Tiers are a simple but effective way of plotting out a draft strategy that assures you won't fall behind at any position while maximizing your return on every pick. They serve as an alternate form of rankings that groups players by expected level of production, denoting the points in the rankings where the most significant drop-offs occur. In the heat of a draft, you'll know which position to target by observing which one is closest to having its current tier depleted.
Below are the starting pitcher tiers for 2020, depicting a position with depth to spare at the top levels that eventually runs out of usable options.
The Super Elite: Gerrit Cole, Jacob deGrom, Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander
The Elite: Shane Bieber, Jack Flaherty, Mike Clevinger, Walker Buehler, Stephen Strasburg, Patrick Corbin, Lucas Giolito, Clayton Kershaw, Charlie Morton, Luis Castillo, Aaron Nola, Blake Snell, Zack Greinke, Yu Darvish, Chris Paddack, Tyler Glasnow, Sonny Gray
The Near-Elite: Trevor Bauer, Brandon Woodruff, Mike Soroka, Jose Berrios, Frankie Montas, Carlos Carrasco*, Corey Kluber, James Paxton, Zac Gallen, Lance Lynn, Hyun-Jin Ryu
The Next-Best Things: Kenta Maeda*, Matthew Boyd, Madison Bumgarner, Max Fried, Zack Wheeler, Jesus Luzardo*, Dinelson Lamet, Julio Urias*, Shohei Ohtani, Lance McCullers, Carlos Martinez*, Rich Hill
The Fallback Options: Kyle Hendricks, Eduardo Rodriguez, Mike Minor, Robbie Ray, Luke Weaver, German Marquez, Sean Manaea, Marcus Stroman, Masahiro Tanaka, Mike Foltynewicz
The Last Resorts: Nate Pearson, Josh James*, Jake Odorizzi, Andrew Heaney, Mitch Keller, Joe Musgrove, Dylan Bundy, Alex Wood, Ross Stripling*, Adrian Houser*, A.J. Puk*, Dylan Cease, Garrett Richards, J.A. Happ, Jordan Montgomery
The Deep-Leaguers: Dallas Keuchel, Jon Gray, Griffin Canning, Jose Urquidy, Ryan Yarbrough*, Corbin Burnes*, Miles Mikolas, Anthony DeSclafani, Matt Shoemaker, Caleb Smith, Justus Sheffield, Nathan Eovaldi
The Leftovers: Cole Hamels, Yonny Chirinos, Yusei Kikuchi, Spencer Howard, Kyle Gibson, Steven Matz, Aaron Civale, Carlos Rodon, Dustin May*, Brendan McKay, Forrest Whitley, Dakota Hudson, Sandy Alcantara, Michael Fulmer, Joey Lucchesi, Brad Keller, Johnny Cueto, Sean Newcomb*, Tanner Roark, Homer Bailey, Jordan Lyles, Jake Junis, Pablo Lopez, Wade Miley, Reynaldo Lopez, Vince Velasquez*, Jose Quintana, Michael Pineda, Taijuan Walker, Mike Fiers, Jeff Samardzija, Anibal Sanchez, Marco Gonzales, Danny Duffy, Chris Bassitt, John Means
*: RP-eligible
