Preseason Ranks: Catchers

1. Keeping a backup catcher is retarded.
2. Doumit is legit, most underrated catcher, he also plays the OF, so he'll get more ABs and less wear and tear
3. Iannetta isn't going to finish in the top 5 of catchers this year, you must be an idiot if you think so.
4. I'm mad that Sandoval doesn't have catcher eligibility in my ESPN leagues yet...
5. Carlos Ruiz shouldn't be owned... Yet.

Iannetta Scared,-netta scared will finish as the top ranked catcher: heard it hear first.

mauer will be fine. The Twins baby him like they did santana

sambizzi, if that's true, then why 5th? those are around doumit's numbers from last year, when he missed a month.

i picked doumit up in round 11 of a 12 team competetive league the other week. the top 4 were gone by round 7, but ianetta, sandoval, and mauer, went after that. can't argue with that value.

I really hope Ianetta has a great year. I passed on McCann and Martin and Soto because they are normally drafted in the 4-6 round range and I snatched up Ianetta in round 9. I'm hoping for a season of about

.280 21HRS 80RBI 80 RUN and 3SB...

Sound like a reasonable expectation?

Ianetta will be the HR leading catcher in MLB!!!!!

Mauer's too risky, and besides, he's not a power guy, he's a speed guy when healthy. He's not healthy! I think Ianetta will be the beast this year to be gotten for a bargain. Humidor schumador, ianetta will hit 25 hrs and that will be the best of all major league catchers. Doumit should repeat last year and as long as Martin supplies steals he is a must to have especially with that Manny packed lineup in L.A. Mccann and Soto are no brainers and Wieters is a lock to be a star but he's apparantly gonna be the Evan Longoria of 2009 as the O's will play that game though he should be batting next to Markakis opening day. Sandoval is a hitter pure and simple who gives the added positions value and is definitely worth moving up a few notches. With that S.F. pitching staff Pablo's hits will be even more noticed in all the low score games the Giants will be playing. Posada is too risky. Teagarden could be a sleeper if he can steal the Texas job. Martinez should bounce back and if Hafner regains his form, that will help Victor as those 2 guys could be the key to the Tribe winning the AL Central.

PLEASE HELP!!

3 Catcher's, who starts?

Ramon Hernandez
Brandon Inge
Kurt Suzuki

PLEASE HELP!! STARTINIG CATCHER DECISION...
Ramon Hernandez
Brandon Inge
or
Kurt Suzuki

Iannetta and Sandoval are going to be great fantasy catchers this year

Andy Behrens is always worthless...

Yadier Molina is as low as he is for the same reason the rest of the guys in his area are. They don't help you in mor than one category, with, maybe, borderling help in a second.

Honestly, what does he do other than hit .300? & homers, 36 runs and 56 rbi. That won't get you much higher than where he is. The guys in front of him, at least, have the potential to go above that. Yadier is locke din where is.

Keep a back up catcher over a stud, like Wright. Especially, when he already has Sandoval. He'll catch enough to qualify next year, almost guaranteed.

Maybe, you can justify keeping one of the other players, but keeping a back up catcher over Wright is insane.

Most people don't associate 37 year old catchers with "upside".

If Martinez does what he did in 06 or 07, he is a better pick than Posada. I'd bet on a 31 year old catcher (who is going to play some 1B, as well) rebounding before a 37 year old one.

Molina has put up numbers similar to what a healthy Posada did. He's a few years younger and nto coming off an injury.

Have you even looked at Doumit's numbers from last year. He had a pretty good half of a season in 07, as well.

Sandoval and Wieters are ranked to high in my mind. Although, honestly, I can see why they out them there. There isn't much behind them.

Iannetta should be below Molina.

Posada is about where he should be.

Any news on when Wieters will be called up? Also is Napoli going to start the season on the DL? In that case I won't have a catcher for opening day!

No one here believes in Doumit? The guy missed a month and .318 15HRs 71RBI 69R in 431 ABs. He missed a month so if he is healthy all season he could get an extra 100 ABs. I say .301 20HRs 85RBI 80R 3S. Not bad for pick 112+. He's a switch hitter and bats 3 or 4th every day behind McClouth is a nice opportunity for RBIs. He can be ELITE and this could be his year!

What? I would take Posada over any of those Jokers from Martinez down. All catchers are virtually identical from Martinez to Pierzynski so why not take the guy with the biggest upside?

Especially since all reports out of spring training say he is 100% and throwing out fools left and right. The bat will follow. 20 dingers and 80+ RBI and about .278 from Jorge this year. Book It!

