Karstens = Pirates 5th starter

Jeff Karstens wins the Pirates No. 5 starter spot. This move received little attention as Karstens hasn't exactly put together a special big league career over his three seasons. In deeper leagues, however, especially points leagues, Karstens can be a decent contributor. In nine starts last season, he posted a 4.03 ERA. Karstens won't win much in Pittsburgh, and he doesn't strike anyone out, but he has respectable peripherals. You could do much worse.

Check out Karstens' career minor league numbers:

640 IP, 533 K, 3.52 ERA, 1.26 WHIP

That's very solid. Strike outs are often a tell-tale as to how a minor league pitcher will do in the big leagues. With 7.5 K/9, Karstens is on the edge of the spectrum in terms of meeting the standard, but he brough his strikeout rate up in both 2006 and 2007. He keeps his walks down, and yielded a hit per inning in the minors.