By Dalton Del Don – Senior Writer
1. Johan Santana
2. Jake Peavy
3. C.C. Sabathia
4. Brandon Webb
5. Carlos Zambrano
6. Daisuke Matsuzaka
7. Justin Verlander
8. Ben Sheets
9. Cole Hamels
10. Dan Haren
11. Erik Bedard
12. Roy Oswalt
13. Roy Halladay
14. Chris Young
15. Josh Beckett
16. John Lackey
17. Jeremy Bonderman
18. Tim Lincecum
19. Ian Snell
20. Felix Hernandez
21. John Smoltz
22. Brad Penny
23. John Maine
24. Aaron Harang
25. Roger Clemens
26. Jered Weaver
27. Tim Hudson
28. James Shields
29. Ted Lilly
30. Matt Cain
31. Kelvim Escobar
32. Derek Lowe
33. Rich Hill
34. Scott Kazmir
35. Oliver Perez
36. Randy Johnson
37. A.J. Burnett
38. Curt Schilling
39. Jeremy Guthrie
40. Joe Blanton
41. Javier Vazquez
42. Fausto Carmona
43. Andy Pettitte
44. Mark Buehrle
45. Greg Maddux
46. Andrew Miller
47. Barry Zito
48. Tom Gorzelanny
49. Chris Carpenter
50. Chien-Ming Wang
51. Mike Mussina
52. Orlando Hernandez
53. Yovani Gallardo
54. Gil Meche
55. Chad Billingsley
56. Bronson Arroyo
57. David Bush
58. Pedro Martinez
59. Dontrelle Willis
60. Randy Wolf
Where’s Jon Garland?
He’s busy givin’ up 12 runs in 3 innings.
No faith in Vazquez? I’d take him over quite a few of the guys ranked in front.
Garland is having a solid season, but he has a poor offense supporting him and pitches in an extreme hitter’s park. The 50/33 K/BB ratio in 114 innings portends a rise in ERA during the 2nd half.
Eddie – Ya, I can see that. I wouldn’t have a problem bumping him up into tier three, actually. The 108/26 K/BB ratio is pretty damn impressive. But he’s always been one of those guys with better peripherals than ERA, consistently giving up big hits at the wrong time and poor out of the stretch. He also gives up too many homers. But it’s tough to argue with what he’s done so far in 2007 – maybe he’s finally learning to harness his stuff, which has always been plus. Just remember, the last time he finished with an ERA below 4.42 was 2003. And he has the same things going against him as Garland does that I listed above. Still, I can definitely appreciate the argument against my ranking here.
Yea, I think Lilly is somewhat high, Vazquez should at least be above him.
Kazmir does not seem to belong on the list. Sure he can strike out a batter per inning but he has never won more than 10 games in a season and his WHIP is really bad this year.
In my non-money league (don’t ask about the other one
)
I’ve got Beckett, C.C., Johan Santana, even Guthrie and looking to pick up a bat. I’ve gotten comeback offers of Bay for CC and Carlos Lee for Santana. I’m in 2nd (12 team league) and need offense to make a push at the top.
What would you think fair value would be?
I also have way too many closers, K-Rod, Putz, Jenks, Capps, Howry, Corpas, Otsuka but can’t swing a trade for any of them. Any ideas?
I’d probably want more than just Lee for Santana, either a better outfielder or another decent pitcher thrown in.
I actually thought I ranked Kazmir somewhat conservatively compared to most. But I agree Paul, there’s a lot not to like despite his plus stuff. His fastball isn’t quite what it once was, and his pitch counts are way too high, often limiting him to 5-6 innings per start. There’s more to pitching than the ability to get a strikeout.
Jeremy – I agree with Steve here, you can definitely get more in return for Santana. I like C. Lee, and I understand in the context of your team that a bat is more important, but you should be asking for more. And the same goes for C.C./Bay. For Santana, you should get back a top talent (Pujols, Reyes), or an Utley or Miguel Cabrera type with a throw in SP as well.
I think Sabathia is worth a pretty good hitter too. Go after a C. Lee, Holliday, Morneau type. But really, I’d do my best to keep those two starters and package a couple of your closers for a solid outfielder (I like buying low on Andruw Jones right now, or go after Corey Hart if you need SBs). If you want to go big, Santana and Jenks is a decent offer for A-Rod, and should net you Pujols if the straight up offer doesn’t pan out.
yeah I’m gonna keep trying guys. In a general sense your right, A-rod should be the equal of Santana, but I think everyone says I can’t lose a bat like that and fill it with a backup, so you have to sweeten it a lot more than is usually worth it. Just musing about ranked values vs actual values….
hi, iam a little surprized on your thoughts in basketball of villanueva, but out of the 3 villanueva, a. biedrins, a. bynum who do you like in order for the future————–thanks
Jeremy – No I understand, A-Rod is probably impossible to trade for now. You’d have to give up more than he’s worth, undoubtedly. But you should also be able to get C. Lee for Sabathia, not Santana.
Randy – Well, Charlie V. isn’t a personal favorite or anything, but I do see him being undervalued entering fantasy drafts this year (or in your trade market). Sure, they brought in Yi, but both can be on the court at the same time and Yi’s likely to be traded anyway. The front court is a little crowded, and he is recovering from shoulder surgery but before he got hurt, he had a pretty big first month last season. Then the injury hindered him even when he was on the court. Still, he was just a guy who popped into my head as a flier type, not a HUGE leap guy, so I can understand your hesitation. And I would rank him third out of those three you asked.
Both Bynum and Biedrins are going to hurt your FT percentage but also have quite a bit of upside. I think Biedrins is the safer pick, but Bynum has better offensive potential. My advice on those two is to rate them fairly equally and see which one you can buy cheaper.
Also Randy, if you can get Darko Mililic dirt cheap, it might not be a terrible idea. Blocks are a really scarce property, and I know he’s never going to live up to the hype, but he’s still so young, there’s continued room for growth.