{"id":5447,"date":"2013-01-07T11:59:27","date_gmt":"2013-01-07T16:59:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/?p=5447"},"modified":"2013-08-29T13:46:14","modified_gmt":"2013-08-29T17:46:14","slug":"2013-rotation-rankings-ranked-1-30","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/?p=5447","title":{"rendered":"2013 Rotation Rankings; Ranked 1-30"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Greinke bolstered the Dodger’s already strong rotation. How much? Photo Jeff Golden\/Getty Images<\/p><\/div>\n

(Editor Note: I’ve had the bulk of this post written for weeks and have been waiting for the last couple of impact FA starters to sign. \u00a0I’m tired of waiting. \u00a0If\/when guys like Kyle Lohse<\/strong>, Shawn Marcum <\/strong>or Joe Saunders<\/strong> signs, or if there’s another big trade that happens, perhaps I’ll re-post this).<\/p>\n

On December 5th, awash in the after-glow of the Dan Haren<\/strong> acquisition, I postulated that the Washington Nationals’ 2013 rotation was the Best in the Majors<\/a>.<\/p>\n

That was before the next shoe dropped in the Los Angeles Dodger’s unbelievable spending spree in 2012: signing Zack Greinke<\/strong> to a 6yr\/$147M contract<\/a>. \u00a0This is the 2nd largest starting pitcher contract ever signed (just behind CC Sabathia<\/strong>‘s 7yr\/$161M deal that he opted out of to sign a slightly larger deal in terms of AAV after the 2012 season).\u00a0 These rankings also are updated for the\u00a0highly-criticized<\/a> James Shields<\/strong> (and parts) for Wil Myers<\/strong> (and parts) deal, the Ryan Dempster<\/strong> signing<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The larger story behind the Greinke signing remains the unbelievable payroll Los Angeles will be sporting in 2013;\u00a0they’ll spend roughly $225M in 2013, breaking the \u00a0Yankees record by a 10% margin, and all boldly in the face of a dollar-for-dollar luxury tax. \u00a0And they’re likely not done yet on the FA market. \u00a0But the focus of this article is a revisiting of baseball’s best rotations, now that Greinke is in the Dodger’s fold.<\/p>\n

Instead of trying to figure out which handful of teams are the best, why not rank all 30 rotations?\u00a0 With the help of some Depth Chart websites (ESPN<\/a>, rotoworld, mlbdepthcharts<\/a>, and some good old-fashioned baseball-reference.com<\/a>), here’s my rankings of the 30 rotations as they stand for 2013, right now. \u00a0 <\/strong>For the sake of this ranking, I am trying to take a reasonable expectations case for each of the pitchers on each team, as opposed to a “best case” for each team (this is most important when considering San Francisco’s rotation). \u00a0I’m also not considering “depth,” just the Ace through 5th starter (this is important when judging Washington especially).<\/p>\n

Note: a couple of other National writers have done similar analysis, with David Schoenfield<\/strong>‘s NL-only rankings on his Sweetspot blog back in November and Buster Olney<\/strong>‘s top-10 in the MLB rankings<\/a> here. \u00a0By and large the rankings match up, with a couple of different .<\/p>\n

Discussion on each rotation is below the rankings.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Washington<\/span>: Strasburg, Gonzalez, Zimmermann, Haren, Detwiler<\/strong><\/li>\n
  2. Detroit<\/span>: Verlander, Fister, Sanchez, Scherzer, Porcello<\/strong> (with rookies Smyly<\/strong>, Crosby, Wilk <\/strong>awaiting)<\/li>\n
  3. Los Angeles Dodgers<\/span>:\u00a0Kershaw,\u00a0Greinke<\/strong>,\u00a0Beckett, Harang, Capuano<\/strong> (with Ryu<\/strong>, Lilly, <\/strong>Billingsley<\/strong> in the wings)<\/li>\n
  4. Toronto<\/span>: Dickey<\/strong>,\u00a0Morrow<\/strong>, Johnson, Buehrle, Romero<\/strong> with Happ\/Laffey\/Drabeck\/Huchinson<\/strong> in the wings.<\/li>\n
