Free Agency Begins - Pitcher's Edition

There is no denying that this class of free-agent pitchers is a weak one. Very few guys out there could be a team's best pitcher if they were to go to that organization. Sometimes, though, championships are won by the deepest team in the league, and the playoffs are always decided by which team has the better pitching. So even though these players are not the best in the league, they would definitely be able to help you win games.


Here is a list of the best pitcher's available:

1. C.J. Wilson - Wilson was easily the Rangers best pitcher during the course of the season and had an ERA under 3.00. By far the best pitcher on the market.

2. Mark Buehrle - He is now 32 years old, but he is still able to give a team a good outing and give them a chance to win. He might have several different teams interested in him this winter.


3. Francisco Rodriguez - K-Rod was traded away from the Mets at the trading deadline to the Brewers, and he was able to produce very well in the closer and set-up role for each team respectively. With the good, though, comes some very bad.

4. Chris Young - In my opinion, this pitcher is one of the most underrated in the game today. Young spent some time in San Diego before coming to New York, and he has always been able to produce. There is a slight injury risk, though.

5. Chris Capuano - This is another Mets pitcher that I believe the team needs to re-sign, along with Young. Both pitched very well, and with this being a weak free agency, they need to keep these two very good pitchers.

6. Bartolo Colon - Here is our fourth straight pitcher who pitched in the city of New York at some point. But Colon has bounced around from team to team and was a very important part of the Yankees pitching staff and helped them get to the playoffs this year.

7. Heath Bell - As always, you have to worry about age with pitchers, and Bell is 34. If a team were to give him a lengthy contract, they would be crazy. Bell is still a good closer, but he is up there in age.

8. Hiroki Kuroda - Kuroda has not been in the MLB very long, and that is because he pitched overseas for most of his career, but the transition has not been very difficult for him. Kuroda is 36 years old.

9. Edwin Jackson - Jackson, as you may remember, is the man who threw a no-hitter for the D-Backs before he was traded around. He is still 28 year's old and will get attention.


10. Joel Pineiro - When he was with the St. Louis Cardinals, he could be dominating for a stretch of games. It seemed though, that when he started to put it all together, he would suffer an injury and that has been the story of his career this far.

Foreign player to keep an eye on:

Yu Darvish - In the Japanese league, he has posted an ERA under 1.88 for five straight years now. For his career, his ERA is under 2.00. Many, many teams should be interested in this kid since some teams have had their eye on him since he was in high school.