Only four pitchers in this offseason's free-agent marketplace qualify as elite starters. That's four guys who can reasonably be counted on to pitch 200 innings with an ERA of 3.00 or below.
Zack Greinke and David Price head this class. No question about either of those guys. In addition, Jordan Zimmermann and Johnny Cueto have pitched well enough to join the conversation. Other free agents -- Jeff Samardzija, Mike Leake, Yovani Gallardo -- will be nice fits wherever they land, but they may not have the impact of one of the big four.