2017 Starter Rankings

Time for some post-All-Star break fun: here are my very, very preliminary 2017 player rankings. I’ve done my best to list players where they’ll be eligible next year, and the free agents-to-be are listed without teams. Players with options for next year are still listed with their current teams and asterisks if those options are likely to be exercised.

Along with the position rankings is a top-300 list for 2017. Click to see other preliminary 2017 rankings:

Top 300 | SP | RP | OF | 1B | 2B | SS | 3B | C | DH

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2017 Starting pitcher Rankings

Starting pitchers

• Is that the ugliest crop of pitching free agents ever seen or what? The highest FA on the list is Rich Hill at No. 77, and he’s going to be 37 with two seasons in his career in which he’s made 20 major league starts (assuming he gets the seven he needs to reach that total this year). Scott Kazmir will opt out if he puts together a strong finish. Otherwise, he can stay with the Dodgers for $32 million the next two years. There’s a good chance the Nationals will move from Gio Gonzalez, but not until after they pick up his $12 million option; in this market, someone will give up a prospect for Gonzalez on that kind of deal.

• There’s some worry about the arms of Noah Syndergaard (No. 14) and Steven Matz (No. 34) built into their rankings, but they’re just too talented to be listed much lower. Syndergaard would be 7th on the list if he seemed like a better bet to stay healthy and Matz would crack the top 25.

• Don’t read anything into Garrett Richards’ No. 83 ranking. He’s an impossible call for 2017 until he either comes back from his elbow sprain in August or undergoes Tommy John surgery.

• The Cardinals lead the way with 10 starters in the top 200. This is why I didn’t want them to sign Mike Leake last winter, although given the barren pitching market, they could probably just trade him this winter without eating any salary. He might be their eighth-best starter if everyone is healthy next spring, and while it’s not all that likely that everyone will be healthy, they should take the chance that they can do without him. A rotation of Carlos Martinez, Adam Wainwright, Jaime Garcia, Michael Wacha and Lance Lynn, with Alex Reyes and Tim Cooney in reserve and Luke Weaver on the way, should be plenty good.

• The A’s have nine starters here, but things aren’t nearly as rosy there. Three of those nine guys -- Henderson Alvarez, Jarrod Parker and Chris Bassitt -- haven’t pitched this year, and most of the guys who have pitched haven’t been very good. I think Jesse Hahn will bounce back and Sean Manaea could be above-average as well, but they’ll need Daniel Mengden and Dillon Overton to continue to progress.

• The Padres, on the other hand, have just two starters here (Tyson Ross and Colin Rea) after trading Drew Pomeranz to Boston on Thursday. Their farm system is certainly on the way back up, thanks largely to the Red Sox, but they lack any pitching prospects that seem like good bets for 2017.