Position Primer
Catcher

1. Brian McCann - This guy can flat out hit, he has hit over .300 2 of the last 3 years including .332 in 2006. In three full seasons his lowest HR (18) and RBI (87) totals both came in 2007. Pencil in .300 20+ HR and 90+ RBI and you have your #1 catcher.
Projected Stats
.305 75 Runs 41 2B’s 27 HR’s 98 RBI 55 BB’s
2. Victor Martinez - V-Mart was the premier fantasy catcher from 2004-2007 averaging .301 77 runs 37 2B’s 21 HR’s and 99 RBI. The only reason he’s ranked lower on the “expert” picks is because he was injured last year. Aside from the fact he is now healthy, he is still just 30, should be eligible at 1B as well and is in a contract year. As long as he stays healthy I expect big things from him this year and he could possibly be the #1 scoring catcher.
Projected Stats
.306 72 Runs 37 2B’s 23 HR’s 101 RBI 64 BB’s
3. Geovany Soto - Soto came into 2008 with a lot of hype and didn’t disappoint. Soto is still learning to hit and should continue to get better. Because of his superb ability to call a game and handle pitchers he should continue to get a lot of at bats. Barring a sophomore slump, I expect similar numbers to last year.
Projected Stats
.292 70 Runs 38 2B’s 2 3B’s 24 HR’s 91 RBI 72 BB’s
4. Russell Martin - Martin would be 1 or 2 on this list but Torre has stated that he will give Martin a little more time off this year to try and keep him fresh. Because of his 5 category potential he is usually one of the top 3 off the board but I have him 4th.
Projected
.290 85 Runs 31 2B’s 2 3B’s 16 HR’s 73 RBI 85 BB’s 16 SB’s
5. Ryan Doumit – Ryan is a stud and is just coming into his own as a hitter. He’s slightly unproven but he has very little competition behind the plate in Pittsburgh and should get around 450-500 AB’s. A sophomore slump could definitely be on the horizon but it’s hard to argue last year numbers (.317 with 15 HR’s).
Projected Stats
.297 73 Runs 36 2B’s 19 HR’s 72 RBI 41 BB’s 3 SB’s
6. Chris Iannetta - Slated as the everyday catcher in Colorado, Iannetta will improve on his 333 AB’s last year in which he hit 18 HR’s. If he gets 450+ AB’s he could easily be a top 5 catcher. He also has a great eye drawing 56 walks and sporting a .390 OBP.
Projected Stats
.257 61 Runs 27 2B’s 2 3B’s 23 HR’s 71 RBI 74 BB’s
7. Benji Molina - Believe it or not, Molina has hit 16 and 19 HR’s and driven in 81 and 95 RBI’s in his two years starting in San Francisco. His 95 RBI’s last year led all catchers and he is expected to bat clean up again this year. Molina is also in a contract year which for some reason means good things for athletes, I would think guys would play the same no matter what but it’s not the case. Molina does lack runs and walks so he is only good for 3 categories.
Projected Stats
.282 46 Runs 35 2B’s 18 HR’s 87 RBI 26 BB’s
8. Joe Mauer - Mauer is the best hitting catcher in baseball but his back problems have lowered his value. Coming off back surgery in December, his recovery has been slow which is not a good sign. He also plays on turf, which is a killer for backs, he plays catcher and has been injury prone in the past. If he makes it through the season I would expect around 400-430 AB’s.
Projected Stats
.316 68 Runs 23 2B’s 1 3B 9 HR’s 71 RBI 74 BB’s
9. Kelly Schoppach - My second Cleveland catcher on the list, because I think he will get the majority of the starts at catcher and Martinez will play 1st and DH. Schoppach is just 28 and coming off a year in which he hit 21 HR’s in just 352 AB’s. If I knew he would get 400+ AB’s he would be higher on the list.
Projected Stats
.264 73 Runs 32 2B’s 25 HR’s 72 RBI 43 BB’s
Mike Napoli - Talk about power, this guy hit 20 HR’s in just 227 AB’s last year (1 every 11.35 AB’s), that is up there with the elite sluggers. Ryan Howard hit 1 every 12.71 last year. Problem is, he doesn’t do much besides hit homeruns and he will probably split time with Jeff Mathis. I expect him to get around 300 AB’s between catcher and DH.
Projected Stats
.248 46 Runs 14 2B’s 26 HR’s 61 RBI 41 BB’s

Best of the rest
11. Matt Wieters – Will begin year in minors but May call up likely. .355 27 HR 91 RBI between single A and double A last year.
12. Ramon Hernandez - Should be around .275 15 HR’s 75 RBI’s.
13. Dionar Navarro - Could easily be in the top 10 at seasons end. He is just 25 and had a great offseason in which he shed 15 pounds. I like this guy a lot.
14. Jorge Posada - Could be on the verge of comeback player of the year if he gets enough games. He is 37 but before last years injury shortened season he was one of the elite hitting catchers. Could be a great late round back up.
15. AJ Pierzynski - Everyday catcher in Chicago
16. Yadier Molina – Young catcher that keeps getting better. Should hit for a good avg. decent low end 1 or back up.
17. Chris Snyder - Hit 16 HR is 334 AB’s last year. Will probably split time with Miguel Montero.
18. Jarod Saltalamacchia - Once one of the most heralded catchers in baseball has yet to prove himself. He could turn out to be the steal of the draft at his position but if he falters again you may see Taylor Teagarden take over.
19. Ivan Rodriguez. Getting old but he looked really good in the WBC and looked like he was in great shape. Could have a good year in hitter friendly Houston.
20. Any lower and your team is in trouble.

where is carlos ruiz? he will boost his average by 50 points this year...

who feels like taking a chance on joe mauer and his back?

Hey Zorro you JACKASS, I mentioned I won my league last year and keeping a backup catcher is stupid just like your dumbass

check out my picks at www.fantasysportsmatrix.com

listed under position primer - catcher

I have only done catchers so far but will have the rest of the positions out in the next week and a half. I will give monthly updates on how my picks stack up with the "experts".

Why is Pianowski not 'exclusive'?

When will Matt Wieters be available to pick up?

Why is Y. Molina so low despite a constint .304 AVG......not amzing but soild????

should also be noted that Wieters has yet to be brought up by the O's. Plenty of talk about him waiting in the minors until June/July. Is he going to be available for the draft on Yahoo?