  5. San Francisco<\/span>: Cain, Lincecum,\u00a0Bumgarner, Vogelsong, Zito.<\/strong><\/li>\n
  6. Tampa Bay<\/span>: Price, Hellickson, Moore, Niemann<\/strong> and one from Cobb\/Archer<\/strong>. \u00a0Possibly Odorizzi <\/strong>and Montgomery <\/strong>now in the mix too.<\/li>\n
  7. Philadelphia<\/span>:\u00a0Halladay, Hamels, Lee, Kendrick, Lannan <\/strong>(with Cloyd\/Pettibone\/Hyatt<\/strong> as backups)<\/li>\n
  8. St. Louis<\/span>: Carpenter,\u00a0Wainwright, Westbrook<\/strong>, and probably Lynn<\/strong> and Garcia<\/strong> (Kelly\/Miller<\/strong> if Garcia is not ready)<\/li>\n
  9. Cincinnati<\/span>:\u00a0Cueto, Latos, Bailey, Arroyo, Leake<\/strong> (possibly Chapman<\/strong>?)<\/li>\n
  10. Arizona<\/span>: Kennedy, McCarthy,\u00a0Cahill, Miley<\/strong>, and one from Skaggs\/Collmenter<\/strong><\/li>\n
  11. Atlanta<\/span>: Medlen, Hudson, Minor, Maholm, <\/strong>and one from Beachy\/Delgado\/Tehran<\/strong><\/li>\n
  12. Texas<\/span>: Darvish, Harrison, Holland, Ogando<\/strong> and likely a FA pick up. (Perez <\/strong>for now)<\/li>\n
  13. Los Angeles Angels<\/span>: Weaver, Wilson, <\/strong>Vargas, <\/strong>Hanson, Blanton<\/strong> (wth\u00a0Richards\/Cassevah <\/strong>for depth).<\/li>\n
  14. Oakland<\/span>: Anderson, Griffen, Parker, <\/strong>Colon<\/strong>, <\/strong>Milone, <\/strong> with\u00a0Straily\/Blackley\/Ross\/Godfrey<\/strong> in the wings.<\/li>\n
  15. Chicago White Sox<\/span>: Sale, Peavy, Danks, Floyd, Quintana<\/strong><\/li>\n
  16. New York Yankees<\/span>: Sabathia, Kuroda, Pettitte, Nova, Hughes\/Phelps<\/strong>. \u00a0What about Pineda<\/strong>?<\/strong><\/li>\n
  17. Boston<\/span>: Lester, Buchholz, Dempster, Lackey, <\/strong> and 1 from Doubront\/Morales\/<\/strong> De La Rosa.<\/strong><\/li>\n
  18. Baltimore<\/span>: Hammel, Chen, Tillman, Gonzalez, Britton<\/strong> (perhaps Bundy<\/strong>)<\/li>\n
  19. Chicago Cubs<\/span>: Garza, Samardzija, Jackson<\/strong>, Wood, <\/strong>and one from Baker\/Feldman\/Villanueva<\/strong> (likely two if Garza is still injured or is traded).\u00a0 They also just signed Dontrelle Willis<\/strong> to a minor league deal.<\/li>\n
  20. Kansas City<\/span>:\u00a0Shields, Guthrie, Santana, Davis, Chen (Hochevar, Moscoso<\/strong>?)<\/li>\n
  21. Seattle<\/span>: Hernandez, Iwakuma, Ramirez, Beavan<\/strong> (Hultzen<\/strong>?). \u00a0Bonderman<\/strong> on a reclamation project.<\/li>\n
  22. Pittsburgh<\/span>: Burnett, Liriano,\u00a0Rodriguez, McDonald, Locke, McPherson<\/strong><\/li>\n
  23. Milwaukee<\/span>: Gallardo, Estrada, Fiers, Narveson, Rogers<\/strong> (with the likes of Peralta<\/strong> and Thornberg<\/strong> waiting if Narveson cannot go).<\/li>\n
  24. Minnesota<\/span>: Diamond, Worley, Correia, Pelfrey<\/strong> (if he’s healthy),\u00a0Hendricks, Duensing, De Vries<\/strong><\/strong> (maybe Gibson <\/strong>or May<\/strong>?\u00a0). \u00a0Harden<\/strong> on a reclamation project.<\/li>\n
  25. New York Mets<\/span>: Santana, Niese, Gee, Harvey<\/strong>, and who knows.<\/li>\n
  26. Cleveland<\/span>: Jimenez, Masterson, McAllister, Kluber, Carrasco, Bauer<\/strong> (Kazmir<\/strong> and Myers <\/strong>on reclamation projects)<\/li>\n
  27. Colorado<\/span>: De La Rosa, Chacin, Pomeranz, Nicaso, Francis<\/strong> (and newly acquired Rosenbaum <\/strong>perhaps?)<\/li>\n
  28. San Diego<\/span>: Volquez, Richard, Marquis, Stults, Ross<\/strong><\/li>\n
  29. Miami<\/span>: Nolasco, Alvarez, LeBlanc, Eovaldi, Turner, Maine?
    \n<\/strong><\/li>\n
