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

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 

The remainder of this post cannot be viewed at this subscription level. Please click here to subscribe.

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

The remainder of this post cannot be viewed at this subscription level. Please click here to subscribe.

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

The remainder of this post cannot be viewed at this subscription level. Please click here to subscribe.

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

The remainder of this post cannot be viewed at this subscription level. Please click here to subscribe.

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.

The remainder of this post cannot be viewed at this subscription level. Please click here to subscribe.

Thanks to the positive response in the comments last week, this is an all-request edition of Keeper Reapers, and I actually couldn’t even get to everyone that was brought up. I’ll save those for next week, and feel free to toss out some more names.

Scott Baker | Minnesota Twins
Shallow:NO
Medium:  NO
Deep:  BORDERLINE
AL-only: YES
Super Deep:  YES

The remainder of this post cannot be viewed at this subscription level. Please click here to subscribe.

As we transition to the offseason, “Value Picks” has become “Keeper Reapers”, the full description of which you can check out in the preface to Rob McQuown’s column from Monday. The idea is that each week we’ll be looking at a few different players from each position who might be tough keeper choices in leagues of varying depth.

Obviously, you don’t need me to tell you that if you have Justin Verlander or Clayton Kershaw, you’re probably going to want to hang onto them. But what about the guys further down on the list? For the purposes of this conversation, we’ll use the auction prices currently shown at lastplayerpicked.com’s Roto Price Guide.

The remainder of this post cannot be viewed at this subscription level. Please click here to subscribe.

With the season at an end—well, as I send this in, we’re not sure if that’s the case for Boston, Tampa Bay, St. Louis, and Atlanta—it’s about time we do a little self-reflection and go back through the Value Picks archives to see what picks did and didn’t work out this season. Though I ended up on the starting pitchers beat by the end of the season, most of my year was spent in the bullpen, so that’s what we’ll be looking at today.

The remainder of this post cannot be viewed at this subscription level. Please click here to subscribe.

Since this is the final Value Picks article of the season, we’ll need to switch up the format just a bit. Rather than continuing with the list from last week, what’s more important than anything for those of you with exceptionally long playoff rounds is choosing from the small pool of starting pitchers who are still lined up to get  one (or sometimes two) more shots on the mound over the six remaining days of the season.

The remainder of this post cannot be viewed at this subscription level. Please click here to subscribe.

To answer your first question, no, Matt Moore is not on this week’s list. That’s because even though he’s now in the bigs and may yet play a big role for Tampa Bay, he’s likely to be strictly a reliever while doing so. No, Eric Surkamp isn’t either, because while some may see  a 2-0 record and a 3.24 ERA from a freely available lefty and wonder where they sign up, the rest of us see six strikeouts in three starts that all came in either San Francisco or San Diego.

The remainder of this post cannot be viewed at this subscription level. Please click here to subscribe.

Newcomers
Luke Hochevar, Royals (Yahoo! 12%, ESPN 5%, CBS 34%)
Hochevar was featured as an AL-only Value Pick last week thanks to his surprisingly improved strikeout run of late, and perhaps that’s still where he belongs. However, after striking out eight without allowing an earned run in eight innings against Cleveland on Saturday, it’s time to look at him a little more closely. Showing improved velocity as the season has progressed, Hochevar has a very good 56/19 K/BB over his last ten starts, winning five as he pushes towards the first 200 inning season of his career. All of the various advanced pitching stats—SIERA, FIP, xFIP—have him between 0.50 and 1.00 runs below his unimpressive 4.76 ERA, suggesting that there’s more there than the casual fan might see. His next start is under favorable circumstances, coming later tonight against the hapless Mariners in Seattle.

The remainder of this post cannot be viewed at this subscription level. Please click here to subscribe.