Rank these Sp's

[Smizzy]

B.Zito
C.Carpenter
A.Burnett
M.Mussina
R.Harden
J.Smoltz
J.Vasquez

[chris8]

They will all do a good job for your team this year.
I rank them:

Burnett
Harden
Mussina
Smoltz
Vazquez
Zito
Carpenter

[thehat]

B.Zito
C.Carpenter
A.Burnett
M.Mussina
R.Harden
J.Smoltz
J.Vasquez

Smoltz on top for me, but with a caveat. Once he gets to 120 IP, start looking to deal him if he's been solid to that point.

The rest: Burnett, Carpenter, Mussina, Harden. Zito and Vazquez are on my avoid list.

[Vladdy the Impaler]

u may not agree... but this is how i'd take them

J.Smoltz - biggest risk of the bunch (stamina reasons... but biggest upside as well.)
M.Mussina
A.Burnett
R.Harden
B.Zito
J.Vasquez
C.Carpenter

[Bukoski77]

Hhhmmm, nice list of pitchers to rank from.

I have them all lower 1st tier to lower 2nd and mid-3rd(3rd thinking they could very easily surpass and put up much better numbers) tier arms.

#1 Zito. Durability is the biggest reason. Past years of success, good K upside, and still in a pitchers park. Lower 1st tier.

#2. A.J. Burnett. Should be fully recovered and good to go. High 2nd tier.

#3. Javier Vazquez. I doubt I'll get much support with him, but I see him as a sleeper fringe top 10 SP this year. He is a NL pitcher through and through. Pitching half his home games in the home away from home field hitters park (Puerto Rico was it?), he still had great numbers in 2003. Probably my best bet for comeback player of the year award. High 2nd tier.

#4. R. Harden. Lots of upside with great K potential. As erratic as most pitchers are year to year he needs to prove he is the real deal for more than 1 season before I bump him higher. Mid-Low 2nd tier.

#5. Moose. Age, wear, and tear are taking their toll and catching up to him. He still has it in him to pitch a game with great stuff here and there. The years of 200+ INN, 190-210K's, 15+ W's, and ERA around 4.00 or lower are long gone. I'm thinking more like 11-15 W's, 180 INN, 165-180K's, and an ERA around 4.10 or slightly higher. He hasnt looked good at all this spring either, which without putting too much emphasize on spring stats, is another bad sign. Low 2nd to high 3rd tier pitcher.

#6. Smoltz. I doubt his durability to remain effective as a starter all year. Hasnt avoided the DL to well as the closer, and well............ he is much closer to 40 than 30 years old. Mid 3rd tier pitcher.

Carpenter I never really followed, saw him pitch, or read into him too much before last year. I'm skeptical of last year's numbers being an anomaly season, ala Loaiza, based on 6 prior years of MLB service with never befor then having had an ERA under .400. Not being very well informed of him I'll refrain from ranking. He is just a guy I have avoided in my drafts. So with no 'quote me on it' or #ranking, my gut instinct tells me mid - low 3rd tier performance from him this year.

[TB13]

Burnett
Harden
Smoltz
Mussina
Vazquez
Zito
Carpenter

Risky call taking someone like Harden ahead of both Smoltz & Mussina. That was my tougest decision. Burnett I am very high on this year. Vaz will remind people why he was one of the best young pitchers in all of baseball.

[emb0lus]

Burnett
Smoltz
Carpenter
Harden
Mussina
Zito
Vazquez

Move Zito or Harden to a team with an offense and I would put them 1 and 4 respectively. I like Carpenter a lot and his splits at home were great despite playing in a launching pad. Vazquez is intriguing now that he will be out of the limelight so he may be one of the best values late in the draft.

[great gretzky]

people a little too down on mussina if you ask me. I mean the guy was hurt last year. The guy is totally a creature of habit and started off the year in japan for christsakes, then had to come back for more exhibition games. I think he rebounds, he is too good not to.

Burnett is coming of injury as well, and well Harden is good and all, but hard to pick him over mussina IMO.

[slomo007]

people a little too down on mussina if you ask me. I mean the guy was hurt last year. The guy is totally a creature of habit and started off the year in japan for christsakes, then had to come back for more exhibition games. I think he rebounds, he is too good not to.

Burnett is coming of injury as well, and well Harden is good and all, but hard to pick him over mussina IMO.

That's the way I feel.

My list would be:

Smoltz
Mussina
Harden
Burnett
Zito
Vazquez
Carpenter

[mcqfesijiba]

Burnett: only got stronger as last year went on and I expect a huge year from him
Mussina: I think his best years are behind him, but I do think he'll still perform closer to his 2003 level than 2004
Smoltz: His switch back to a starter leaves some uncertainty
Harden: All about the upside and in my opinion will be the A's best starting pitcher this year
Vazquez: Should rebound pretty well
Zito: I'm not a fan of his, but he'll be at least a little better than last year
Carpenter: Health risk, but I think he will still provide 150+ great innings and 15 or so wins. Could easily have a better season than Zito, but that health risk has to drop his value a bit.