Hi Guys, I've started posting my EARLY 2011 rankings at my blog, starting with Catcher. I'd be cool if you went there to check out my site, but you don't have to - here it is...Let me know what you think !
Catcher
Here's an early look at the catcher position heading into the 2011 fantasy baseball season. Obviously this is very early and I will be updating the rankings regularly prior to the start of the season.
1.) Joe Mauer – People who expected 2009 numbers may be disappointed, but he is still #1.
2.) Victor Martinez- Quietly puts up solid numbers year in and year out, who cares if he couldn’t throw out my grandma at 2nd base. Not you fantasy man!
3.) Brian McCann- Again, very safe bet to be a top 5 catcher
4.) Buster Posey- A great first year, could move up even higher (possibly to #1)
5.) Carlos Santana- Hopefully he is fully recovered for the start of 2011. If so, could also move up the charts.
6.) Mike Napoli- Maybe he slept with Socia’s wife? With full time at bats, would join the top group.
7.) Matt Wieters- Here is the first big drop off. Potential hasn’t translated...Yet!
8.) Kurt Suzuki- Very consistent. Probably not a 3 hitter and would benefit from having some help in the lineup.
9.) Geovanny Soto- Showed this year that he was not a one year wonder.
10.) Miguel Montero- Probably the last guy I would be comfortable with on my team.
11.) Jorge Posada- Starting to show signs of the drop off we all knew was coming. Could be accelerated in 2011.
12.) Miguel Olivo- A catcher with a low average is not what I look for, but if your lacking in power late in the draft and it looks like he’ll get regular at bats, you could do worse.
13.)John Buck- Is he a one year wonder? If you’re drafting him, you better hope not.
14.) Carlos Ruiz-Consistently below average, but at least you’d have a catcher you know will get ABs. Good option if you prefer the Ronco method with your C spot, ‘Set It and Forget It’.
15.) Russell Martin- Could be worth a gamble as his potential is higher than some ahead of him.
16.) John Jaso- Will be interesting to see where he ends up next year.
17.) Yadier Molina- Another ‘Ronco’ option, though he has very little upside.
18.) AJ Pierzinski- Like Posada he is nearing the end of his productive days, though he was never a top option to begin with.
19.) Ryan Doumit- Very unlikely to play a full season.
20.) Bengie Molina- Should retire after a solid career. If he doesn’t he’ll be a backup most likely.
The catcher position looks to be the deepest it's been in years. There are many intriguing options here. I'd love to have one of the top five, but would be comfortable with somebody from the 6-10 range as well. Be careful of waiting too long though. With so many options at the top, the owners left drafting near the bottom of the pack will have a big disadvantage at the catcher spot.
Assuming the top 5 guys are going to be gone early (far earlier than I'd be willing to take them, unless Posey drops inexplicably), it's a very deep pool from 6-12.
Soto/Napoli are the two guys I'm targeting next year... very quiet, very productive seasons, and both likely to be there late. Soto would have had a monster season if his teammates helped even a little bit in the R/RBI department. He hit well, but there was never anybody on base or driving him in.
The biggest question mark for me in my top-10 would be Olivo (I think I'll have him above Suzuki, and definitely above Posada). Wieters is a head-scratcher as well, but I think his name recognition will still get him drafted too high. Olivo could be a real steal assuming you're willing to gamble in the bottom half of this depth.
Montero/Doumit would be my backup plan with upside. Productive when they play, but not good track records in the durability department. Fortunately it looks like they'll be pretty interchangeable with the rest of the replacement level guys in 12 team leagues.
Pierzinski is an intriguing possibility in deeper leagues. Depending on where/if he gets moved, his value could fluctuate by quite a bit.
I'll probably own Montero in my leagues next year. The top 5 will be fairly expensive and I may not buy high on them and I can probably get Montero towards the end of that next group even though I like him just as much as the others, if not more.
BitterDodgerFan wrote:what about Brayan Pena? don't know much about him, but he's having a decent september.
I hope others have your attitude about Carlos Ruiz. Your comments about him were...unflattering to say the least. I see a catcher with one of the best batting eyes in the league, one who can hit for a high average and has 10-15 HR upside. If you play in an OBP league as I do, Ruiz is a stud in that category.
This is a real good player to target in deep leagues that start 2 catchers. He's going to come at a substantial bargain compared to the top catchers, and he will provide solid production. Most important is that he isn't a category killer like so many catchers are.
J35J wrote:I'll probably own Montero in my leagues next year. The top 5 will be fairly expensive and I may not buy high on them and I can probably get Montero towards the end of that next group even though I like him just as much as the others, if not more.
I like Montero also. Hopefully he"ll have better numbers without the long DL stint.
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by Captain Furtah » Wed Sep 29, 2010 3:31 pm 
