Please rank these pitching prospects for me...

[mocabeenow]

Clay Buchholz
Jacob McGee
Joba Chamberlain
Jarrod Parker
Gio Gonzalez
Jeffrey Locke
Andrew Bailey
Blake Beavan
Fautino de los Santos
Cole Rohrbough
Danny Duffy
David Bromberg
James McDonald
Jordan Zimmerman
Madison Bumgarner
Manny Parra
Matt Latos
Max Scherzer
Phillippe Aumont
Rick Porcello
Tim Alderson
Trevor Cahill
Tyler Robertson

[jwhands]

In tiers:

Clay Buchholz
Jacob McGee
Joba Chamberlain

Rick Porcello (until he actually throws)
Jarrod Parker
Gio Gonzalez
Madison Bumgarner
Manny Parra
Tim Alderson
Blake Beavan

Matt Latos
Max Scherzer
Phillippe Aumont
James McDonald
Fautino de los Santos

Jeffrey Locke
Andrew Bailey
Jordan Zimmerman
Cole Rohrbough
Danny Duffy
David Bromberg
Trevor Cahill
Tyler Robertson

[mocabeenow]

thanks man.

[thomasps3]

I'll chime in with my .02 since I disagree on a few of the players ranked by the previous poster:

Tier 1:
Clay Buchholz
Joba Chamberlain
These guys are the elite pitching prospects in all of the game. No one better than these two, and hardly any equals, sans Clayton Kershaw in LA.

Tier 2:
Jarrod Parker
Gio Gonzalez
Fautino de los Santos
Madison Bumgarner
Matt Latos
Rick Porcello
Fautino de los Santos

All good arms, with varying levels of secondary stuff. Porcello is the next Verlander, Latos is either Hoffman's heir apparent or the next frontline starter in the park known as Petco. DLS is aways away, but has the ceiling of an ace, Gonzlaez struck out the most hitters in the minors last year, and Bumgarner and Parker both have ace potential, albeit with varying levels of polish/work to do

Tier 2A:
Jeff Locke
Blake Beavan
Max Scherzer
Manny Parra
Tim Alderson
Phillipe Aumont
Tyler Robertson
Jacob McGee

Jury varies widely on Robertson. Sickels rates him lower than Baseball America, and I am not a huge fan right now. Scherzer profiles as a power reliever, but with Lyon and Pena already in AZ, what he gives you is a power middle relief guy, which to me negates his huge upside until he holds a closer's gig. Same iwth McGee. His secondary stuff hasn't come around yet, and although he has a plus fastball at 95+, he profiles right now as a closer tpyr, which really limits his impact until he gets a closer gig.

Tier 3:
Cole Rohrbough
Danny Duffy
David Bromberg
James McDonald
Jordan Zimmerman
Trevor Cahill
Andrew Bailey

Ehhh, to me, these guys are really not super prospects. McDonald gets a lot of hype, but until he has more pitching experience, I will be in the camp with the doubters. Cahill and Bailey are guys that don't get a lot of mention when you speak to the bets pitching prospects of their teams, so that puts them quite down the line a bit in terms of what I would expect from them.

Hope this helps provide a little more depth to your inquiry.

[mocabeenow]

great input thomas. thanks man.

Wade Davis will also be available. should i think of him as a tier 2?

[thomasps3]

That would be accurate, although in the context of rotisserie, the AL East is really really tough on pitchers, and when you throw in the fact that he is a rookie pitcher, I would probably say my gut would go with Parker, Bumgarner, or Porcello. But Davis flies under a lot of peoples radar because of the glut of advanced pitching prospects in TB.

Good luck.

[jwhands]

I would rank Davis as a top tier pitcher myself. Then again, I'm not as high on Buchholz and Joba either. Don't get me wrong, they're great prospects. I would suggest to not get sucked into the big market facade, where these two guys are hyped up more than pitchers of the same caliber in other markets. Wade Davis most likely will be the real deal. He has a great assortment of pitches, and will definitely provide a high k/ip ratio in the bigs. If you want to read more info on him, I have a writeup for Davis on my site.

[Grounded Polo]

I would rank Davis as a top tier pitcher myself. Then again, I'm not as high on Buchholz and Joba either. Don't get me wrong, they're great prospects. I would suggest to not get sucked into the big market facade, where these two guys are hyped up more than pitchers of the same caliber in other markets. Wade Davis most likely will be the real deal. He has a great assortment of pitches, and will definitely provide a high k/ip ratio in the bigs. If you want to read more info on him, I have a writeup for Davis on my site.

You have Clay and Joba confused with Lester and Kennedy.

[jwhands]

I would rank Davis as a top tier pitcher myself. Then again, I'm not as high on Buchholz and Joba either. Don't get me wrong, they're great prospects. I would suggest to not get sucked into the big market facade, where these two guys are hyped up more than pitchers of the same caliber in other markets. Wade Davis most likely will be the real deal. He has a great assortment of pitches, and will definitely provide a high k/ip ratio in the bigs. If you want to read more info on him, I have a writeup for Davis on my site.

You have Clay and Joba confused with Lester and Kennedy.

I just wouldn't consider the two as being elite pitchers over some others on the list. Neither pitcher has gone an entire season in the bigs yet, and they weren't extremely high prospects entering last season. They could turn into great pitchers, but I wouldn't put them on a pedestal because of one solid season.

[thomasps3]

The reasons they are frontline, best pitching prospects in the game, doesn't have anything to do with the team they play for, although in this instance, it doesn't hurt because of the defensive & offensive ability of both clubs.

Buchholz is a frontline starter because he has 3 70+ pitches on the 20-80 scout scale, and his change and curve rank as the team's best, and mixed in with his 94-96 mph late riding fastball, you have ace potential, if he was in Milwaukee or Tampa Bay.

Joba is much the same way, with a plus plus fastball that touches 100 when he's relieving, and sits regularly at 95+ when he's starting. When you add a devastating 2 plane slider that is a true '80' pitch, a curve he didn't even have to use last year that also rates as a 70 on the 20-80, and a changeup that rates almost equal to Buchholz's, what you have, again regardless of location, is an elite pitching prospect.

Doesn't denigrate Wade Davis at all, but it seems you have some big market bias that may be clouding your judgement.

But Wade Davis is no doubt a top of the Tier 2 type pitcher, no doubt about it.