  30. Houston<\/span>: Norris, Humber, Ely, White, Harrell, Lyles<\/strong> (who, who and who?)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Free Agents as of 1\/2\/13<\/a> that could impact the above list: Lohse, Marcum, Saunders, Lowe. \u00a0Also guys like Webb, Vazquez and Pavano could be coming out of retirement but likely won’t make much of an impact.<\/p>\n

    Rumored trades as of 12\/31\/12 that could impact this list: \u00a0Harang, Capuano, Masterson, Smyly\/Porcello.<\/p>\n

    Hmm. \u00a0I seem to favor NL teams. \u00a0The majority of my top Ten rotations are in the NL. \u00a0Is this bias? \u00a0Discussion, 1-30<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Washington<\/span>: If Dan Haren<\/strong> returns to 2011 form, which I’m assuming he will, this is the best rotation in the majors.\u00a0 Not the deepest though; if we lose someone to injury we could struggle to repeat 2012’s win total. \u00a0But this is an exercise to determine the best 1 through 5, not to determine depth (where teams like the Dodgers and Tampa clearly have more depth). \u00a0I will say, this is a close race at the top; I can see arguments for any of the top 4-5 to be the best rotation. \u00a0I don’t want to be accused of homerism by ranking the Nats #1, but can make a man-for-man argument that shows we should be #1 above the next several competitors.<\/li>\n
    2. Detroit<\/span>\u2019s rotation in the post season was fantastic against New York, then god-awful against San Francisco. \u00a0Why? \u00a0What can they change in 2013? \u00a0They better figure it out, because upon re-signing Anibel Sanchez<\/strong> they’re rolling the dice on the same big 4 in 2013. \u00a0Fister<\/strong> and Scherzer<\/strong> are slightly underrated but showed how dominant they can be in the playoffs. \u00a0The #5 starter is likely where Detroit falls to Washington; Detwiler’s 12th ranked ERA+ in 2012 will trump nearly every other #5 starter in the league.<\/li>\n
    3. The <\/span>Los Angeles Dodgers<\/span> has an Ace in Clayton Kershaw<\/strong>, a near-Ace (in my opinion) in Zack Greinke<\/strong>,\u00a0a potential near-ace career reclamation project in Josh Beckett<\/strong>, and then a bunch of question marks. \u00a0Two rotation stalwarts Ted Lilly<\/strong> and Chad Billingsley<\/strong> remain injury question marks for 2013, and the rest of their rotation right now are league average hurlers. \u00a0 I believe their pitchers get a bump in adjusted ERA by virtue of their home park, thus I don’t believe their current #4\/#5s match up as well with Washington’s or Detroit’s, putting them in 3rd place. \u00a0Plus Beckett is a question mark; is he throwing like he did at the end of 2012, or is he the Fried-Chicken eating malcontent he has been in Boston the last couple of years?<\/li>\n
    4. Toronto<\/span>: Its not every day you can trade for 4 starting players, including two rotation members. \u00a0But thanks to Miami\u2019s salary dump, Toronto finds itself with a significantly improved rotation. \u00a0If Josh Johnson<\/strong> returns to Ace form, coupled with Brandon Morrow<\/strong>\u2019s fantastic 2012 performance and Mark Buehrle<\/strong>\u2019s solid #3 stuff, they have something to build on. \u00a0 The subsequent acqusition of 2012 Cy Young award winner R.A. Dickey<\/strong> changes things though, valulting\u00a0Toronto into the discussion for best AL rotation.<\/li>\n
    5. San Francisco<\/span> has won two World Series\u2019 in three years with the same core of hurlers, and there\u2019s no reason to think they won\u2019t continue to be amongst the elite in the league. \u00a0The question remains though; what are they getting from Tim Lincecum<\/strong> in 2013? \u00a0Is the other shoe going to drop on Ryan Vogelsong<\/strong>‘s fairy tale career resurgence? \u00a0And, can Barry Zito<\/strong> continue his career rebound? \u00a0 If the best-case falls for Lincecum and Zito (Lincecum returns to Cy Young form and Zito pitches even marginally ok) then I think they’re the best rotation in the game. \u00a0As it stands though, i’m assuming that both guys fall somewhere short of the best case, meaning that they’re “only” the 5th best rotation in the game.<\/li>\n
