We just released our 2011 fantasy baseball rankings earlier this week, and now it’s time to take a position-by-position look at just how everything played out. It’s probably a good idea you check out our top 30 catchers in fantasy baseball if you haven’t seen it yet. It’s pretty awesome.
Tier 1
Joe Mauer (MIN), Victor Martinez (DET), Buster Posey (SF), Brian McCann (ATL), Carlos Santana (CLE)
Mauer, Martinez and McCann have dominated the top tier for years, and now they’re joined by a couple up-and-coming youngsters. With the three vets, you know what you’re going to get. Mauer is a .300-plus hitter with 15-homer power, Martinez hits .300 with around 100 RBI and McCann hits in the .270s or so with 20-plus homers and 85-plus RBI. … Posey showed the world how great he can be, but I’m a bit skeptical of his strikeout rate. At 13.5 percent, it was the lowest rate he’s ever had, minor leagues included. … Because of injury, Santana is the greatest unknown of the group, but his potential is off the charts. He strikes out a decent amount (around 20% of the time) but he’s already a threat for 25 homers. He even swipes a few bases here and there, however, the most impressive thing about Santana is his plate discipline. In just 192 PA last season he walked 37 times to 29 strikeouts. That’s a walk every fifth at-bat!
Tier 2
Jorge Posada (NYY), Geovany Soto (CHC), Miguel Montero (ARI), Matt Wieters (BAL), Mike Napoli (TOR), Kurt Suzuki (OAK), Russell Martin (NYY), John Buck (FLA)
This tier is essentially everybody else who can be expected to be a full-time catcher and get at least 400-450 AB. They’re clearly not in the class of the first tier (although Posada, Soto and Wieters have the best chance at jumping up), and most of these guys are fairly interchangeable. Posada is the full-time DH in New York, Soto rebounded nicely last season, Wieters still has potential and actually hit the 10th longest homer in the league last season. … Napoli is now in Toronto, Martin is now in New York and Buck was his ever-consistent self.
Tier 3
Ryan Doumit (PIT), Miguel Olivo (SEA), Carlos Ruiz (PHI), J.P. Arencibia (TOR), A.J. Pierzynski (CHW), Chris Iannetta (COL), Yadier Molina (STL), Nick Hundley (SD), Jarrod Saltalamacchia (BOS), John Jaso (TB), Yorvit Torrealba (TEX), Chris Snyder (PIT)
The guys in this tier are interchangeable, too, in the sense that it doesn’t matter which one you have. You’re screwed anyway. Everybody in this tier either splits time or puts up stats that make you think they were splitting time. Doumit and Ruiz are really the only ones that could be expected to enter the tier of serviceable guys above them. We ranked more catchers in our top 30 rankings (since this only takes us through 25), but do you really want to hear about Jason Castro and Francisco Cervelli? Oh, one last note. When we did the rankings it was assumed that Arencibia would be Toronto’s primary catcher. Now with Napoli in the mix that’s no longer likely. Adjust your rankings accordingly.
