FEB

06

After the 2007 MLB season ended, I wrote an article in which I attempted to pinpoint the best position player on each team.  This was going to be the first of several articles where I ran down the best players in baseball.  I shelved it, however, for several reasons.  First, people had just gotten done with an 8-month stretch of baseball, from March through October.  Most people, understandably, were sick of baseball.  The second reason was due to a logistical oversight on my part.  When I wrote the article, none of the top free agents had signed with a team.  That meant guys like Alex Rodriguez, Jorge Posada, and Mike Lowell weren't eligible for my article.  Looking back, I should have waited a while longer before compiling a list like that.  I'm working on a rewrite of that now, which should be finished later. The purpose of this article is to determine who the best starting pitcher on each team is.  Only starting pitchers will be considered because a) starters are much more valuable than relievers, and b) most relievers only became relievers after failing as starters. Here's the ground rules for this article:  I take each team, do some analysis (mostly statistical), and determine which starting pitcher on each team is the best.  By the best, I mean that this pitcher is the best on his team right now, and I tend to value established starters higher than up-and-coming rookies. Also, to avoid confusion, I waited to write this until now, because the best available free agent pitcher on the market is Kyle Lohse, and there are very few teams who don't have a better pitcher than Lohse on their staff.  Everybody got it?  Good, great, grand, wonderful, NO YELLING ON THE BUS! National League East Atlanta Braves This contest boils down to two pitchers:  the 40-year-old John Smoltz and the 32-year-old Tim Hudson.  Tom Glavine is a middle-of-the rotation starter at best at this point in his career, and Chuck James is not close to being in the same league ...

Read the full post at ArmchairGM

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