    6. Tampa Bay <\/span>has well-known pitching depth, and even with the move\/heist of the James Shields<\/strong> trade they have a ton of guys who other teams would love to have. \u00a0Expect a bounce-back sophomore campaign from Matt Moore<\/strong> and more excellent innings from rising hurlers Alex Cobb<\/strong> and Chris Archer<\/strong>. \u00a0They may not be the best rotation in the game, but they\u2019re certainly the most value for the dollar.<\/li>\n
    7. Philadelphia<\/span>\u2019s big 3 are all fantastic, but are showing signs of age. \u00a0Roy Halladay<\/strong> only had an 89 ERA+ last year; has age caught up to him? \u00a0The drop-off after the big 3 is significant too. \u00a0But the potential of the big 3 keeps this rotation among the league’s elite.\u00a0 The acquisition of John Lannan<\/strong> didn’t affect their ranking much; he merely replaces the Phillies heading into 2013 with a rookie in the #5 spot. \u00a0I had Philadelphia lower in the earlier drafts of these rankings, and have them this high on the assumption that their big three are all entering 2013 healthy.<\/li>\n
    8. St Louis<\/span>\u2019s 2012 rotation was rich enough this year to drop 18-game winner Lance Lynn<\/strong> to the bullpen. \u00a0 With Chris Carpenter<\/strong> healthy in 2013, with Adam Wainwright<\/strong> recovered from Tommy John, and with the likes of hard-throwing Joe Kelly<\/strong> or Shelby Miller<\/strong> as your #5 starter, this could be a scary rotation.\u00a0 And that’s if Jaime Garcia<\/strong> isn’t ready for the start of the season after injuring his shoulder in the playoffs. \u00a0Kelly\/Rosenthal are serious arms though and give far more depth than what a team like Washington has. \u00a0Some pundits are not as high on the ability of Carpenter to return to his career form, pushing this ranking slightly lower than I initially had them. \u00a0 It all comes down to the health of their 1-2 punch; if Carpenter and Wainwright pitch like Cy Young candidates, this rotation gets pushed up much higher.<\/li>\n
    9. Cincinnati<\/span>\u2019s 5 starters took every 2012 start except ONE (the back half of an August double header). \u00a0In today\u2019s baseball landscape, that\u2019s nothing short of amazing. \u00a0Mike Leake<\/strong> may not be the strongest #5, but Cincy\u2019s 1-2-3 put up great numbers pitching in a bandbox in Cincinnati. \u00a0I’m not the biggest Mat Latos<\/strong> fan, but his 2012 performance spoke for itself. \u00a0 Lastly, there’s rumors that Aroldis Chapman<\/strong> may be moving to the rotation, pushing Leake presumably to a swing-man role. \u00a0If Chapman can repeat his K\/9 performance in a starter role, this rotation is even more formidable. \u00a0Should it be higher? \u00a0Perhaps; in previous drafts I had them in the top 5, but I just can’t seem to give their top guys the same “Ace” billing as other leading arms above them on this list.<\/li>\n
    10. Arizona<\/span>‘s acquisition of Brandon McCarthy<\/strong> is a great one for me; if the Nats hadn’t bought Haren, I thought this guy would fit in perfectly. \u00a0Arizona has a solid 1-4 and (like Atlanta) has a slew of options for #5. \u00a0And, they have help in the immediate future, with Daniel Hudson<\/strong> coming back from July 2012 TJ surgery and a top prospect in AA. \u00a0I see them as a solid rotation 1 through 5 but without the blow-away ace that other top rotations have.<\/li>\n
