Ranking the Staff

Since the acquisitions of Zack Greinke and Shaun Marcum, there has been a lot of talk of just how good the Brewers starting staff is. With the value that is put on starting pitching in today's game, it shouldn't be surprising that there are numerous teams with strong pitching staffs. Let's take a look at how the Brewers staff ranks amongst the best. For a general reference point, we will be using their 2010 WAR.

Milwaukee Brewers

Zack Greinke (5.2 WAR)
Yovani Gallardo (4.6 WAR)
Shaun Marcum (3.5 WAR)
Randy Wolf (0.7 WAR)
Chris Narveson (1.7 WAR)

Brewers Staff- 14.7 WAR

Philadelphia Phillies

Roy Halladay (6.6 WAR)
Cliff Lee (7.1 WAR)
Roy Oswalt (4.7 WAR)
Cole Hamels (3.8 WAR)
Joe Blanton (1.9 WAR)

Phillies Staff- 24.1 WAR

San Francisco Giants

Tim Lincecum (5.1 WAR)
Matt Cain (4.0 WAR)
Jonathan Sanchez (2.6 WAR)
Madison Bumgarner (2.0 WAR)
Barry Zito (2.1 WAR)

Giants Staff- 15.8 WAR

St. Louis Cardinals

Adam Wainwright (6.1 WAR)
Chris Carpenter (3.7 WAR)
Jaime Garcia (3.2 WAR)
Jake Westbrook (2.3 WAR)
Kyle Lohse (0.7 WAR)

Cardinals Staff- 16 WAR

Oakland Athletics

Dallas Braden (3.0 WAR)
Brett Anderson (2.6 WAR)
Trevor Cahill (2.2 WAR)
Gio Gonzalez (3.2 WAR)
Brandon McCarthy (DNP 1.3 WAR in 2009)

Athletics Staff- 12.3 WAR

Minnesota Twins

Francisco Liriano (6.0 WAR)
Carl Pavano (3.2 WAR)
Scott Baker (2.5 WAR)
Brian Duensing (1.7 WAR)
Nick Blackburn (0.4 WAR)

Twins Staff- 13.8 WAR

Based on this result, the rankings would go as follows for the best team staffs in baseball:

Philadelphia Phillies
St. Louis Cardinals
San Francisco Giants
Milwaukee Brewers
Minnesota Twins
Oakland Athletics

That's a pretty impressive jump for the Brewers, who finished 26th in team ERA last season. One thing to keep in mind is the way Randy Wolf's year went. Just after the all-star break, Wolf had pitched his way to a WAR of -1.0. He was able to find his stuff down the stretch and salvage 2010. If he is able to pitch that way in 2011, the Brewers could easily have the second best starting staff in baseball. Very encouraging news for Brewers fans accustomed to seeing large numbers posted on Miller Park's scoreboard for visiting teams.