Masahiro Tanaka and Taxing The Starting Pitcher Market

The baseball season starts with all the splendor and fanfare of Open Day ceremonies but soon after the grind encompasses all of its participants.

The strategies formulated are forged and now face-off in a constant confrontation that create the beauty that is baseball.

The 162-game season tests the will and fortitude that produces an unambiguous outcome in the end. Introduce a variable into the equation and situations become skewed. Pitching provides this perfect storm and why they play the games.

There is a reason why certain Fantasy Baseball owners pay a premium for starting pitching, and as the course of the season plays out, those portfolio’s usually reap the benefits.

The most substantial wildcard is Masahiro Tanaka — and “who, what or when” are all recurring questions that will arise for every one of his starts. No one has the answers regarding Tanaka and anyone who states differently is just giving an opinion, not fact.

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Next month, on May 5, I will launch the In-Season Starting Pitcher Index over at CTMBaseball.com and every month onward, throughout the season, I will provide in-depth analysis of the 90 names to know in the volatile starting pitcher market.

On April 15, the tax man came a-calling and in honor of this infamous day, let’s audit the starting pitching market and examine who appreciated or depreciated in this edition.

Starting Pitching Index for April 20, 2015

1. Clayton Kershaw
2. Felix Hernandez
3. Max Scherzer
4. Matt Harvey
5. Chris Sale
6. Stephen Strasburg
7. David Price
8. Madison Bumgarner
9. Johnny Cueto
10. Corey Kluber
11. Zack Greinke
12. Cole Hamels
13. Jordan Zimmermann
14. Julio Teheran
15. Jon Lester
16. Gerrit Cole
17. Jake Arrieta
18. Michael Wacha
19. Jacob deGrom
20. Adam Wainwright
21. James Shields
22. Jeff Samardzija
23. Sonny Gray
24. Alex Wood
25. Carlos Carrasco
26. Garrett Richards
27. Andrew Cashner
28. Tyson Ross
29. Chris Archer
30. Collin Mchugh
31. Michael Pineda
32. Gio Gonzalez
33. Anibal Sanchez
34. Hisashi Iwakuma
35. Masahiro Tanaka
36. Lance Lynn
37. Brandon McCarthy
38. Jake Odorizzi
39. Trevor Bauer
40. Francisco Liriano
41. Doug Fister
42. Drew Hutchison
43. Yordano Ventura
44. Scott Kazmir
45. Shane Greene
46. Drew Pomeranz
47. Dallas Keuchel
48. Shelby Miller
49. Jimmy Nelson
50. Anthony DeSclafani 

*I ranked only active starting pitchers, but will have a more comprehensive list coming in May.

Photo Credit: Arturo Pardavila III