2012 N.L. Starting Pitchers

The most expensive starting pitchers in the National League were the biggest disappointments we have seen in the last five years.

Ten Most Expensive N.L. Pitchers 2012

#	Player	$	Sal	+/-	CBS	LABR	TW	PK	2011
1	Clayton Kershaw	$31	31	1	34	26	32	34	$38
2	Roy Halladay	$10	30	-20	33	28	29	34	$34
3	Cliff Lee	$20	28	-8	31	26	27	32	$33
4	Zack Greinke	$12	26	-14	24	26	27	28	$18
5	Tim Lincecum	$2	26	-24	28	24	25	27	$23
6	Cole Hamels	$26	23	3	25	22	23	27	$28
7	Stephen Strasburg	$21	22	-1	23	22	22	26	$5
8	Matt Cain	$28	22	6	23	21	22	26	$24
9	Yovani Gallardo	$17	22	-5	21	23	22	25	$20
10	Madison Bumgarner	$23	21	2	23	19	21	25	$19
	Average	$19	25	-6	27	24	25	28	$24

For the first time since I've been tracking these numbers in 2008, the 10 most expensive N.L. starters failed to earn $20 or more per pitcher.

There is still plenty of success in this group. Six of these 10 pitchers earned $20 or more, and five of the 10 made it to this next list as a result (with Lee missing by decimals).

Top 10 N.L. Pitchers 2012

#	Player	$	Sal	+/-	CBS	LABR	TW	PK	2011
1	R.A. Dickey	$33	4	29	3	4	5	5	$13
2	Clayton Kershaw	$31	31	1	34	26	32	34	$38
3	Matt Cain	$28	22	6	23	21	22	26	$24
4	Gio Gonzalez	$28	15	13	18	13	15	14	$21
5	Cole Hamels	$26	23	3	25	22	23	27	$28
6	Johnny Cueto	$25	12	13	12	11	12	13	$18
7	Kyle Lohse	$24	2	22	2	1	3	4	$16
8	Madison Bumgarner	$23	21	2	23	19	21	25	$19
9	Stephen Strasburg	$21	22	-1	23	22	22	26	$5
10	Mat Latos	$20	17	3	19	16	16	17	$16
	Average	$26	17	9	18	16	17	19	$20

But for the first time there are some cheap pitchers in the ranks of the best pitchers. Dickey and Lohse mark the first pitchers since 2009 that cost less than $8 and cracked the Top 10.

This is a big deal because for years in the N.L. the idea was that you had to spend money to get quality pitching. This notion goes against the conventional wisdom in fantasy baseball, but the numbers have always backed the idea up...until last year. Dickey and Lohse defied that conventional wisdom and - as a result - made speculating far more rewarding than usual.

In both groupings, Rotoman is all over these pitchers. Notice what happens in the expensive group. Rotoman agrees 100% with the market's prices in terms of his own personal pecking order. However, he is ahead on price on every pitcher except Lincecum and Kershaw.

CBS is next in this imaginary pecking order. They are also aggressive on the top pitchers. Like Rotoman, CBS believed in paying big money for the top dogs.

Meanwhile, LABR and Tout Wars lagged behind.

A $2-4 difference per pitcher doesn't sound like much. But in a market where CBS, LABR, and Tout Wars were often within $1 of each other or tied, it's worth noting. Everyone has the same idea what he wants to pay for hitters. Everyone most definitely does not have the same idea what he wants to pay for pitchers.

It worked out last year because of Lohse and Dickey, but when the cheapest pitcher in the 10 best costs $8, it doesn't work out quite as well.

And if you didn't get Lohse or Dickey and wound up with a cheap pitcher that didn't perform, the free agent pickings were slim last year. Ross Detwiler, Ronald Belisario, Craig Stammen, Mike Fiers, and Mitchell Boggs were the only N.L. free agent pitchers to earn $10 or more. More importantly, none of these pitchers earned more than $12. In 2011, four of the free agent pitchers earned $13 or more while in 2010 there were seven pitchers that fit this description.

Besides Lohse and Dickey, were there enough bargains beyond the 10 most expensive to justify a more balanced strategy? I’ll look at that in my next post.