Kansas City Royals starting pitcher, Zack Greinke, won the 2009 American League Cy Young for his 16-8 record, 2.16 ERA and 242 strikeouts .  The Royals luckily signed Greinke to a long-term deal before the 2009 season at 4 years, $38 million through 2012.  He’ll make a $100,000 bonus for winning the Cy Young.  Let’s take a look at the past few winners of the American League Cy Young and see how their salaries compare.

Year	Player, Team	Bonus	Salary when winning C.Y.	Salary 1 year later	Salary 2 years later	% of salary increase
2009	Zack Greinke, Royals	$100,000	$3.75M	$7.25M	$13.5M	360%
2008	Cliff Lee, Indians	$250,000	$3.75M	$5.75M	$8.0M	213%
2007	C.C. Sabathia,Indians	$250,000	$8.75M	$11.0M	$14.0M	160%
2006	Johan Santana, Twins	$100,000	$9.0M	$12.0M	$13.25M	147%

Santana and Sabathia each signed a new contract 1-2 seasons after winning their Cy Young.  They earned an approximate 150% salary increase for the first year of their new contract.  Lee’s was already in a 4 year, $15 million deal with an $8 million team option for 2010.  His salary increase was already negotiated beforehand.  You can expect Lee’s agent to ask at least $14 million for the first year in his next long-term contract to be comparable with Sabathia’s deal.  Greinke’s contract was already in place and based on these numbers he’s earning what a top MLB pitcher should be making.