good year, but it was made better by his Rangers making the postseason. But we’ll have to wait and see next week if the writers expand their collective train of thought. For now, Hernandez’s coronation as king of the hill will do just fine.