Fantasy Baseball Catcher Rankings: Joe Mauer and the Other Guys

It is generally a good idea to wait on catchers, a volatile position that can change substantially from year to year. Catchers are injury-prone and unlikely to play more than 135 games or so. Once you get past the top tiers, most of the catchers in the second half of the top 12 have equivalent value.

But every now and then, someone comes along that redefines the fantasy position. Someone like Joe Mauer.

TIER 1 – THE MVP

Closers
Starting Pitchers Part 1
Starting Pitchers Part 2
Starting Pitchers Part 3
Outfielders Part 1
Outfielders Part 2
Third Basemen
Shortstops
Second Basemen
First Basemen

In five seasons, Joe Mauer has played in more than 140 games only once. Last season, he missed the first month with a lower back problem.

And he still won the MVP.

Mauer hit .365 to win his third batting title in four years. He hit 28 homers, more than double his previous high of 13. But power was projected for Mauer when he was the first pick in the 2001 draft, so there is good reason to expect Mauer’s power is here to stay. Mauer drove in 96 and scored 94 in the middle of an improving Twins’ lineup.

Mauer is entering his contract year, though his agent has been negotiating with the Twins during spring training.

Mauer turns 27 in April. He would be an early pick at any position. But at catcher, Mauer might offer the greatest disparity with the rest of the field.

TIER 2 – THE ESTABLISHED STARS

In each of his four full seasons, Brian McCann has hit between 18 and 24 homers (21 in 2009) and driven in between 87 and 94 runs (94 last year). McCann has hit .300 twice (.281 in 2009).

McCann had trouble seeing at the start of last season due to problems stemming from his Lasik surgery, ending up on the DL. McCann had a second Lasik surgery this offseason and says that everything is fine now.

At 26, McCann should be entering his prime.

Victor Martinez‘ 23 homers and 108 RBI were identical to his numbers in 2004. He has four 20-homer seasons, four years with at least 90 RBI  and four years batting .300. Martinez hit .303 in 2009, but after arriving in Boston in midseason, he hit .336.

Martinez played almost half his games at 1B last season. He had a .942 OPS in those games, as opposed to .783 when he was catching. In 2010, Martinez is likely to focus on catcher in 2010 unless something happens to 1B Kevin Youkilis or DH David Ortiz.

Martinez is 31, but has played in at least 147 games four of the last five seasons. He is entering a contract year.

TIER 3 – THE PHENOM

Uber-prospect Matt Wieters got off to a slow start after he was called up in May, but Wieters showed his potential when he hit .362 in May. Wieters turns 24 in May, so he may be a year or two away, but stardom is coming.

TIER 4 – PART-TIME PLAYERS, FULLTIME POWER?

Jorge Posada put up strong stats – 22-81-.285 – in only 383 AB. It was his eighth season of at least 20 homers and 80 RBI. The new Yankee Stadium fueled Posada’s season; he hit 14 of his homers at home while batting .325, as opposed to .245 on the road.

Posada only appeared in 111 games last year, and while the above numbers show he can be quite productive in limited time, he only played 51 games in 2008 and will be 39 in August.

With Hideki Matsui gone to the Angels, Posada may have more of a chance to DH, since the spot is now filled by oft-injured Nick Johnson.

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In 2009, AL MVP runnerup Mark Teixeira hit 39 homers in 609 AB while scoring 103 runs.

Over the last two seasons, Mike Napoli has 40 homers in 609 AB while scoring 99 runs.

Napoli also has 105 RBI and a .272 BA over that time period.

Unfortunately, what the 28-year-old Napoli does not have is a full-time job, since he shares catching duties with Jeff Mathis, whose defense Angels manager Mike Scioscia prefers.

Napoli did get 382 AB in 114 games last year, after 227 AB in 2008, while Mathis’ AB dropped from 283 to 237.  Mathis has also batted .211 and .194 the last two years.

Meanwhile, Napoli hit four homers in his first 17 spring AB in 2010.

