Comeback Players of the Year

Oh yeah, he's pumped.

I like comeback stories. It's cool when someone re-emerges from the previous poor season to have a great season this year. It's also a hard category to figure out who is doing what in, so I'll do the work for you.

AL Comeback Player

Cliff Lee (CLE)
-> (2007) 16 starts, 97.1 IP, 5-8, 6.29 ERA, 66 K, 36 BB
-> (2008) 24 starts, 170.2 IP, 17-2, 2.43 ERA, 134 K, 24 BB

Justin Duchscherer (OAK)
-> ('07) 17 games, 16.1 IP, 3-3, 4.96 ERA, 13 K, 8 BB
-> ('08) 21 starts, 139 IP, 10-8, 2.59 ERA, 92 K, 34 BB

Jon Lester (BOS)
-> ('07) 11 starts, 63 IP, 4-0, 4.57 ERA, 50 K, 31 BB
-> ('08) 25 starts, 160.2 IP, 11-4, 3.25 ERA, 109 K, 50 BB

Mike Mussina (NYY)
-> ('07) 27 starts, 152 IP, 11-10, 5.15 ERA, 91 K, 35 BB
-> ('08) 25 starts, 153.1 IP, 16-7, 3.35 ERA, 106 K, 21 BB

Carlos Quentin (CWS)
-> ('07) 81 games, .214/.298/.349, 5 HR, 31 RBI, 29 R, 16 2B
-> ('08) 118 games, .292.395/.582, 34 HR, 95 RBI, 87 R, 22 2B

Milton Bradley (TEX)
-> ('07) 61 games, .306/.402/.545, 13 HR, 37 RBI, 37 R, 9 2B
-> ('08) 97 games, .317/.442/.584, 20 HR, 63 RBI, 64 R, 26 2B

There are lots of worthy candidates here. Lee was going to get traded last offseason. Duchscherer in the rotation seemed a desperation move. Lester was coming back from cancer, and no one knew how well he'd do. Mussina's career was over. Quentin was traded because of injury issues and under-production. Bradley just had a torn ACL, and everyone worried about his attitude. Needless to say, lots of teams are shaking their heads knowing they could have had these guys.

NL Comeback Player

Jamie Moyer (PHI)
-> ('07) 33 starts, 199.1 IP, 14-12, 5.01 ERA, 133 K, 66 BB
-> ('08) 25 starts, 151 IP, 11-7, 3.64 ERA, 95 K, 47 BB

Paul Maholm (PIT)
-> ('07) 29 starts, 177.2 IP, 10-15, 5.02 ERA, 105 K, 49 BB
-> ('08) 24 starts, 161 IP, 8-7, 3.69 ERA, 113 K, 41 BB

Cristian Guzman (WAS)
-> ('07) 46 games, .328/.380/.466, 2 HR, 14 RBI, 31 R, 6 2B
-> ('08) 110 games, .294/.324/.400, 5 HR, 34 RBI, 60 R, 28 2B

Stephen Drew (ARI)
-> ('07) 150 games, .238/.313/.370, 12 HR, 60 RBI, 60 R, 28 2B
-> ('08) 117 games, .284/.326/.482, 14 HR, 49 RBI, 68 R, 32 2B

Jorge Cantu (FLA)
-> ('07) 52 games, .252/.331/.357, 1 HR, 13 RBI, 12 R, 9 2B
-> ('08) 121 games, .282/.331/.472, 21 HR, 68 RBI, 70 R, 30 2B

Troy Glaus (STL)
-> ('07) 115 games, .262/.366/.473, 20 HR, 62 RBI, 19 R, 19 2B
-> ('08) 123 games, .276/.375/.489, 21 HR, 81 RBI, 57 R, 30 2B

This past offseason, Moyer's career was over. Maholm was not the promising rookie he once was. Guzman wasn't close to the guy he once was and probably wasn't going to start this season. Drew, like Maholm, had lost his rookie promise. Cantu hadn't been seen in a few years. Glaus was not the big-bopper from Anaheim and was traded for Rolen (oops).