There have been some changes in the offseason in 2007 Major League Baseball and this has created some great rotations that could equal the pitching staff of the Atlanta Braves back in the 90’s consisting of Tom Glavine, Greg Maddux, John Smoltz. The big three were all ace pitchers and good pitchers were added throughout the years like Kevin Millwood and Jason Schmidt. There are a few teams who have made some trades and free agents signings to develop a rotation with at least 3 that are very capable of winning more than 10 wins during the season.
The Detroit Tigers already had some good young pitchers and added Dontrelle Willis to their rotation. Willis had a slump since starting out with a hot rookie year but still has potential to be very good. The Tigers pitching rotation will have Justin Verlander, Dontrelle Willis, Jeremy Bonderman, Kenny Rogers, and Nate Robertson. Verlander, Willis, and Bonderman will be the 1,2, and 3 guys and are talented enough to provide several wins for the Tigers and to propel them to a league championship. Verlander had 18 wins last year with a 3.66 ERA and 183 strikeouts. Bonderman had 11 wins with a 5.01 ERA and 154 strikeouts. Willis had 10 wins with a 5.17 ERA and 146 strikeouts. Bonderman and Willis can greatly improve and have shown that they are both strikeout pitchers. The Tigers will definitely have one of the better rotations for the 2008 season.
The Arizona Diamondbacks also made a excellent by picking up the 2nd best free agent pitcher in the market during the offseason. The Diamondbacks signed free agent Dan Haren who was considered an ace pitcher for the Oakland A’s and will definitely bolster the Diamondback pitching staff. The Diamondbacks already have ace Brandon Webb who has extremely good by going 18-10, having and ERA of 3.01, and striking out 194 batters. His pitch control and selection was the best he has had in several years of pitching. Add Haren who went 15-9 with a 3.07 ERA and 192 strikeouts and you have one of MLB’s best 1-2 combos. Arizona also has Randy Johnson who is coming off surgery and says he is in excellent condition and if he can reach the pitching where he used to be, or at least more than half of what he used to be, Johnson will be a good 3 slot. The Diamondbacks also have some players that can improve in Doug Davis and Micah Owings who showed some good outings. Depending on Johnson and the other starting pitchers behind the aces, Arizona could have a top pitching rotation.
The Boston Red Sox have so much offensive power that even pitchers who can pitch decently will have a chance to win several games. The team’s pitching rotation has a lot of potential with the younger pitchers like John Lester and Clay Buchholz but already has a stable core of 3 pitchers. Both players had good numbers in limited roles and Buchholz had the no hitter. The Red Sox still have the best pitcher last year in Josh Beckett who was nearly flawless in the regular season and postseason. Beckett went 20-7 with a 3.27 ERA and 194 strikeouts and will continue to be the ace here. The Red Sox also have Daisuke Matsuzaka who fills up the number two spot in the rotation. Dice-K went 15-12 with a 4.40 ERA and 201 strikeouts. He had one of the higher strikeout numbers and should improve in the coming years. The number 3 and 4 spots in the rotation go to veterans Curt Schilling and Tim Wakefield who both did well during the regular season. Wakefield went 17-12 with a 4.76 ERA and 110 strikeouts while Schilling went 9-8 with a 3.87 and 101 strikeouts. The Boston Red Sox pitching rotation remains solid and could greatly improve.
These are definitely the top three rotations in the league. Other notables include C.C. Sabathia and Fausto Carmona for the Cleveland Indians, Andy Pettitte and Chien-Ming Wang of the New York Yankees, and Scott Kazmir and James Shields for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. As of now, Johan Santana is still a free agent and whoever picks him up will definitely improve their starting pitcher rotation. The Yankees could definitely add another ace pitcher and if he were to go to the Red Sox, the team would have the best 1-2 combination in the league.