If Napoli can take more AB away from Mathis, he moves up the list. But even if he does not, a part-time Napoli can still provide more value than most fulltime catchers.

TIER 5 – CAN THEY DO IT AGAIN?

Miguel Montero, does not have the upside of Wieters, but he has already been productive, going 11-40-.316 in the second half to finish at 16-59-.294 in 425 AB. The 26-year-old needs to show he can perform at a high level over a full season. Chris Snyder will challenge Montero for playing time, but Montero, who is also strong defensively, should be the main starter.

After going 15-69-.318 in 2008, Ryan Doumit‘s 2009 was ruined when he broke his wrist in April and was out for three months. After his return, Doumit hit .176 in August, but .346 in September. If Doumit, who will be 29 on Opening Day, can stay healthy, he  can move back toward his 2008 numbers, but that is a big if since he has been injury-prone throughout his career.

Geovany Soto was the 2008 NL Rookie of the Year, going 23-86-.285. But in 2009, Soto only hit .218 with 11 homers and 47 RBI in 389 AB. Soto had injuries to his shoulder and oblique, appeared to be overweight and failed a drug test at the World Baseball Classic.

Soto showed up this spring 40 pounds lighter and appears ready to recapture his 2008 form. Another factor that suggests that 2009 was an atypical year for Soto was his extremely low .251 BABIP.

Kurt Suzuki‘s most important stat might have been his 570 AB, ranking him second among catchers to Victor Martinez. Suzuki caught 135 games and was DH in eight more. Playing so often and remaining healthy enabled Suzuki to rack up some pretty good counting stats for a catcher – 15 homers, 88 RBI and 74 runs while hitting .274. Suzuki even managed eight steals.

Suzuki is 26 and projected to hit in the top part of the A’s lineup. He may not have the upside of some other catchers, but he could end up accumulating better stats than most of them, just as he did in 2009 when he finished third among catchers in runs and fourth in RBI.

Chris Iannetta failed to build on his 2008 18-65-.264, falling to 16-52-.228. After hitting .193 in August, he was benched for much of September in favor of Yorvit Torrealba. But Torrealba is gone and Iannetta, who turns 27 in April, has his starting job back. As with Soto, a big drop in BABIP last year suggests that he could regain his lost BA.

TIER 6 -  HEADING DOWN

Russell Martin has caught a lot of games the last few years – 145 in 2007, 149 in 2008 and 137 in 2009, and it appears to be taking a toll on his numbers. Martin went from 19-87-.293 with 21 steals in 2007 to 7-53-.250 with 11 steals in 2009.

On March 7, it was reported that the 27-year-old Martin will be out four to six weeks after pulling a groin muscle. So Martin is likely to miss Opening Day and possibly much of April, adding to the uncertainty around him. Martin is the rare catcher who runs, but his injury could affect his steals.

Bengie Molina had a career-high 20 homers with 80 RBI and a .265 BA. Molina has reached 80 RBI all three years with the Giants and has reached 19 homers three of the last four seasons. Molina was in a position to get RBI because he batted cleanup last year and in 2008, but figures to hit lower in the lineup this season.

But Molina will be 36 in July and must fend off top prospect Buster Posey, who appeared likely to catch in AAA but now has a shot at making the team as a backup catcher and 1B. Even if Posey does not make the team out of spring training, he could start cutting into Molina’s time by midseason.

AND BEAR IN MIND

Yadier Molina has offered steady, if unspectacular, production for the last two years, with a good BA but low power: 6-54-.293 in 2009 and 7-56-.304 in 2008. He is projected to bat sixth for the Cardinals, behind Albert Pujols, Matt Holliday and Ryan Ludwick. Molina turns 28 in July.

A.J. Pierzynski has gotten at least 440 AB for eight straight years. He has double-digit homers for seven straight seasons. Pierzynski hit .300 last year and has batted at least .280 three of the last four seasons. He is projected to bat fifth for theWhite Sox, between Paul Konerko and Alex Rios. Pierzynski is 33 and in the final year of his contract.

Photo by Keith Allison.