Starting Rotation
1.) Clayton Kershaw
2.) Max Scherzer
3.) Chris Sale
4.) Jake Arrieta
5.) Noah Syndergaard
A solid veteran starting rotation with the inclusion of the young phenom Noah Syndergaard is the route I would take. These five men rank 1st, 3rd, 5th, 6th, and 26th in Wins Above Replacement the last three seasons. Statistically, there are better options in Corey Kluber or David Price, but this is a starting rotation that seems to be put together perfectly. Sure, Syndergaard is the elephant in the room at 26th, but he led the league in WAR last season striking out 218 batters in only 183.2 innings. I know I stressed consistency, but with how young and naturally talented Syndergaard is, it is hard to ignore his inclusion.
As for the rest, it was pretty easy to choose for my liking. Clayton Kershaw is the best pitcher on the planet, and was on his way to his 4th Cy Young award if it wasn’t for injury. Kershaw had a 15.64 K/BB ratio last season, meaning for every walk he issued he had 15.64 strikeouts. Scherzer, the second arm of our rotation, may be the best right-handed pitcher in the game right now. Despite his high amount of home runs allowed, Scherzer has dominated batters. Leading the league with 284 strikeouts with a 2.96 ERA is quite phenomenal.
As for Sale and Arrieta, the two just have something special. Sale has that “it” factor, and if he can be put on a contending team we could very well see him become one of if not the best in baseball. Arrieta, although having a down year for his standards, has been undeniably dominant in recent years. After an amazing run in 2015, Arrieta cemented himself as one of the best arms in baseball. If I were to build the best team money could buy, these arms would be the top current options. Also, we are going to skip over the bullpen aspect of the team. With so many dominant left- and right-handers, there is a plethora of options to fill out a bullpen.