More so than in other sports, the players on the field when a new baseball season begins are revered. It doesn’t matter that major league teams play 162 games. Aside from late-season bouts with playoff implications, Opening Day is the most hyped on the calendar. Starting in center field for the Yankees on the first day of a new season may a big deal (congratulations Curtis Granderson), but the highest honor of all is being named your team’s starting pitcher. A lot of thought goes into who will take the ball first because it not only sets up a team’s rotation for the entire season, but it also sets the pecking order among each five-man group. Some decisions are no-brainers, like CC Sabathia, Tim Lincecum, Roy Halladay and Ubaldo Jimenez, but others are much tougher. Each Opening Day starter is of great value to his team, but they are all certainly in different tax brackets, points in their careers and have vastly different statistics. Because of that, I thought it would be fun to look at how this year’s 30 Opening Day starters rank in terms of salary, career starts, victories, ERA and strikeouts. Salary 1. CC Sabathia, Yankees - $24,285,714 2. Chris Carpenter, Cardinals - $15,840,971 3. Roy Halladay, Phillies - $15,750,000 4. Derek Lowe, Braves - $15,000,000 5. Mark Buehrle, White Sox - $14,000,000 6. Ryan Dempster, Cubs - $13,500,000 7. Tim Lincecum, Giants - $9,000,000 8. Felix Hernandez, Mariners - $7,200,000 9. Carl Pavano, Twins - $7,000,000 10. Justin Verlander, Tigers - $6,850,000 11. Fausto Carmona, Indians - $5,087,500 12. Jered Weaver, Angels - $4,265,000 13. Jon Lester, Red Sox - $3,750,000 14. Josh Johnson, Marlins - $3,750,000 15. Kevin Correia, Pirates - $3,600,000 16. C.J Wilson, Rangers - $3,100,000 17. Brett Myers, Astros - $3,100,000 18. Jeremy Guthrie, Orioles - $3,000,000 19. Ubaldo Jimenez, Rockies - $2,800,000 20. David Price, Rays - $1,834,671 21. Luke Hochevar, Royals - $1,760,000 22. Edinson Volquez, Reds - $1,625,000 23. Livan Hernandez, Nationals - $900,000 24. Mike Pelfrey, Mets - $500,000 25. Yovani Gallardo, Brewers - $450,000 26. Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers - $440,000 27. Tim Stauffer, Padres - $415,100 28. Trevor Cahill, Athletics - $410,000 29. Ricky Romero, Blue Jays - $408,300 30. Ian Kennedy, Diamondbacks - $403,000 Starts 1. Hernandez, WSH – 446 2. Buehrle, CWS – 334 3. Sabathia, NYY – 322 Lowe, ATL – 322 5. Halladay, PHI – 320 6. Carpenter, STL – 295 7. Dempster, CHC – 260 8. Pavano, MIN – 240 9. Myers, HOU – 216 10. Hernandez, SEA – 172 11. Verlander, DET – 165 12. Weaver, LAA – 144 13. Lester, BOS – 123 14. Lincecum, SFG – 122 Guthrie, BAL – 122 16. Carmona, CLE – 118 17. Jimenez, COL – 116 18. Pelfrey, NYM – 113 19. Correia, PIT – 105 20. Johnson, FLA – 104 21. Kershaw, LAD – 83 Gallardo, MIL – 83 23. Volquez, CIN – 71 24. Hochevar, KC – 66 25. Cahill, OAK – 62 26. Romero, TOR – 61 27. Price, TB – 55 28. Kennedy, ARI – 44 29. Wilson, TEX – 39 30. Stauffer, SDP – 38 Wins* 1. Halladay, PHI – 169 2. Hernandez, WSH – 166 3. Sabathia, NYY – 157 Lowe, ATL – 157 5. Buehrle, CWS – 148 6. Carpenter, STL – 133 7. Dempster, CHC – 102 8. Pavano, MIN – 97 9. Myers, HOU – 87 10. Verlander, DET – 83 11. Hernandez, SEA – 71 12. Weaver, LAA – 64 13. Lester, BOS – 61 14. Lincecum, SFG – 56 15. Jimenez, COL – 50 16. Carmona, CLE – 46 17. Johnson, FLA – 45 18. Pelfrey, NYM – 43 19. Guthrie, BAL – 38 20. Gallardo, MIL – 36 Correia, PIT – 36 22. Price, TBR – 29 23. Volquez, CIN – 28 Cahill, OAK – 28 25. Wilson, TEX – 27 Romero, TOR – 27 27. Kershaw, LAD – 26 28. Hochevar, KC – 19 29. Stauffer, SDP – 14 30. Kennedy, ARI – 10 ERA 1. Lincecum, SFG – 3.01 2. Johnson, FLA – 3.10 3. Kershaw, LAD – 3.12 4. Hernandez, SEA – 3.20 5. Price, TBR – 3.31 6. Halladay, PHI – 3.32 7. Jimenez, COL – 3.52 Weaver, LAA – 3.52 9. Lester, BOS – 3.55 10. Sabathia, NYY – 3.57 11. Gallardo, MIL – 3.66 12. Cahill, OAK – 3.76 13. Carpenter, STL – 3.79 14. Verlander, DET – 3.81 15. Lowe, ATL – 3.84 16. Buehrle, CWS – 3.85 17. Wilson, TEX – 3.90 18. Romero, TOR – 3.99 19. Stauffer, SDP – 4.04 20. Guthrie, BAL – 4.15 21. Myers, HOU – 4.20 22. Pelfrey, NYM – 4.31 23. Kennedy, ARI – 4.33 24. Pavano, MIN – 4.34 25. Dempster, CHC – 4.37 26. Hernandez, WSH – 4.39 27. Volquez, CIN – 4.40 28. Carmona, CLE – 4.43 29. Correia, PIT – 4.57 30. Hochevar, KC – 5.58 Strikeouts 1. Hernandez, WSH – 1,832 2. Sabathia, NYY – 1,787 3. Halladay, PHI – 1,714 4. Dempster, CHC – 1,574 5. Lowe, ATL – 1,522 6. Carpenter, STL – 1,494 7. Buehrle, CWS – 1,287 8. Myers, HOU – 1,166 9. Hernandez, SEA – 1,042 10. Verlander, DET – 965 11. Pavano, MIN – 956 12. Lincecum, SFG – 912 13. Weaver, LAA – 779 14. Lester, BOS – 712 15. Jimenez, COL – 655 16. Johnson, FLA – 611 17. Correia, PIT – 546 18. Gallardo, MIL – 529 19. Kershaw, LAD – 497 20. Guthrie, BAL – 496 21. Carmona, CLE – 456 22. Wilson, TEX – 431 23. Pelfrey, NYM – 388 24. Volquez, CIN – 380 25. Romero, TOR – 315 26. Price, TBR – 302 27. Hochevar, KC – 264 28. Kennedy, ARI – 211 29. Cahill, OAK – 208 30. Stauffer, SDP – 173 * Designates career wins, strikeouts and ERA, including relief statistics