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Ian Kennedy is a candidae for the NL Cy Young. If not for the likes of Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Clayton Kershaw, and Cole Hamels he might be a lock for the award.
It was not always this good for Kennedy who fell out of favor as a member of the New York Yankees. After being drafted in the first-round with the 21st pick by the Yankees in the 2006 draft out of USC the pressure to live up to his high draft stock was enormous. Which was not made any easier with his playing in the media capital of the world. In three years with the team he was 1-4 with an era of 6.03 with over 59 innings pitched and plagued by injuries.
It did not help that Kennedy was said to be "cocky and felt entitled" said sources close to the team. Then "The Perfect Trade" as stated by thepostgame.com's Steve Henson took place in December of 2009. The teams involved were the Yankees, Detroit Tigers, and the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Tigers sent center fielder Curtis Granderson to the Yankees and starting pitcher Edwin Jackson to the Diamondbacks. The Yankees sent center fielder Austin Jackson and reliever Phil Coke to the Tigers. Then the Yankees sent starter Ian Kennedy to the Diamondbacks. And the Diamondbacks sent starter Max Scherzer to the Tigers and reliever Daniel Schlereth to the Tigers.
At the time the deal was seen as a huge one but not in terms of the names involved. The amount of players made this deal seem massive at first glance. If you look at the players a bit closer there is an MVP candidate in Curtis Granderson, starting centerfielder in Austin Jackson, World Series champion in Edwin Jackson and a Cy Young candidate in Kennedy.
As a starter for the Diamondbacks Kennedy in two season is 30-14 with an era of 3.31 with 416 innings pitched and the obvious ace of the pitching staff. Those wins rank seventh all-time in Diamondbacks history. This past season he went 21-4 leading the league in wins for the NL West champions.
The pending free agency of Lee made trading Kennedy even more enticing. Johnny Damon a teammate for him with the Yankees said "Ian was compared to Greg Maddux," ...some people can’t handle that pressure – especially at 23. And he had the David Cone blood clot thing" to thepostgame.com.
Now he is seen as a premiere pitcher in the league and whether or not his new found success is due to switching to a picther friendly league or finding his confidence it has worked well for all sides involved.
From The Sports Mind Of RB:
I don't know if any Yankees fan would take him back even with spots to be filled in the rotation. As a good friend of mine and major Yankees fan said "I would trade him for a bag of balls." Maybe because he burned bridges on his way out or maybe he just could not pitch under the scrutiny of New York. He would not be the first player to succumb to that fate and probably not the last. Let's give him credit because he has turned it around and at 26-years-old he will have many more years to continue.
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