Bob Hulsey wrote:
There seems to be three tiers of pitchers:

1. The Studs. Not only are they very good but they are *consistently* good. There's probably less than 10 of them around at any one time. Oswalt is one of them. Peavy is another one. To have two immediately makes you a contender.

2. The Flashes. These are guys who have a great year or two but spend most of their careers as average or below average due to either injury or inconsistency. You can load up on these pitchers and hope they have good years but they may also disappoint big time.

3. The Average. These are your 3-5 starters who could blow hot or cold at any time but you really don't know for sure who you've got from start to start. Think Wandy and Backe.
There was a SP position discussion a while back that P Smith started. I went into a diatribe about who or what I consider to be ace, 2's, 3's, 4's and 5's. Your definition of studs is who I consider to be aces: Santana, Peavy, Sabathia, Webb, Oswalt, Halladay, Beckett (when he's not injured), and I'd say Hamels and Haren are borderline. Since I go on and on about SP I am all for getting Peavy - whatever it takes.