    11. Atlanta<\/span>\u2019s found gold in Kris Medlen<\/strong> gives Atlanta enough depth to trade away starters (the Tommy Hanson<\/strong> for Jordan Walden<\/strong> deal). \u00a0They have 4 good starters and then can pick from 3 top-end prospects for the 5th starter until Brandon Beachy<\/strong> is back from surgery. \u00a0What pushes this rotation down in the rankings is the unknown; is Tim Hudson<\/strong> getting too old? \u00a0And what kind of performance can we expect from Medlen realistically? \u00a0Can he really continue to pitch like Bob Gibson<\/strong> in 1968? \u00a0Their 3\/4\/5 guys don’t scare me right now, but the potential of 1 and 2 keep them ranked decently high.<\/li>\n
    12. Texas<\/span> bought an ace last off-season in Yu Darvish<\/strong>, has a couple of good arms developed in house in Holland<\/strong> and Harrison<\/strong>, but has been depending on one-off FAs to fill the void. \u00a0 They need a full healthy year out of their two upper-end arms Alexi Ogando<\/strong> and\/or Neftali Feliz<\/strong> to make the leap. \u00a0Felix is out for most of 2013 though after getting Tommy John surgery in August. \u00a0Colby Lewis<\/strong> is in the fold but seems like he’s out most of 2013 after elbow surgery late last season. \u00a0If they buy another decent FA this off-season (Lohse<\/strong>?), this rotation works its way further up. \u00a0I have a hard time seeing them at #12, but who above them on this list right now do you push them ahead of?<\/li>\n
    13. The Los Angeles Angels<\/span> have a great 1-2 punch in Weaver<\/strong> and Wilson<\/strong>, but they’ve spent the off-season watching their former envious rotation erode. \u00a0Hanson<\/strong> is an arm injury waiting to happen,\u00a0Blanton<\/strong> has been pitching below replacement level for 3 years, and they don’t have an established #5 right now. \u00a0Perhaps this rotation should be lower. \u00a0The shrewd trade for Jason Vargas<\/strong> helps keep them in the upper-half of the league, based on who their planned #4\/#5 guys are.<\/li>\n
    14. Oakland<\/span>\u2019s slew of young, cost contained and quality starters is the envy of the league. \u00a0The only thing that keeps this list from greater acclaim is Oakland\u2019s relative lack of recent success (2012 not withstanding). \u00a0Throw in a couple more playoff appearances and Billy Beane<\/strong> can get a sequel to Moneyball<\/em> published. \u00a0Like the LA and SF rotation, they benefit from their home park, but that doesn’t take away the fact that they won the division last year. \u00a0The off-season isn’t over either; I can still see Beane flipping one or more of his rotation for more depth\/more hitting and turning to his stable of youngsters again. \u00a0I’m not necessarily happy with this ranking spot and feel like it should be higher, but their collection of unknowns doesn’t inspire the confidence of the known Aces above them on this list.<\/li>\n
    15. The Chicago White Sox<\/span> have a big up and coming potenial Ace in the making in Chris Sale<\/strong> and the engimatic\u00a0Jake Peavy<\/strong>. \u00a0After that are some league average options. \u00a0Jose Quintana<\/strong> had a great 2012; can he repeat his success? \u00a0I feel like the 3\/4\/5 guys in this rotation are all quality, innings eater types, but nothing that really knocks your socks off. \u00a0Middle of the pack feels right.<\/li>\n
    16. The New York Yankees<\/span> continue to get 95+ win teams with a smoke-and-mirror job in the rotation. \u00a0Now they set to go into 2013 with one possibly injured Ace and two guys nearly 40 as their 1-2-3. \u00a0Is 2013 the year the wheels come off the bus for New York? \u00a0A healthy Michael Pineda<\/strong> contributing as the #2 starter he can be would vastly improve the outlook here.<\/li>\n
