Today on First Take, ESPN's increasingly ridiculous and cheesy morning show, Jay Crawford discussed the best young pitchers in baseball with The Boston Globe's Gordon Edes, Rob Parker of ESPNNewYork.com, and Tim Kurkjian of ESPN's Baseball Tonight.
When asked which young pitcher they'd build their team around for the next decade, all three of them gave some pretty questionable answers, in my opinion. Kurkjian started off the discussion by picking Nationals prospect Stephen Strasburg, Parker selected Yankees starter Phil Hughes, and Edes picked Jon Lester of the Boston Red Sox.
With all due respect to these esteemed gentlemen who make their living talking and writing about the game of baseball, they all dropped the ball on something that should have been one of the easiest questions anyone has ever asked them.
The answer is clear, and it's really not even close. 24-year old Tim Lincecum, who already has 2 National League Cy Young awards under his belt, is the obvious choice. No offense to Hughes, Strasburg and especially Lester, but Lincecum has been the best pitcher in baseball since the day he arrived in San Francisco, and he's not stopping any time soon.
Without further ado, here are my picks, in order, of starting pitchers that I would want to pick to build my team for the next decade. Enjoy.
1. Tim Lincecum, 24, San Francisco GiantsAs I already said, he has 2 NL Cy Young awards in his first 2 full seasons, and he's already leading the NL in K's this year with 83. His career ERA is an amazing 2.93, and his K/BB ratio is 3.07. He leads an immensely talented Giants rotation that also includes Matt Cain and Jonathan Sanchez, and he'll probably be adding a lot more hardware to his trophy case in the years to come.
No pitcher has ever won 2 Cy Young awards in their first 2 full seasons, and Lincecum could win a 3rd this year, if Ubaldo Jimenez cools off a little bit later in the year.
2. Felix Hernandez, 24, Seattle MarinersEveryone talked about Cliff Lee going to the Mariners to be their ace, but it's debatable that Lee is the best starter they've got. While he has been pretty outstanding over the past few years, Felix Hernandez has been every bit as dominant. He put in a Cy Young-worthy performance last year, and carries a 2.78 K/BB ratio over his career.
3. Jon Lester, 26, Boston Red SoxHe has already beaten cancer, and then he beat the Colorado Rockies in the World Series clincher in 2007. He also threw a no-hitter against the Royals in 2008. The question is, who or what CAN'T he beat? While the talk continues to be about guys like Josh Beckett and John Lackey in Boston, Lester has been one of the best power lefties in baseball.
He leads all active pitchers with a .727 career winning percentage, and he is off to a great start in 2010, with a 6-2 record and a 2.97 ERA.
4. Stephen Strasburg, 22, Washington NationalsThis could end up being the biggest snub on my list. Based on pure potential alone, Strasburg could wind up being the best out of all of these players. That having been said, he still hasn't even made his MLB debut. He is blowing through the minor leagues, and we'll see him pitch in a Nationals uniform for the first time next Tuesday, June 8.
5. Ubaldo Jimenez, 26, Colorado RockiesHe's the early favorite for 2010 NL Cy Young, with an incredible 10-1 start, including a 0.78 ERA, 70K's, only 26 walks, and he has only given up 1 home run so far this season. He threw a no-hitter earlier this year against the Braves, and in his only loss, he gave up 1 run on 2 hits.
He doesn't have a long term history of this kind of domination, but he has always had great stuff, and shown flashes of brilliance. As he continues to mature, he could be a true ace for the Rockies for a few years, something they've never really had at any point in franchise history.
Honorable mentions:6. C.C. Sabathia, 29, New York Yankees
7. Phil Hughes, 23, New York Yankees
8. Zack Greinke, 26, Kansas City Royals
9. David Price, 24, Tampa Bay Rays
10. Justin Verlander, 27, Detroit Tigers
