My first draft of the year starts on Sunday.  My NL team has the last overall pick in the draft as I took her to the World Series, only to loose in seven games.  (After a 3-1, to boot!)  My home league drafts on the 23^rd.  From there I shift gear into Roto mode.

This week, I’m going to take one last look at starting pitching from when I last looked at them to see if there is a change in status. 

Starter Ranking
Grade A
1.) Tim Lincecum – There were talks of trading him.  That has ended.
2.) Daisuke Matsuzaka – He ranks better than Gallardo because he’s on a better team.  At 27, he’s at his peak.
3.) Yovani Gallardo – The only negative on him is the defense of the Brewers.  He cannot strike out every single hitter.
4.) Phil Hughes – His spot in the rotation is not ensured, but he’s the real deal.
5.) Ubaldo Jimenez – I took some heat from some of my readers for making the claim that he’s better than Homer Bailey.  He didn’t go to Winter Ball an instead worked out very aggressively to build up his endurance.  Reports are that he’s added 15 pounds of muscle.

Grade B
6.) Homer Bailey – No reports on him, so I’ll assume his status is unchanged.  No second out pitch.
7.) Andrew Miller – Traded to Florida.  He should have an easier time making the rotation.
8.) Micah Owings – Moves up quite a bit.  I really didn’t appreciate what he can do.  His extra bonus is the fact that he can hit.  He can hit so well, that it is possible that he might be dual carded.
9.) Kyle Kendrick – The only negative for Kendrick is that he tends to give up the long ball.
10.) Kevin Slowey – With the trade of Johan Santana, he has a very good chance of making the rotation.  That moves him up two spots.
11.) Jair Jurrjens – The Braves have added some veteran help, so he might start the year in Triple-A.
12.) Franklin Morales – With a fastball in the high-90’s Morales has much to offer in the long term.  His available options mean that he’s likely to go to Triple-A to start the season.
13.) Jesse Litsch – He keeps the ball on the ground and that makes him useful.
14.) Andy Sonnanstine – Excellent control.
15.) John Danks – Trades have helped him too, but he’s left-handed that that is not always a good option in 20-team leagues.
Grade C
16.) Mike Pelfrey – To be a ML starter, you have to have more than one pitch.  Until he develops something other than his fastball, he’s not going to see much success.
17.) Kason Gabbard – He’s the #5 starter for Texas so far.  We’ll see how he does in Spring Training.
18.) Matt Chico – Moves up because others have lost their jobs due to veteran signings.
19.) Jo-Jo Reyes – He’s a deep sleeper.  The Braves have signed veterans to one-year deals so he’ll probably play in Triple-A.
20.) Aaron Laffey – Right now he’s penciled in as the #5 starter, but will battle Cliff Lee and Jeremy Sowers for the job.  He doesn’t have the best stuff.
21.) John Lannan – MLB.com says that he’s slated to be the #4 starter for the Nationals.  We’ll have to see.
22.) J.D. Durbin – He’s has a reasonable chance of making the team so he moves up a bit.
23.) Ryan Feierabend – The trade for Erik Bedard and the signing of Carlos Silva means that there is no room for Feierabend.  He might not even make the bullpen.
24.) Matt Albers – Even with the trade of Erik Bedard, there are four other pitchers of similar capability fighting for the fifth spot.
25.) Rick VandenHurk – While he might open the season in the ML, it will be due to the injuries the Marlins are suffering from.
26.) Kei Igawa – The Yankees aren’t talking about him, so it’s Triple-A for their $20 million investment.
27.) Dallas Braden – Needs a big spring. The A's are not done unloading.
28.) Billy Buckner – Traded to the Diamondbacks who have better options in front of him.
29.) Tyler Clippard – Traded to the Nationals.  We’ll have to see how that improves their situation.  The Nationals are collecting pitchers.
30.) Yusmeiro Petit – Like Buckner, there isn’t any room in the rotation, so Triple-A it will be.
Grade D
31.) Joel Hanrahan – Might get a bullpen job.
32.) Garrett Olson – He’ll fight for a job.
33.) Daniel Barone – Needs more time in Triple-A.
34.) Matt DeSalvo – Yankees didn’t offer him a contract.  The Braves signed him to a minor league deal.
35.) Shane Youman – Not worth your time.
Innings
36.) Brian Burres – A swingman in Baltimore.  He’s likely to get more innings than most of the other Orioles in this list.
37.) Justin Germano – With the signings of Randy Wolfe and Mark Prior means that Germano’s best chance will be in the bullpen.

Next week I finish up with relievers and tell you who I took and why.

JP Kastner is the winner of the 2007 Strat-O-Matic Baseball Online Expert League World Series.  In five seasons of SOMBOE, JP Kastner has five winning seasons, four playoff appearances, three World Series appearances and now one World Championship.  He is in his second season in the Tout Wars mixed league.