    17. Boston‘s ranking may be changing significantly, depending on which arms they buy up off the FA market. \u00a0I think a new manager helps Lester<\/strong> and Buchholz<\/strong> regain their near-Ace form of yesteryear, and Dempster<\/strong> should give them competent innings in the middle of the rotation. \u00a0But I can’t assume anything when it comes to their 1\/2; they’ve both been so good and so bad in the recent past. <\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
    18. Baltimore <\/span>amazingly comes in ranked this low despite making the playoffs last year with this collection of no-name starters. \u00a0Maybe i’m underselling their 1-2-3 capabilities. \u00a0Maybe i’m just treating them like a team that had a pythagorean record of 82-80.<\/li>\n
    19. The Chicago Cubs still seem set to be in “sell mode,” so listing Garza<\/strong> as their Ace seems fleeting. \u00a0Behind Garza though are a collection of hard throwing, promising guys. \u00a0I like Samardzija<\/strong>, the Edwin Jackson<\/strong> acquisition gives them a solid #4. \u00a0Perhaps this rotation should be slightly higher on potential.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
    20. Kansas City<\/span> made their big trade to acquire an “Ace” … and only got James Shields<\/strong>. \u00a0I mean, Shields is good .. but not that good. \u00a0He’s only got a career 107 ERA+<\/a>, but he is a healthy workhorse. \u00a0Behind Sheilds is a collection of guys who mostly are #4 and #5 starters elsewhere, which means this rotation is … below average.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
    21. Seattle <\/span>should have been higher than the teams directly ahead of them on this list just by virtue of the quality of Felix Hernandez<\/strong> … but then they went and traded away Vargas, and seem to have no good ideas on the back end of their rotation right now. \u00a0This team could be in trouble.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
    22. Pittsburgh <\/span>is getting by on veteran starters who have the ability to look good, and may not deserve this high of a ranking. \u00a0AJ Burnett<\/strong> had a great first half but settled back down to average in 2012. \u00a0Here’s a great stat: Burnett is getting paid $16.5M a year … and has *never* made an all star team in his career. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
    23. Milwaukee <\/span>seems like they should be higher with a guy like Gallardo leading the ranks. \u00a0But their #2 is Marco Estrada<\/strong>, a guy who couldn’t make Washington’s rotation in the years when we didn’t HAVE a rotation. \u00a0 I know Fiers is good; perhaps this rotation should be higher.<\/li>\n
    24. Minnesota<\/span>‘s rotation looks pretty poor right now; their ace is a guy whose a #3 on most teams (Scott Diamond<\/strong>) and they’re hoping for one of their injury reclamation projects to pan out. \u00a0It could be a long season in Minneapolis.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
    25. The New York Mets rotation could be better than 25th, if Santana <\/strong>isn’t allowed to throw 150 pitches pursuing a no-hitter and if Niese<\/strong> pitches up to his capability. \u00a0However, Santana hasn’t had an injury-free season since 2008, and I’m not betting on it in 2013. \u00a0They are planning on giving both the 4\/5 slots to rookies, meaning there could be some long series for this team in 2013. \u00a0Their fate was sealed when they traded away their Cy Young winning Ace, and the statement was made about the direction of the franchise.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      From 26-30, I honestly don’t see much of a difference between these rotations. \u00a0 Really the only argument was to figure out which rotation of no-names between Miami and Houston was dead-last. \u00a0I selected Houston for the time being; if\/when Miami trades Ricky Nolasco<\/strong> for 40 cents on the dollar, we’ll feel free to rank them 30th.<\/p>\n

