The Associated Press’ Bob Baum reports the Arizona Diamondbacks currently view SP Brandon Webb as their No. 1 starter for the 2009 season, according to Diamondbacks general manager Josh Byrnes.

News: Tim Lincecum won the NL Cy Young Award by a comfortable margin Tuesday, taking home pitching's highest honor in his second major league season. Brandon Webb of the Diamondbacks got four first-place votes and finished second with 73 points. New York Mets ace Johan Santana, who led the league in ERA (2.53) and innings (234 1-3), also garnered four first-place votes and came in third. The other first-place vote went to Milwaukee lefty CC Sabathia, last year's AL winner who was traded by Cleveland into the National League on July 7. He went 11-2 with a 1.65 ERA and seven complete games in 17 starts for the Brewers, pitching them to their first playoff berth since 1982. "I definitely thought he was in fair contention," Lincecum said.

Analysis: Webb, the NL winner in 2006, was runner-up for the second consecutive season after going 22-7 with a 3.30 ERA in 226 2/3 innings. Consider him one of the top five Fantasy starting pitchers to target on Draft Day

Cliff Lee is the leading contender for the AL Cy Young award which will be announced on November 13th, according to MLB.com. The NL award, likely to come down to a choice between Tim Lincecum, Johan Santana and Brandon Webb will be announced on November 11th.Lee will face his stiffest opposition from Roy Halladay of the Blue Jays, but given the fact that voters pay such close attention to records, Lee's 22-3 mark figures to give him the advantage over Halladay's 20-11 mark.

The Arizona Republic's Nick Piecoro reports Arizona Diamondbacks SP Brandon Webb agreed to an extension for three more years and $54 million earlier in the season, but the team nixed it. Webb's agent, Jonathan Maurer, said those figures wouldn't be enough now.

Agent Jonathan Maurer said Wednesday that he expects the Diamondbacks to re-initiate contract talks with Brandon Webb this offseason. However, Maurer said that the $54 million extension Arizona previously had on the table "wouldn't work today." He also suggested that the Diamondbacks may look to trade Webb if they can't work out a deal, but the two sides were on the verge of an agreement just a few months ago and he's under the team's control through 2010.Source: Arizona Republic

Agent Jonathan Maurer said Wednesday that he expects the Diamondbacks to approach re-initiate contract talks with Brandon Webb this offseason. However, Maurer said that the $54 million extension Arizona previously had on the table "wouldn't work today." He also suggested that the Diamondbacks may look to trade Webb if they can't work out a deal, but he's under the team's control through 2010.Source: Arizona Republic

Nick Piecoro, of The Arizona Republic, reports Jonathan Maurer, the agent for Arizona Diamondbacks SP Brandon Webb, is expecting a contract offer from the team soon. "We anticipate the team coming to us at some point in the off-season to discuss this," Maurer said. "Brandon loves Arizona and wants to spend his whole career there, but whether that happens depends on how the organization wants to spend." Webb will likely look to add another three or four years to his current deal, which runs through 2009, with an $8.5 million option for 2010.

Johan Santana was not named one of the three finalists for the NL Outstanding Pitcher of the Year award that is handed out by Topps and the Major League Baseball Players Association, according to the NY Post. The finalists where Tim Lincecum, CC Sabathia and Brandon Webb.Just another example of people being seduced by the power of the dark side, in this case win totals. Santana finished with a better WHIP, a lower ERA, more strikeouts and more innings pitched than Webb but he fell six wins behind (22 to 16).

Chances are good that Webb will take home the NL Cy Young Award, considering he led the NL in wins (22) and induced more than three grounders for every fly ball. Few starters are more reliable than Webb, and he'll once again be among the first few off the board next year.

The Arizona Diamondbacks have ace Brandon Webb under their control for two more seasons, but are already talking contract extension with him, according to the Arizona Republic.Webb picked up 22 victories and posted an ERA of 3.30 with a WHIP of 1.20 while striking out 183 hitters in 226.2 innings. With the starting pitching market still sparse, and high-dollar contracts going out to average hurlers, Arizona clearly wants to be ahead of the pack in retaining Webb at today's prices.