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The 2008 season brings a lot of change to starting pitching including some good pitchers moving to new teams and even a few aces going to greener pastures. Now that most of the free agents have been signed and it is only a few months from the start of the season, we will rank the top 5 starting pitcher rotation.

#5 The Atlanta Braves

The Braves have always have big name pitching and this year the role with 2 over 40+ in age pitchers. They don’t have the youngest starting pitchers but these veterans are all big time names that should be able to win with Atlanta improving on offense. The big three, Smoltz, Glavine, and Hudson should have a good year in a tough division. Chuck James seems to be improving and if the dark horse, Mike Hampton, can get back to where he was and stay healthy than the Braves will be a team to rival the Mets and Phillies.

#4 The Arizona Diamondbacks

The Diamondbacks come into the 2008 season by signing one of the top available pitchers in Dan Haren and have Randy Johnson coming back from injury. This gives the team 2 aces in Brandon Webb and Dan Haren with the potential of Randy Johnson being a 15 game winner. Doug Davis is a solid 4 start and Micah Owings was at .500 last year. This gives them the best starting pitcher rotation in the NL West which they have a great shot of winning again.

#3 The Anaheim Angels

The Angels don’t have a super ace that is just going to blow you away but they do have John Lackey, Kelvim Escobar, and Jered Weaver who all had good years and should continue to do so in the 2008 season. They key to their rotation will be Joe Saunders and John Garland who need to show some improvement.

#2 The Boston Red Sox

You don’t have to have the best stuff to be a winning pitcher for the Red Sox because of the potent offensive but it is an added bonus if you do. With ace pitcher Josh Beckett and an improving Daisuke Matsuzaka, the team has a good 1-2 punch. The loss of Schilling allows the team to put more emphasis on young pitchers Clay Buchholz and Jon Lester who showed lots of talent the prior year. Of course the old knuckleballer Tim Wakefield is still there and should produce a similar, good performance as last year. The Red Sox can go either way but most likely will produce winning pitchers because of their offense.

#1 The New York Mets

The acquisition of ace Johan Santana to pair with a healthy Pedro Martinez gives the team a potent 1-2 punch that is probably the best in the league if Martinez is healthy. The team’s starters were all above .500 and John Maine and Oliver Perez each won 15 games. Orlando Hernadez is set to fill the teams 5th spot and should perform decent. If the team did not lose Tom Glavine, they would have a very solid rotation from 1 to 5. The team might have blown the NL East title but last year but still have the top starting pitching potential.

Other Notables:

The Cleveland Indians can be considered top 5 with their top three: Sabathia, Carmona, and Byrd.

The Detroit Tigers have upgraded with Dontrelle Willis to help Verlander but need better performances from Bonderman and Robertson.

The San Diego Padres took a chance with Mark Prior and if he can get back to what he used to be talent wise, the team will have another good pitcher to go with ace Jake Peavy, both who are still young players.