Rick Porcello

Just like that, the Detroit Tigers shocked their fans and national pundits—not because they re-signed pitcher Anibal Sanchez, but because of the cost they paid to do it. The reported five-year, $80 million deal (via ESPN) gives the Tigers one of the best rotations and highest-paid No.

April behind them, the Detroit Tigers kicked off the month of May with a much-needed homestand victory. Jim Leyland and crew defeated the Kansas City Royals 9-3 at Comerica Park following Monday's rain out, which shortened the series to two games.

Brett Lawrie, 2B Toronto Blue Jays (23 percent owned in Yahoo, 22.7 percent in ESPN)

Current Stat Line: 2/4, 1 RBI

Brett Lawrie has finally arrived! He tore up AAA pitching this season going .353/64/18/61/13. In my opinion, the call-up should have happened much earlier—but it didn't. Then Lawrie suffered a hand injury on May 31st which kept him out of the game for a while. Now that it is completely healed, expect him to rake for the Blue jays.

You shouldn't be trading right now. I've written for years, from the opening pitch until the third Sunday of the season, there should be no trading.

But if you feel so inclined, and you are looking for some buy-low starting pitchers, this is the place to find them. These guys will all have different asking prices, and I'll try to give an accurate idea of what I would pay for each. 

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Until the recent wave of new-age statistics were introduced to baseball fans around the globe, the only way fans could decide what type of season a pitcher had was by looking at wins, ERA and WHIP.

Over the last decade, however, stats such as batting average on balls in play (BABIP) and home run-to-fly ball ratio (HR/FB) have allowed fans to get a better glimpse into which pitchers were plain bad and which were just having some bad luck.

So which five pitchers are the best bets to bounce back in 2011? Let's examine the numbers.

Most pitching coaches and baseball aficionados would agree that it takes a few years for a starting pitcher to learn what it takes to be a successful big league pitcher. As Tom Glavine explained to John Feinstein in Living on the Black, “Young pitchers know how to throw hard, but very few know how to pitch”.

When looking for a young pitcher to target late in fantasy drafts, owners should identify players who have yet to produce top level fantasy stats despite having gifted arms and a collection of filthy pitches. 

The goal for every fantasy manager is to find the proverbial diamond in the rough, a player who provides early round production despite being taken in the latter part of the draft. These players are not easy to find due to the unpredictable nature of the sport, however it is important to use some late round picks on possible breakout players to help fortify your lineup. 

The Washington Nationals figure they are one big bat and one top-of-the-rotation pitcher away from reaching respectability, perhaps even contending. Many believe, though, that were it not for former General Manager Jim Bowden, there would be no hole in the rotation to fill.

Every March since 2004, Detroit Tigers’ pitcher Jeremy Bonderman has been primed for a breakout season. While the Tigers are sharpening their skills in Lakeland, that conversation takes place and you can set your watch by it. However this breakout season has never materialized, and now I believe that it never will.

In MLB, a sophomore slump, also refer to as sophomore jinx, is identified when a player is not able to live up to the standards set by their rookie season. 

Reasons to blame for the "slump" may be injury or lack of adjustments.

Pitchers seem to be more likely to regress because of fatigue. The innings pitched in their rookie season may have dramatically surpassed the prior season; think of the "Verducci Effect".