It's easy to be tempted by talented pitchers like Ben Sheets, Rich Harden, Chien-Ming Wang and Brad Penny. Those starters have all pitched at an elite level in the major leagues, so teams are a little more willing to overlook recent struggles or injuries. As usual, GMs will place calls to high-upside pitchers such as Brandon Webb and Jeff Francis this offseason.
Webb, Francis, Penny, Harden, Wang, Chris Young, Erik Bedard, Pedro Martinez and Justin Duchscherer could all hit free agency this offseason. High-upside arms aren't for everyone, of course, so here's a list of teams that may have interest in this kind of pitcher for their 2011 rotations:
- Yankees
- Blue Jays – The Jays may decide to create competition for the fifth starter’s job.
- Tigers
- Royals
- Nationals
- Marlins – They could bring in an extra pitcher to compete with Sean West, Alex Sanabia and others.
- Mets – The Mets could look to create competition for Jenrry Mejia instead of handing him the fifth starter's job, especially now that Johan Santana's timetable is uncertain.
- Cardinals – They’ve signed Rich Hill, Brad Penny and Matt Clement in recent years, so they’re clearly open to this kind of signing.
- Pirates
- Cubs – The Cubs’ interest in free agent pitchers depends on whether they trade Carlos Zambrano.
- Astros
- Dodgers
- Padres
- Rockies
