WaiverSharks 2009 Preseason
Fantasy Baseball Rankings:
Starting Pitchers #21-#40
Today we continue our assault on our 2009 Fantasy Baseball Pitcher Rankings. Remember – we excluded Fantasy Baseball’s TOP 25 starters when we began this list – (We don’t concern ourselves too much with the TOP Dogs who everyone will be drafting no matter what)
So, when you see a relatively raw pitcher like Jeff Samardzija ranked here at #24 - this does not reflect his actual overall MLB ranking – but merely where he lies on our heavily “sleeper laden” list of future stars who we feel you need to watch closely heading into the coming 2009 Major League Baseball season.
Be wary of judging books by their covers. Sleepers can come out of nowhere, and surprise the heck out of you WaiverSharks! Keep an open mind when perusing this list of 100 Starters.
After all, you wouldn’t have pegged Megan Fox in Transformers as being mechanical would you? Strange things can also happen during a marathon MLB fantasy season.
Any of you guys wanna pass her a pry bar and a set of vice-grips?
21) John Danks, White Sox – The Texas Rangers, who are in desperate need of some starting pitching had John Danks – and let him go. Big mistake.
23) Chris Volstad, Marlins – One of WaiverSharks favorites! Florida ’s big right hander is a real competitor, who knows how to pitch – and should have no worries making the Marlins rotation in 2009.
24) Jeff Samardzija, Cubs – Another WaiverSharks diamond in the rough. The college football star has a bright future ahead of him – and although Chi-towns hurler may not be a starter right out of the gate – we see a possible “Joba-like” transition to the Cubbies rotation, as keeping “The Shark” in the bullpen would be somewhat of a travesty.
25) Scott Baker, Twins – An underrated Starter - SP who made fantastic strides last season in Minnesota – especially in the 2nd half.
26) Brett Myers, Phillies – Myers got off to a rough start in 2008, and continues to be overshadowed in Philadelphia by Cole Hamels – making him a good draft day target.
27) Fausto Carmona, Indians – 2008 was somewhat of a disappointing year for Fausto – but his upside remains high. Look for an improved Cleveland Indians team, helped out now with new closer Kerry Wood to net Carmona a few more victories this coming campaign.
28) Zach Greinke, Royals – Sooner or later Zach Greinke , may not be chained to the Kansas City Royals – it’s then that his Fantasy value could skyrocket!
29) Ian Snell, Pirates – Pittsburghs Ian Snell, like Greinke, is another talented pitcher whose value suffers somewhat from being on a lesser talent filled team.
30) Jeff Francis, Rockies – Coors starters don’t scare us nearly as much anymore – and Francis could be on the move from Colorado next season anyways.
Note: Ah yes, another Canadian arm falling prey to serious injury...sadly, we can cross Jeff Francis off for 2009, arthroscopic surgery of a torn labrum will sideline him all of this year. And, for more injury beginnings...check out Ben Sheets Below...we wrote this portion of our Rankings before the Holidays - but predicting Ben Sheets will hit the DL is like saying the sun will eventually rise, so we won't be patting ourselves on the backs for this one.
31) Ben Sheets, Brewers – Sheets fantasy owners may have got the best of the oft-injured Big Ben in 2008 – so buyer beware, you may pay for ‘08 numbers – and get stuck with DL riddled results.
32) Chien-Mien Wang, Yankees – If strike outs were not a factor Mr. Wang would get bumped up a bit – but in most leagues they count.
33) Andrew Miller, Marlins – Possible Breakout candidate? Andrew Miller appears to be a guy who is still adjusting to the Major League level – but once the Florida Marlins lefty becomes at ease with his surroundings he could become dynamic.
34) Jared Weaver, Angels – We want to see more from Jared Weaver in 2009 – but are not convinced we will. Despite being included on an amazing Angels staff -until he backs up his true potential by stringing together some stronger, more consistent stretches, we have to keep him out of the upper echelon of starting pitchers.
35) Kevin Slowey, Twins – “Dr. Control” enters 2009 as a moderate sleeper. Although he is in danger of making his fantasy owners a little sleepy – he does, more often than not – throw a well pitched game.
36) Nick Adenhart, Angels – Adenhart probably took a step back in many fantasy owner’s eyes in 2008 – making him a steal in the final couple rounds of your draft. Watch what he does in Spring Training to witness what chance he has of making the Angels rotation.
37) Eric Bedard, Mariners – It’s nearly impossible, at this time to prognosticate Eric Bedards value for the 2009 season – His health issues, and a Mariners team that looks to be rebuilding will hurt his draft position immensely.
38) Derek Lowe, Braves – We have to disagree with Fantasy Sports Girl Rachel on this one. We feel Lowe's value remains relatively unchanged from the last few seasons as he stays in the NL, but now heads to Turner Field to pitch for the Atlanta Braves.
39) Justin Masterson, Red Sox – Okay, he’s not technically a starter – but we think he should be – and one day will be.
40) Gavin Floyd, White Sox – The Chicago White Sox made a smart acquisition getting Gavin Floyd from the Phillies for Freddy Garcia in 2006. He showed glimpses of greatness in 2008, so we have him penciled in at#40 on our preseason fantasy rankings list.
January 22nd, 2009 at 9:08 am
Hey what happened to #22?
January 22nd, 2009 at 11:12 pm
Doh! Thanks LR for spotting our faux pas!
The 2009 Fantasy Pitcher we actually meant to list - who was accidentally omitted in this post was the Detroit Tigers Edwin Jackson.
So, for #’s sake Chris Volstad becomes our new #22, and everyone who follows moves up a notch until the White Sox SP - Gavin Floyd, who is now #39. Making the former Tampa Bay Rays pitcher (Recently traded to Motown for outfielder Matt Joyce) our new #40 Starting Pitcher.
40) Edwin Jackson, Detroit Tigers - Although Jackson’s earned run average has been way too lofty in the past he made strides towards being an adequate 3rd to 4th starter in 2008. He moves to Comerica Parks pitcher friendly confines, and joins a team who should net him 12 to 15 Wins.