26-year old righty starting pitcher Ian Kennedy finished in 4th place in the voting for the 2011 N.L. Cy Young Award. Kennedy pitched in 33 games (all starts) for the Diamondbacks last year and he was 21-4 with a 2.88 ERA and a 1.09 WHIP. He has now pitched in 79 games (77 starts) in his first five years in the majors and he is 31-18 with a 3.65 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP. Kennedy’s 2011 season came out of nowhere, but he was always highly thought of with the Yankees, so maybe he’s finally pitching to his potential. I watched a lot of his starts and there was nothing fluky about the numbers he put up in 2011.

UPDATE: (11/23/2011) - Ian Kennedy finished 14th in the voting for the 2011 N.L. MVP Award yesterday.

The Diamondbacks have dealt 24-year old righty reliever Adam Worthington to the Phillies to complete the deal last year that brought lefty reliever Mike Zagurski to Arizona. Worthington pitched in 45 games (0 starts) in A-ball last year and he was 4-4 with 2 saves, a 4.48 ERA and a 1.41 WHIP. He pitched in 84 games (9 starts) in his first three years in the minors and he is 14-14 with 4 saves, a 4.34 ERA and a 1.35 WHIP. It looks like the Phillies got the better end of this deal as Zagurski didn’t pitch for the D-Backs after they acquired him.

54-year old Kirk Gibson of the Arizona D-Backs has won the 2011 Manager of the Year Award in the N.L. He led the Diamondbacks to the playoffs by winning the N.L. West with a 94-68 (58%) record. Gibson now has a 128-117 (52.2%) record in his first two years with the D-Backs. Gibson has instilled his toughness into his team as he got them to play better than their potential. The Diamondbacks shocked the baseball world in 2011, it will be interesting to see what he has up his sleeves for 2012.

The D-Backs have signed 28-year old righty swinging 1B/OF Rusty Ryal to a minor league deal. Ryal played last season in Japan and it didn’t go well as he hit under .200. He has played in 134 games in two years with the Diamondbacks and he is 70 for 266 (.263 avg, .721 OPS) with 30 runs scored, 6 homers and 20 RBIs. This was a good signing for the Diamondbacks as Ryal will give them a solid bat off the bench if he can make the team next spring.

The Diamondbacks have signed 32-year old righty swinging catcher Ryan Budde. Budde played in 67 games in AAA-ball for the Blue Jays last year and he was 51 for 218 (.234 avg, .707 OPS) with 34 runs scored, 7 homers, 30 RBIs and 1 stolen base. He last played in the majors back in 2010 with the Angels. Budde has played in 29 games in his first four years in the majors and he is 7 for 33 (.212 avg, .599 OPS) with 2 runs scored, 1 homer and 4 RBIs. Budde will likely spend the 2012 season in AAA, unless Miguel Montero or Henry Blanco get injured.