John Harper, SNY.tv | Twitter |

It turned out all that fretting over whether his lack of run support would cost Jacob deGrom the Cy Young Award was unnecessary stress for Mets fans everywhere.

In fact, in some ways it was fitting that deGrom won so easily, collecting 29 of the 30 first-place votes. For just as his season was historic in many ways, so was the verdict, as delivered by the voting members of the Baseball Writers Association of America.

With that in mind, here are two important takeaways from deGrom's landslide victory:

1. Yes, the win is officially dead as an all-important criteria for starting pitchers, and the ramifications are sure to extend to Hall of Fame voting in the future, perhaps someday for deGrom.

2. The Mets need to lock up deGrom this winter to a long-term contract.

Let's start with the death of the win. Even a decade ago, voters may not have been able to look past deGrom's 10-9 record, no matter how brilliantly he pitched, especially when Max Scherzer had 18 wins this season.

Wins had always been the No. 1 criteria over the years, and while starting pitchers had more control of their record when they were pitching deeper into games, run support was never really taken into account as much as it should have been.

Looking at the results as recently as 2005, it can be argued that in both leagues the third-place finisher actually deserved to win the award.

In the AL that year, Bartolo Colon pitched to a 3.48 ERA but won the award primarily on the basis of his 21-8 record. In virtually every other category, his numbers paled in comparison to Johan Santana, who went 16-7 with a 2.87 ERA.

Meanwhile, in the NL that year, Chris Carpenter went 21-5 with a 2.83 ERA, a great season to be sure, but not as extraordinary as what Roger Clemens did for the Astros, going 13-8 with a 1.87 ERA over 211 innings -- and an all-time great 226 ERA+, which factors in the pitcher's home ballpark.

Suffice it to say that had the voting been as educated then as it is now, Santana and Clemens almost certainly would have won as easily in those races as did deGrom on Wednesday.

Video: Wright, Flores among teammates to congratulate deGrom

Yes, voters are simply smarter now about separating performance from the win-loss record. DeGrom's landslide victory is the ultimate proof.

It also has to affect Hall of Fame voting at some point. The old standard of 300 wins is as antiquated as starters pitching complete games, and chances are no one will reach that total again.

And it only makes sense that over the years Hall of Fame voters will judge pitchers by all the other numbers that made deGrom such a runaway winner for the Cy Young Award.

In his case, however, it's still going to be a long, hard road, largely because he didn't reach the big leagues until he was about to turn 26. So now he has five seasons under his belt, with a record of 55-41, a 2.67 ERA over 897 2/3 innings.

By the old standards, going into his age-31 season, deGrom would have no shot, but if the standards do change dramatically, he could get himself into consideration by pitching at an elite level for at least another five years.

Because he's so athletic -- he was a former college shortstop -- and theoretically has more tread left on the tires than most 30-year old pitchers, deGrom should have a good chance of maintaining dominance into his mid-30s.

All of which bring us the second takeaway: get a deal done with the guy.

Yes, he's two years away from free agency, so maybe it's an unnecessary gamble to lock him up now when there's so much inherent injury risk for pitchers.

But if the Mets are to wait until next winter, and deGrom has another strong season in 2019, the price would be considerably higher to prevent him from waiting for free agency.

As it is, because he's already 30, you'd have to think deGrom would be willing to take long-term security at something of a discount rather than wait two years to go on the market.

So where he's worth $30-$35 million a year at the moment as one of the very best pitchers in baseball, the Mets might well be able to sign him to a five-year deal for $125 to $130 million, buying out his final two years of arbitration.

Of course, deGrom surely discussed an asking price with his former agent and current Mets GM Brodie Van Wagenen, and maybe finding common ground gets a little trickier from that standpoint.

But the bottom line is that Mets fans are disillusioned again after two straight disastrous seasons. Extending deGrom would be a good-faith gesture that would show a commitment to winning.

Beyond that, it's worth remembering the other three Cy Young winners in franchise history, Tom Seaver, Dwight Gooden and R.A. Dickey, all finished their careers for other teams.

If that trend ends with deGrom, it would be, ahem, a win for everyone involved.

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