In the middle of June of 1984 the Cleveland Indians traded Rick Sutcliffe to the Chicago Cubs. The change of scenery did the big right-hander a world of good as he led the Cubs to the postseason that season going 16-1 and took home the National League Cy Young Award as a reward for his stellar work on the mound. Could another midseason trade by the Tribe turn out the same way two-and-a-half decades later? While Cliff Lee won't have nearly as much time to work with as Sutcliffe did in the 2009 campaign, if he keeps pitching the way he has in his first five starts he may warrant a look adding an NL Cy Young Award to his AL Award last season.

Lee has gone 5-0 with a microscopic ERA of 0.68 in his 5 starts for the Philadelphia Phillies since the trade last month. Lee has struck out a batter per inning and has only allowed 24 hits in 40 innings of work. Lee looks to be pitching as well as he did in last seasons' Cy Young season when he won 19 of his first 21 decisions, so his track record shows that he can go on spurts of nearly flawless work.

If Lee is to win the award, he probably will have to hope that St Louis' Chris Carpenter starts to falter down the stretch. The Cardinals lefty is currently 14-3 with a 2.16 ERA in 21 games this season and is a shoe-in for comeback player of the year. New York Mets hurler Johan Santana and fellow Cards pitcher Adam Wainwright are probably regarded as other players on the watch list for top pitchers in the Senior Circuit.

Indians fans following former players also have a rooting interest in CC Sabathia, who is in the running for the Cy Young in the Junior Loop. Sabathia is leading the AL with 15 victories and a has a solid 3.59 ERA for the New York Yankees. Josh Beckett of the Red Sox may have taken himself out of the running giving up 5 homers to the Bronx Bombers on national television on Sunday night and it looks like CC's biggest competition for the award comes from Roy Halladay and Justin Verlander this season.