Baseball Prospectus Fantasy 2012 is GO. With PECOTA and the PFM now available for public consumption, we’re back for another season of fantasy analysis. Today, I follow the first two Mikes by kicking off my portion of the preseason series with a look at a few starting pitchers who may be undervalued in early drafts, plus a check in on the health of one of the most promising young starters in the game.

Roy Oswalt | SP | Free Agent
Mixed: $- | AL/NL-only: $- | PECOTA Rank: -- | ADP: 71^st SP
PECOTA Projections:

It’s just three weeks until camps open (finally, a reason to get out of bed in the morning!), and we still don’t know where Edwin Jackson or Roy Oswalt are going to end up. I can understand Oswalt because he’s coming off back woes and is known to be very particular about where in the country he pitches, but who did Jackson tick off? Clearly he’s not getting the long-term deal he’d hoped for—and who can blame him after how often he’s moved—but someone’s going to end up with a solid pitcher for what could be a pretty decent deal.

Johnny Cueto | Cincinnati Reds
Shallow: NO
Medium: NO
Deep: NO
NL-only: YES
Super Deep: YES

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Another week, another round of starting pitchers to discuss in the Keeper Reaper…

Ervin Santana | Los Angeles Angels
Shallow: NO
Medium: NO
Deep: NO
AL-only: NO
Super Deep: BORDERLINE

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I was looking at the list of available free agent starters today, and man, is it barren out there if you're still hunting for starters. Other than Roy Oswalt and Edwin Jackson, your best bet is… Zach Duke? Jeff Francis? Kevin Millwood? It's like the Island of Misfit Toys out there. Let's get started on this week's Reaper with two user requests, and as always, I'm happy to take other suggestions in the comments.

Matt Harrison | Texas Rangers
Shallow: NO
Medium: NO
Deep: NO
AL-only: NO
Super Deep: BORDERLINE

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As I fight off the temptation to discuss whether Jack Morris is a keeper in shallow leagues…

Paul Maholm | Chicago Cubs
Shallow: NO
Medium: NO
Deep: NO
NL-only: NO
Super Deep: NO 

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As I write this, my Twitter feed is flying with rumors that Carlos Zambrano may finally be on his way from Chicago to Miami. We’ll see if that ends up happening and what the on-the-field implications might be, but from a pure entertainment angle, I don’t see how you can root against this. This is the same Marlins club that was so stodgy they sent down Logan Morrison because he’s a pain in the behind on Twitter; now they might add the notoriously mouthy Zambrano to a mix that now includes Ozzie Guillen? Bring it on.

As for the Reaper, reader requests are always welcome, and I just wanted to clarify one question I saw in the comments in recent weeks; this column is about keeper decisions. For many of these pitchers, I’d love to have them on my team, but in shallower leagues keeper spots are so slim that if you’re not an elite performer, it’s likely not going to be enough to get kept. In other cases, you could be excellent but due to other circumstances—lack of name recognition, injury concerns—it could make sense strategically to not keep the player and attempt to buy low on them. There are so many different permutations of leagues with different rules out there that each decision needs to be individually made to suit your situation.

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Happy Holidays from the Keeper Reaper. As always, user requests are welcomed. Onto the final starting pitchers of 2011…

Brandon McCarthy | Oakland Athletics
Shallow: NO
Medium: NO
Deep: BORDERLINE
AL-only: YES
Super Deep: YES

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It’s been a big week for starting pitchers, as Texas won the Yu Darvish sweepstakes and Cincinnati picked up Mat Latos for a package including Edison Volquez. I’ve touched on the latter two pitchers recently, so I won’t repeat myself.  As for Darvish, he’s not really eligible for this series since I doubt there are too many leagues where he’s already owned and eligible to be kept. Kevin Goldstein has a fine rundown of what the future might hold for Darvish in Texas hereand here, and Derek Carty has one here.

Clay Buchholz | Boston Red Sox
Shallow: NO
Medium: NO
Deep: NO
AL-only: YES
Super Deep: YES 

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It’s been a big week for starting pitching movement, as two of the top arms have found new homes via free agency, while the market for Edwin Jackson is surprisingly quiet. As we await the announcement on which team put in the high bid for Yu Darvish, let’s start by checking in on C.J. Wilson and Mark Buehrle heading to opposite coasts before getting back to some reader requests.

C.J. Wilson | Los Angeles Angels
Shallow: NO
Medium: BORDERLINE
Deep: YES
AL-only: YES
Super Deep: YES

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After taking a break for a few weeks, the Keeper Reaper is back and ready to take a look at potential 2012 decisions. While I still have your list of requests—and keep ‘em coming—this time of year excites me largely because we’re getting into the fun season for player movement, where a new park or league can really have an impact on the value of a starting pitcher. Let’s start with some of the arms on the move before getting back to reader requests.

Jonathan Sanchez | Kansas City Royals
Shallow: NO
Medium: NO
Deep: NO
AL-only: BORDERLINE
Super Deep: YES

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Once again, today’s list of starters is entirely generated from your requests, and I’ve tried to hit a few new teams that don’t get much discussion around here. Keep ‘em coming!

Bud Norris | Houston Astros
Shallow: NO
Medium: NO
Deep: BORDERLINE
NL-only: YES
Super Deep: YES

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I have to say, I’m very pleased with the positive response we’ve had for the Keeper Reapers columns. I hope you’re finding it helpful–I know I am, simply because of the research on these guys. I’m about 15 deep in reader requests, which I’ll start chipping away at today and over the next few weeks, along with some names of my own. If you haven’t seen your suggestion discussed yet, keep in mind that I’m trying to have an even split between AL and NL to satisfy people in both leagues. Feel free to suggest more names in the comments.

Oh, and not that anyone asked, but since I’m writing this while I’m watching introductions for Game One of the World Series… Rangers in six. MVP will be Michael Young (because of course it will be), LVP will be whomever at FOX is forcing me to listen to whatever a “Scottie McCreery” is butchering the national anthem right now.

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