Next season's top pitchers.

[Sid Bream's Slide]

How will the starting pitchers rank next season? I know there's lots of season left, but I'm curious to see what everyone thinks...

How will guys like Liriano and Kazmir finish in the mix?

[flowbee]

Chad Billingsley, this kid is progressing at lightspeed, come next year top 10 pitcher

[Sid Bream's Slide]

Chad Billingsley, this kid is progressing at lightspeed, come next year top 10 pitcher

besides the obvious #1 pick...

[virgil22]

Kazmir will be a top 10 pitcher. If he can get on a comptetive team he will be a 20 game winner...it looks like he will be there this year anyway. He will be an innings eater, 225 plus strikeout pitcher hovering around a 3.00 ERA. Liriano will be a top 20 pitcher as well. I think hitters will start to figure him out but will be Santanaesque once he matures in the next 2-3 years. I realize he looks dominant this year but the sophomore slump will marginally catch up to him next year.

Overall, these guys look for real. I give Kazmir the edge right now though.

FWIW, it appears that Detroit's staff will be great next year too. Look out for guys like J. Johnson from FL and Shields from TB. Shields got rocked tonight but I foresee good things from this kid too.

[CeeLoGreen]

Kazmir will be a top 10 pitcher. If he can get on a comptetive team he will be a 20 game winner...it looks like he will be there this year anyway. He will be an innings eater, 225 plus strikeout pitcher hovering around a 3.00 ERA. Liriano will be a top 20 pitcher as well. I think hitters will start to figure him out but will be Santanaesque once he matures in the next 2-3 years. I realize he looks dominant this year but the sophomore slump will marginally catch up to him next year.

Overall, these guys look for real. I give Kazmir the edge right now though.

FWIW, it appears that Detroit's staff will be great next year too. Look out for guys like J. Johnson from FL and Shields from TB. Shields got rocked tonight but I foresee good things from this kid too.

I agree. I wish my big money league was a keeper with Kazmir and Liriano, as well as Hamels and Reyes. Liriano, if he doesn't suffer a sophomore slump, could also crack the top ten. Either way, the sky is the limit for these two.

I also like Chuck James from Atlanta. He is one of their top prospects.

Guys moving up next year into top 20 preseason pitchers could be Capuano, Contreras, Arroyo, Webb, Harang, Penny, Young.

Mussina and Glavine could move up but some might be skeptical due to age. If I do recall correctly, both are in a contract year.

[Belle4Hall88]

Here's a ruff draft of starters for you....

1. Johan Santana
2. Pedro Martinez
3. Carlos Zambrano
4. Roy Halladay
5. Brandon Webb
6. Chris Carpenter
7. Scott Kazmir
8. Fransisco Liriano
9. Chris Capuano
10. Jason Schmidt
11. Curt Schilling
12. Jake Peavy
13. Roy Oswalt
14. Jeremy Bonderman
15. Barry Zito
16. Aaron Harang
17. Danny Haren
18. Chris Young
19. Bronson Arroyo
20. Mark Buehrle
21. Jose Contreras
22. John Smoltz
23. John Lackey
24. Brad Penny
25. Justin Verlander
26. Felix Hernandez
27. Tim Hudson
28. Dontrelle Willis
29. Mike Mussina
30. Kelvim Escobar
31. Tom Glavine
32. Derek Lowe
33. Josh Beckett
34. Ervin Santana
35. Dave Bush
36. Brett Myers
37. C.C. Sabathia
38. Scott Olsen
39. Anthony Reyes
40. Josh Johnson
41. Nate Robertson
42. Kenny Rogers
43. Chad Billingsley
44. Cole Hamels
45. Andy Soler
46. Kevin Millwood
47. Tim Wakefield
48. Gil Meche
49. Jamie Moyer
50. Andy Pettitte

[Snakes Gould]

not a fan of the list


i guess rich harden, mark prior, and ben sheets arent worth having anymore????

[johnsamo]

I'm sure Red fans wil pounce, but I suspect Arroyo will start gettiing lit up before the year is out. Maybe he's turned a corner, but I remember times in Boston when he looked great then became real hittable...... I'm just saying, three months is not a season.

[jdsun1]

Chad Billingsley, this kid is progressing at lightspeed, come next year top 10 pitcher

He just got rocked today! 7 walks 7 runs and only 2 K's. He's progressing back to triple A.

Personally I think Liriano will top the list because he will come clsoe to winning the CY this year and we can only imagine what he would be like with a full season and on a better team.

[tinfoilxtouch]

I won't bother ranking, but I'll make a few predictions:

1) Oswalt is going to be a top-5 pitcher for a very long time.
2) Kazmir is going to be better than Johan. Serious.
3) Harden will win the Cy if he ever pitches 200 innings.
4) Webb really is this good.
5) Haren should be top-10 next season.