Let's Look At Depth At: Catchers

[Tom Kessenich]

Let's continue our look at each position for the upcoming 2010 season by profiling catchers. In our just completed Fanball Just Cheat Sheets Magazine, 10 different writers ranked their Top 60 players at each position. The editors then created a grid with all of these rankings by position and created an ADP. Here's a look at the Top 15:



Catchers

Name, Avg Pick by Fanball, High, Low

1. Joe Mauer 1, 1, 1, 1

2. Victor Martinez 2.2, 2, 2, 3

3. Brian McCann 2.8, 3, 2, 3

4. Matt Wieters 5.7, 5, 4, 8

5. Russell Martin 6.3, 5.5, 4, 10

6. Kurt Suzuki 6.6, 6, 4, 11

7. Jorge Posada 7.8, 7.5, 5, 12

8. Bengie Molina 8.2, 7.5, 6, 13

9. Miguel Montero 8.4, 7.5, 5, 15

10. Geovany Soto 9.7, 10, 6, 12

11. Mike Napoli 10.4, 10.5, 7, 13

12. Ryan Doumit 11.6, 11, 5, 17

13. A.J. Pierzynski 11.8, 12, 8, 15

14. Yadier Molina 13.9, 14, 13, 15

15. Chris Iannetta 15.1, 15, 11, 19



As usual, there isn't much to get excited about with the catchers. There's a huge drop-off after the Top 3 so if you want a proven stud you'll have to act quickly. If you choose to wait, the players I'm targeting most often are Matt Wieters, Geovany Soto and Kurt Suzuki. I like Wieters the best and believe he could blow up this season. Soto comes with a lot of risk after a dismal 2009 season, but he has shown quality production in the past and currently looms as an appealing value play.



Perhaps the biggest question mark is Russell Martin. A stud catcher heading into 2009, Martin flopped as he slumped to a .250-7-53-11 season. With his steals and HRs having declined for the past two seasons, he comes with huge risk but he continues to be a top catcher drafted due to the lack of talent at the position.



One of my other favorite sleepers (Buster Posey) has been rendered worthless for at least the start of the season with Bengie Molina back in the fold for the Giants. Molina isn't a bad option given his decent power potentil at this position. There may not be more than 15 decent catchers worthy of starting (even that might be a reach) so you can't wait too long to get a starter and you can't afford to be scrambling with your No. 2 catcher either.



What says all of you about the catcher position for 2010?