Having no catcher

[kab21]

Rs and RBIs aren't categories in my league, so I think I'm going to be okay.

That's just a screwed up league imo. 4 ratio categories out of 8 total categories does give you incentive to not play mediocre players. And it definitely makes sense not to have a guy like Buck anywhere near your team. However a rookie like Conger (potentially decent BA and HR's) could have decent value since your worst pitcher (which isn't Gallardo) is going to hurt you in both ERA and WHIP while only helping in K's.

[jpbusta]

That's really an odd setting. Not counting runs and rbis. Just changes the whole perspective on player evaluation. So if a player hits a dinger, it doesn't matter if it's a grandslam or a solo right? Which means when evaluating players, no need to evaluate players surrounding your player since runs and rbis don't count. hmm...

[kickureface]

mine counts 1b 2b 3b K E AVG also so having a turd catcher = fail

[kab21]

mine counts 1b 2b 3b K E AVG also so having a turd catcher = fail

Based on your sig a turd catcher is going to have a meaningful contribution in 7 categories, no contribution in 2 and a negative contribution in 3. At least that's what i can tell from your strange league settings. So I would be surprised if overall you weren't helped out quite a bit by having a turd catcher. But keep in mind that in a 12 team league that turd catcher doesn't have to be an avg killer like Buck especially since HR's (his big contribution in 5x5) are only one category.

[Oatsdad]

not quite sure how not starting a catcher will free up depth as only a catcher can start in your catcher spot...you won't be gaining an extra bench spot with this strategy.

Correct. For instance, my roto league has five bench spots to be used across hitters and pitchers - and it'll STILL have five bench spots across hitters and pitchers even if I don't take a catcher. It won't give you an extra non-catcher - it'll just leave you with one fewer player.

Though I wonder what happens in a draft if you refuse to draft a catcher. I suspect that on Yahoo, it'd take one for you - I don't think it'd let you choose a non-catcher with only the C slot open, so I think it'd auto-draft a C for you.

Who you could then drop and have a permanent open space in your league, but one that wouldn't let you do anything other than pick up a catcher.

Unless I'm missing something here...

[Johnatron]

I guess the only response there is that people play in many different types of leagues. So in leagues like yours with a set number of bench spots, it wouldn't make sense to drop a catcher to roster another player. In many other leagues, you could technically unstart every player and have everyone on your bench if you needed to (not that you ever would). Combining a flexible bench with daily roster changes and limited counting categories makes the perfect storm for dropping a catcher and picking up an extra player who can contribute (most likely a pitcher).

For example, I dropped my catcher and picked up an additional pitcher, and I have pulled away in my roto league. I am now up to 76.5 roto points to the next closest player's 59.5. Obviously, not all of that is due to dropping my catcher, but many of the gains in the pitching counting stats (I replaced John Buck with an extra SP) are due to that move. I have also since noticed that two other teams have since decided to play catcherless in that league.

So in conclusion, dropping a catcher CAN be a good move in SOME formats. But one can neither make the blanket statement that you should NEVER play without a catcher or conversely that EVERYONE should play without a catcher because that would just be unrealistic given the many different types of leagues and sites in which people play fantasy baseball.