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• Rank 'Em: Is Dan Haren immediately one of the AL's best pitchers?
• Vote: Did the Angels make this move for 2010 or 2011?
• More from ESPN Los Angeles: Mark Saxon on the risk of adding Haren.

Compared to the Diamondbacks, who woke up Monday 22 games behind the Padres in the NL West, the Angels are in the thick of a pennant race. Unfortunately for Angels fans, the Diamondbacks don't set the curve for postseason participation.

Trailing the Rangers by seven games in the AL West and the Rays by more than that in the wild-card race (with a few other teams also blocking their path), the Angels seemed unlikely candidates to acquire Dan Haren for the stretch run. Unless it's the 2011 stretch run we're talking about.

Mac (Philly)

Since when is Dan Haren not a premium player?

Jayson Stark

Dan Haren could pitch for my team. But he's not Cliff Lee. Seen his numbers this year? Full transcript

• Vote: Would you rather have Tim Lincecum or Zack Greinke for the next decade?
• Your Rankings: Which three pitchers would make your NL Cy Young ballot?
• Chat: Keith Law answers your questions today, 1 ET.

Tim Lincecum won the National League Cy Young for the second consecutive season, just as SportsNation voters suggested he should at the All-Star break and after the season.

So why are Chris Carpenter and Javier Vazquez at the center of a Cy Young controversy?

Lincecum won a close vote, edging the Cardinals duo of Carpenter and Adam Wainwright. That's noteworthy because two voters, including ESPN.com's Keith Law, didn't include Carpenter on their three-person ballots. Instead, Law put Vazquez second. Never one to bow to conventional wisdom or duck a question, Law explained on "AllNight" on ESPN Radio. But for SportsNation chatters, the news was hardly a surprise.

Jeremy (California)

I know you're not going to reveal your Cy Young ballot before the results are announced, but will you reveal it after the fact? I'm really curious. I know how I'd vote, but honestly I would be neither surprised nor angry at any three of Lincecum, Vazquez, Haren, Jimenez, Wainwright, and Carpenter, in any order.

Keith Law

That's pretty much my view. It's not a 3-man race; it's at least a 4-man race (Vazquez) and you could make a serious case for Haren. Full Oct. 1 transcript

John (AZ)

When you are voting for the Cy Young what is one stat that you highly value?

Keith Law

I'm looking at a mix -- VORP, FIP, xFIP, etc. At the end of the day, I'm not comfortable rewarding a pitcher for playing in front of a great defense, which ERA and even VORP do to some degree. Full Oct. 1 transcript

“

A starting pitchers job is to win games. That's it. Great pitchers win alot of games because they are great. I'm still shocked ANYONE would ever say wins aren't important. Look, Greinke and Lincecum are really good young pitchers. If they were on teams that could hit and score runs, they both would've probably won 20 games anyway. But I still believe if one of the contenders won 21,22 games this year, they would've won the CY in either league.

” -- bigbluepete

Sometimes we all need a little extra space to vent. ESPN profiles give fans space to post their own blog entries and go toe-to-toe with commenters.

• pieman12347: Short and sweet. Tim Lincecum and Dan Haren will propel the National League to an All-Star Game win.
• allikskat: Stephon Marbury playing Europe? allikskat notes the separate paths Starbury and KG have travelled and suggests the New York native would do well to stay on this side of the Atlantic in Boston.
• dslake84: The drumbeat for a college football playoff among college football fans should form its own marching band. Only tradition stands in the way, according to dslake84.
• ADEVARTS: Brett Favre is wrong for Minnesota. Didn't the Vikings learn anything from the New York Jets' mistakes, asks ADEVARTS.
• SportsCenter: Allen Iverson is no longer the answer, blogs Cindy Brunson. Nike and LeBron need to lighten up, blogs Jay Harris.
• sirigina: And for a fast finish, sirigina explains why a budget cap would benefit Formula One.

• Rank the NL Cy Young contenders, now featuring genuine Rockies!

We salute NFL commissioner Roger Goodell for summiting Mount Rainier, although running a league that includes the Bengals does give him at least a little experience with things that tend to erupt and leave a swath of destruction in their wake. But as the MLB All-Star Game approaches, Goodell's trip takes second place to the high-altitude exploits of Rockies pitcher Jason Marquis.

Passing the still-frozen bodies of Mike Hampton and Denny Neagle (proverbially speaking, of course) on his way to the summit, Marquis is a legitimate Cy Young contender with 11 wins. We get that the humidor makes Coors Field slightly less ominous than the setting for the next "Saw" for pitchers these days, but there's still not exactly a line forming to go face batters a mile above sea level.

• Continuing the self-proclaimed third annual "Half-way Awards," blogger whitstatman hands out hardware in the NL, where a familiar (baby) face loses out to a teammate in the Cy Young race and the Mets ... stink.
• SN midseason awards: Rank AL MVP contenders | Rank AL Cy Young contenders
• Groups: ROCKIES ROCK!! | The Arizona Diamondbacks | National league

“

Vazquez is, and has been, an over-rated bum his whole career. Can't win with run support, can't win without it. There's a reason why his career numbers hover around .500, and its nothing to do with the rest of any team he's been on.

” -- JeffSigmaChi

“

Start Tim Lincecum for the NL. The man is a serious freak of nature and an amazing picture. Just ask the last 3 teams he has pitched against.

” -- jaws2355