Looking at starters
Rather than give starter rankings in the traditional way, I thought I'd show how they went off the board in my draft yesterday. It's a 5x5 league with friends from high school and college, and we used ESPN.com this season.
But before we get to those, a question from a reader:
JTK: How do we feel about Ronny Paulino at catcher? Worth starting in a roto setting?
The 25-year-old Pirates catcher hit .310 last season with 55 RBIs in 129 games. As for '07, he's certainly capable of hitting between .290 and .300, but Paulino gives you little else. He hit six homers last season and figures to only slightly improve on that total this season. So in short, he'll give you a boost in AVG., but don't expect much elsewhere. There are probably better options available. Here are my complete catcher rankings.
Now on to the starters. Again, these are not rankings, but rather how they went off the board in my draft yesterday:
1. Johan Santana, Twins
2. Chris Carpenter, Cardinals
3. Roy Halladay, Blue Jays
4. Roy Oswalt, Astros
5. Carlos Zambrano, Cubs
6. Jake Peavy, Padres
7. Jeremy Bonderman, Tigers
8. Brandon Webb, Diamondbacks
9. Brett Myers, Phillies
10. Daisuke Matsuzaka, Red Sox
11. John Lackey, Angels
12. Ben Sheets, Brewers
13. John Smoltz, Braves
14. Aaron Harang, Reds
15. Scott Kazmir, Devil Rays
16. Felix Hernandez, Mariners
17. Dan Haren, Athletics
18. Dontrelle Willis, Marlins
19. Jason Schmidt, Dodgers
20. Cole Hamels, Phillies
21. Chris Young, Padres
22. Matt Cain, Giants
23. Erik Bedard, Orioles
24. Justin Verlander, Tigers
25. Barry Zito, Giants
26. C.C. Sabathia, Indians
27. Randy Johnson, Diamondbacks
28. Jered Weaver, Angels
29. Bronson Arroyo, Reds
30. Curt Schilling, Red Sox
31. Ervin Santana, Angels
32. Josh Beckett, Red Sox
33. Homer Bailey, Reds
34. A.J. Burnett, Blue Jays
35. Rich Hill, Cubs
36. Rich Harden, Athletics
37. Chris Capuano, Brewers
38. Dave Bush, Brewers
39. Chien Ming-Wang, Yankees
40. Roger Clemens, TBD
41. Derek Lowe, Dodgers
42. Freddy Garcia, Phillies
43. Adam Wainwright, Cardinals
44. Kenny Rogers, Tigers
45. Mike Mussina, Yankees
46. Andy Pettitte, Yankees
47. Scott Olsen, Marlins
48. Brad Penny, Dodgers
Comments
I really have to disagree with you about Bedard. I know this may sound like a hometown call, but he is really not getting much respect. 23rd best pitcher? I really think he is a top 10 this year. I see 2 or 3 in your top 10 you can kick out. Daisuke? How do you put an uknown in the top 10. Jake Peavy? That would have been an appropriate ranking a year ago, but no way after last years performance. He has 4 full seasons, 2 of them with 4+ eras. He has 2 outstanding seasons, but not nearly enough to consider him the 6th best starter. In my opinion Bedard out pitches both of them this year.
Posted by: Nick | March 30, 2007 1:50 PM