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 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: Walker Buehler, Shane Bieber, Jack Flaherty, Mike Clevinger, Stephen Strasburg, Patrick Corbin, Lucas Giolito, Luis Castillo, Clayton Kershaw, Aaron Nola, Blake Snell, Zack Greinke, Charlie Morton
The Near-Elite: Tyler Glasnow, Chris Paddack, Yu Darvish, Sonny Gray, Trevor Bauer, Brandon Woodruff, Mike Soroka, Jose Berrios, Corey Kluber, Frankie Montas, Lance Lynn
The Next-Best Things: Carlos Carrasco*, James Paxton, Zack Wheeler, Zac Gallen, Hyun-Jin Ryu, Madison Bumgarner, Shohei Ohtani, Jesus Luzardo*, Julio Urias*, Max Fried, Eduardo Rodriguez, Matthew Boyd
The Fallback Options: Kyle Hendricks, Mike Minor, David Price, Luke Weaver, German Marquez, Dinelson Lamet, Sean Manaea, Robbie Ray, Kenta Maeda*, Carlos Martinez*, Marcus Stroman, Lance McCullers, Masahiro Tanaka, Mike Foltynewicz
The Last Resorts: Dallas Keuchel, Cole Hamels, Jake Odorizzi, Jon Gray, Miles Mikolas, Andrew Heaney, Mitch Keller, Josh James*, Adrian Houser*, Anthony DeSclafani, Joe Musgrove, Dylan Bundy, Alex Wood, Jose Urquidy, Dylan Cease, J.A. Happ, Garrett Richards, Rich Hill, Matt Shoemaker, Ryan Yarbrough*, A.J. Puk*, Michael Pineda
The Deep-Leaguers: Caleb Smith, Yonny Chirinos, Jordan Montgomery, Yusei Kikuchi, Michael Kopech, Griffin Canning, Spencer Howard, Domingo German, Brendan McKay, Forrest Whitley, Dakota Hudson, Sandy Alcantara, Kyle Gibson, Chris Archer, Jose Quintana, Steven Matz, Dustin May*, Joey Lucchesi, Aaron Civale, MacKenzie Gore, Nate Pearson, Justus Sheffield, Nathan Eovaldi*, Brad Keller, Tanner Roark, Homer Bailey, Johnny Cueto, Jordan Lyles, Jake Junis, Pablo Lopez, Wade Miley, Casey Mize, Sean Newcomb*, Corbin Burnes*, Ross Stripling*
The Leftovers: Jon Lester, Julio Teheran, Reynaldo Lopez, Taijuan Walker, Mike Fiers, Jeff Samardzija, Kevin Gausman*, Merrill Kelly, Ian Anderson, Matt Manning, Patrick Sandoval, Logan Webb, Rick Porcello, Jake Arrieta, Zach Eflin, Anibal Sanchez, Marco Gonzales, Chris Bassitt, John Means, Adam Wainwright
*: RP-eligible
