Final Elias Rankings - American League Starting Pitchers

More on how these are calculated can be found with the National League rankings. Again, caveats about the accuracy of my DL data apply, as just being a day off on the DL days can lead to significant changes in the rankings. As far as free agents go, this shouldn't be a problem as most free agents are away from the border.

Name	Type	TotalScore
Roy Halladay	A	95.307
John Lackey	A	93.487
A.J. Burnett	A	90.038
Josh Beckett	A	89.080
Daisuke Matsuzaka	A	88.697
Scott Kazmir	A	87.739
James Shields	A	86.973
Felix Hernandez	A	86.207
Andy Pettitte	A	81.322
Javier Vazquez	A	80.460
Fausto Carmona	A	79.406
Mike Mussina	A	78.927
Justin Verlander	A	78.544
Cliff Lee	A	78.161
Mark Buehrle	A	77.969
Gil Meche	A	77.682
Erik Bedard	A	75.766
Zack Greinke	B	75.096
Jon Lester	B	75.000
Chien-Ming Wang	B	74.042
Jered Weaver	B	73.563
Scott Baker	B	70.881
Tim Wakefield	B	70.498
Kevin Millwood	B	69.061
Jeremy Guthrie	B	68.487
Ervin Santana	B	67.433
Jon Garland	B	67.337
Joe Saunders	B	66.284
Paul Byrd	B	65.613
Kelvim Escobar	B	65.326
Dustin McGowan	B	63.697
Daniel Cabrera	B	61.877
Vicente Padilla	B	61.782
John Danks	B	59.387
Edwin Jackson	B	58.238
Jesse Litsch		57.759
Gavin Floyd		56.226
Jose Contreras		56.130
Miguel Batista		55.651
Brian Bannister		55.460
Matt Garza		55.268
Justin Duchscherer		54.406
Andy Sonnanstine		54.119
Kevin Slowey		53.257
Glen Perkins		52.586
Nate Robertson		51.628
Jeremy Bonderman		51.533
Carlos Silva		51.341
Jarrod Washburn		49.713
Armando Galarraga		49.521
Boof Bonser		43.774
Curt Schilling		43.008
Kyle Davies		42.146
Kason Gabbard		42.050
Jake Westbrook		40.996
Nick Blackburn		40.709
Kenny Rogers		40.517
Dana Eveland		38.889
Brian Burres		38.027
Francisco Liriano		37.548
Alfredo Aceves		34.387
Greg Smith		33.238
Kameron Loe		32.088
Bartolo Colon		31.322
Matt Harrison		31.226
Sidney Ponson		29.789
Brandon McCarthy		27.586
Darrell Rasner		26.533
Anthony Reyes		25.862
Carl Pavano		25.862
Sean Gallagher		22.797
Luke Hochevar		21.935
Dallas Braden		21.743
Jeremy Sowers		21.169
R.A. Dickey		20.498
Adam Loewen		20.498
Chris Waters		18.295
Troy Patton		17.816
Jason Jennings		15.613
David Purcey		14.559
Zach Jackson		12.931
Ryan Feierabend		10.920
Eric Hurley		9.770
Clayton Richard		8.525
Gio Gonzalez		6.897
Scott Elarton		3.065
Luke Hudson		2.011
Andrew Brackman		1.437

As far as the Tigers are concerned, Freddy Garcia was not on the roster on August 31 and therefore was not eligible for the rankings. Kenny Rogers also failed to qualify for Type B status after struggling down the stretch. Let's take a look at these free agents to see if any are worth signing.

• John Lackey (A): The Angels have an option on him and will probably use it. He's still a very good pitcher and worth persuing if for some reason he's available.
• A.J. Burnett (A): Has an opt-out clause. With all of the injuries in his history, I'd have a hard time giving up the pick and the money for this guy. He's due for a break down.
• Andy Pettite (A): I don't think he'll do anything other than retire or stay with the Yankees. Wouldn't be worth the draft pick at this stage in his career.
• Mike Mussina (A): Had a fine rebound this year. A Hall of Famer in my book, it may be worth seeing if he has anything left in the tank, especially if the Yankees neglect to offer arbitration. Random fact about Mussina, he hasn't walked more than 50 guys in a season since 1999 and the only time he walked more than 60 was 1996.
• Tim Wakefield (B): Has the infinitely recurring option. If the Red Sox let him go, he could be a solid innings eater for a team that needs it. Yes, the Tigers may need it.
• Jon Garland (B): He's been hovering below 5 K/9 the past two years. Honestly, unless the Tigers improve the defense, this is a disaster waiting to happen. On a cheap short term deal? Sign him. If he wants more than 2/$10M, no way.
• Paul Byrd (B): Like Garland, only worse. The only benefit to signing him is that he would never be able to pitch against the Tigers with him on the team.
• Curt Schilling (None): He's dellusional if he thinks he can pitch again. No thanks.
• Kenny Rogers (None): Will either return to the Tigers or retire. Hopefully he retires.
• Bartolo Colon (None): A guy on the rebound, could be worth a shot on a minor league deal.
• Sidney Ponson (None): An awful pitcher and a worse person. Pass
• Carl Pavano (None): Seriously, buy low. He's coming off of Tommy John surgery last year and could be in line for a rebound in '09. It honestly can't hurt.
• Jason Jennings (None): A guy who was a pretty good pitcher before elbow injuries the past two years. If he will agree to a minor league deal in the hope that he recovers to innings eater form, it can't hurt to give him a try.

I'll have the relievers up later today.