Yovani Gallardo 2009

If completely healthy, Yovani Gallardo is an excellent pitcher. While there is no reason to expect any problems with the knee on which he had surgery last year, anyone considering drafting him should watch closely to see whether he decides to pitch in the World Baseball Classic. While it's good news that he's recovered enough to consider it, I would definitely prefer to see him take things slowly before the season. He wasn't especially impressive in the short time after he returned at the end of last season, but that is less of a concern. Assuming he's back at full strength for the 2009 season, Gallardo is young enough (23) that it's reasonable to hope for even better than his 2007 statistics (K/9: 8.4, BB/9: 3.1, GB%: 38.2%). Gallardo seems to be all over the place in early drafts, so you'll need to wait to see how far he slips before deciding whether he's worth targeting.