      \n

      At the end of this massive posting, I can honestly say that the difference between the 5th ranked rotation and the 6th is often near nothing. Looking back, I can see anyone from the 5-8 range being listed in any order and I’d agree with it. I ranked and re-ranked these rotations over and over again from the time I started writing this post in early December to the time i’ve posted it. Perhaps it would have been easier to just have groupings of rotations instead of a pure ranking 1-30. But, that would have been a copout.<\/p>\n

      I look forward to your opinions and arguments for some rotations to be higher\/lower than others.<\/p>\n

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       <\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      (Editor Note: I’ve had the bulk of this post written for weeks and have been waiting for the last couple of impact FA starters to sign. \u00a0I’m tired of waiting. \u00a0If\/when guys like Kyle Lohse, Shawn Marcum or Joe Saunders signs, or if there’s another big trade that happens, perhaps I’ll re-post this). On December […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[346,700,1262,1264,777,569,209,212,640,230,387,1140,363,47,1252,1263,224,1169,53,319,426,242,983,548,509,286,241,253,407,324,1022,49,1334,442,839,406,213,1260,437,348,39,221,783,410,1335,50,776,970,231,897,1336,339,586,131,303,229,1037,408,893,288,781,778,119,838,468,1173,1023,1333,567,219,316,774,853,1303,300,254],"class_list":["post-5447","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mlbpitching","tag-adam-wainwright","tag-aj-burnett","tag-alex-cobb","tag-alexi-ogando","tag-anibal-sanchez","tag-aroldis-chapman","tag-barry-zito","tag-billy-beane","tag-bob-gibson","tag-brandon-beachy","tag-brandon-mccarthy","tag-brandon-morrow","tag-buster-olney","tag-cc-sabathia","tag-chad-billingsley","tag-chris-archer","tag-chris-carpenter","tag-chris-sale","tag-cj-wilson","tag-clay-buchholz","tag-clayton-kershaw","tag-colby-lewis","tag-dan-haren","tag-daniel-hudson","tag-david-schoenfield","tag-derek-holland","tag-doug-fister","tag-edwin-jackson","tag-felix-hernandez","tag-jaime-garcia","tag-jake-peavy","tag-james-shields","tag-jason-vargas","tag-jeff-passan","tag-jeff-samardzija","tag-jered-weaver","tag-joe-blanton","tag-joe-kelly","tag-joe-saunders","tag-johan-santana","tag-john-lannan","tag-jon-lester","tag-jon-niese","tag-jordan-walden","tag-jose-quintana","tag-josh-beckett","tag-josh-johnson","tag-kris-medlen","tag-kyle-lohse","tag-lance-lynn","tag-marco-estrada","tag-mark-buehrle","tag-mat-latos","tag-matt-garza","tag-matt-harrison","tag-matt-moore","tag-max-scherzer","tag-michael-pineda","tag-mike-leake","tag-neftali-feliz","tag-ra-dickey","tag-ricky-nolasco","tag-roy-halladay","tag-ryan-dempster","tag-ryan-vogelsong","tag-scott-diamond","tag-shawn-marcum","tag-shelby-miller","tag-ted-lilly","tag-tim-hudson","tag-tim-lincecum","tag-tommy-hanson","tag-tommy-john","tag-wil-myers","tag-yu-darvish","tag-zack-greinke"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5447","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5447"}],"version-history":[{"count":61,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5447\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7532,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5447\/revisions\/7532"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5447"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5447"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5447"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}