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