It’s an old Sabermetrics argument. Just like how batting average is a somewhat poor and antiquated judge of offensive success, a pitcher’s win-loss record is not the end-all, be-all of pitching prowess.

So why does the media still look to it so often? From time to time, ESPN commentators will describe a pitcher’s worth solely by his win-loss record, ignoring everything else. Cy Young voters have done the same in the past.

In 2005, Roger Clemens posted a 1.87 ERA, but because of terrible run support, his record was only 13-8. He was largely considered the third-best candidate behind Dontrelle Willis, who was 22-10 with a 2.63 ERA, and the eventual Cy Young award winner, Chris Carpenter, who was 21-5 with a 2.83 ERA. So Carpenter’s ERA was almost a full point higher than Clemens, but the Cardinals’ run support basically gives Carpenter the award.

Over in the AL that year, a bigger robbery took place. Bartolo Colon went 21-8 but had a very middle-of-the-pack sounding 3.48 ERA. Meanwhile, Mariano Rivera had the best year of his career, converting 43 of 47 saves with a 1.38 ERA and 0.87 WHIP. But that’s just not as flashy as the title of “20-game winner.”

The people who really suffer from the misconception of the win-loss record are those who pitch seasons with miserable luck. Matt Cain went 7-16 last year. Sounds like a terrible year, but he had a 3.65 ERA, a modest 1.26 WHIP and batters were just hitting .235 against him. His record happened because the Giants suck; just ask Chris Russo.

It seems Aaron Harang is currently having a Cain-esque season with the Reds. He has a Zito-esque record of 2-8, but his ERA is just 3.86 with a WHIP of 1.29. He has 78 strikeouts to just 20 walks. Harang is actually putting up very similar stats to the numbers that have netted him 16-win seasons the past two years.

On a much smaller scale, hurlers like Johan Santana should have better records. People look at Santana’s record of 7-4 and wonder why he isn’t on pace for a 25-win season or something. Not only is his record perfectly acceptable, but if it was closer to his stats, he’d be Cy Young dueling with Brandon Webb. On April 6, Santana gave up just one earned run in seven innings pitched and lost. In his last start, he gave up two earned runs in seven innings pitched. Throw in that other Atlanta start where Santana gave up 12 hits but limited the damage to three earned runs, and maybe Santana could easily have 10 wins right now.

With pitching, its best not to always dwell on win-loss record because overall team success plays far too heavy a variable for such an individual statistic.

The Cardinals agreed to extend Chris Carpenter's contract Monday to a five-year contract that guarantees him about $65 million, ESPN reports.

Carpenter had been signed through 2007 as part of an agreement
that called for a $7 million salary next year.

The Cardinals
exercised his 2008 option at $9 million as part of the new
agreement and added guaranteed years for 2009, 2010 and 2011 plus a
club option for 2012. If the new option is exercised, the deal
would be worth about $77 million.