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Dynasty Pitching

Does anyone care about pitching anymore?

John Rieger-USA TODAY Sports

Close to a month ago I posted an article about a dynasty team that I've recently taken over.  Since then I've introduced myself to my league and began trade talks.  Something nobody has brought up yet is pitching.  In case you forgot my very forgettable pitching staff here it is again.

Pitchers

MiLB Pitchers

SP: Justin Verlander

Jesse Biddle

SP: Anibal Sanchez

Jose Campos

SP: Scott Kazmir

Ian Clarkin

SP: Tim Lincecum

Jonathon Crawford

SP: Rubby De La Rosa

Rob Kaminsky

SP: Kyle Gibson

Adam Morgan

SP: Jorge De La Rosa

Henry Owens

SP: Brandon Morrow

Vincent Velasquez

RP: Trevor Rosenthal

Kyle Zimmer

RP: Joe Nathan

RP: Ross Detwiler

RP: Joel Hanrahan

RP: Alexei Ogando


So the group is sad, but does anyone care?  Every owner I have spoken to has noted my teams offensive lack of depth, and have tried to offer me depth for my stars.  I've had teams come to me and immediately say they wanted to give me a 2 for 1.  I'd rather be shot dead that start trade offers with a 2-1 but I can see why teams would test new owners when they show up, and I tried to make it clear that my studs weren't for sale for such a cheap price.  But that is not the topic of this article, the topic is, why has pitching become so much more important than hitting in dynasty fantasy baseball.  Here are the reasons I came up with on my own.

  • The bust rate is higher on minor league pitchers
  • While pitchers and hitters get injured at an almost equal rate, hitters spend far less time on the DL compared to pitchers.
  • In this age of less potent offenses, shifting, and better pitching, quality arms are easier to come by.

So this leaves me with the question, what should I do with a team that has 9 of its 16 minor league spots filled with pitchers, none besides Owens and maybe Zimmer if he can get healthy, who have big upside.  I'll admit now that I didn't even know who Jonathon Crawford was when I took over this team, and I will be cutting him before the draft now, unless someone has something great to say about a pitcher who has 6K/9 against A ball hitters whom are the same age as him.

This leads me to a new plan I have hashed after numerous early trade talks this offseason.  Should all of my cuts this offseason be pitchers?  It's an extreme view, and something I likely wont do since my current starting 2B is Dan Uggla and my 1B is Mitch Moreland, who should the remaining 4 players to cut be?  I have some other horrible bats, but I'm starting to think that they may be worth more than my bottom 4 pitchers.  I currently have 2 bad closers in Det (Nathan and Hanrahan), an oft injured older than you would think Texas pitcher that isn't even on the teams depth chart (Alexi Ogando), two shells of their former selves (Verlander and Lincecum),  and a slew of intolerable no name prospects (Crawford, Kaminsky, and Morgan).

As you can see cutting 4 pitchers would be fairly easy for me, but I want to make sure I remove the right one.  At this point I can't see any value in Ogando, Hanrahan, Crawford, and Morgan, and they would be my cuts if I had to decide today, but what do the readers think?  I've never had a team so devoid of talent before, and its difficult to decide which player I view as the most worthless of the bunch.  Also, am I wrong in thinking I should go with the trend and just dump any forms of pitching I don't value during a rebuild, and be constantly scouring the market for any potential hitters that could be available?