2012 Catcher Tiers: Preseason
So we’ve been through the Catcher Consensus Rankings and we’ve heard some of my initial thoughts on said rankings. Well, now it’s time to put these guys into tiers so that you can see which players are most comparable to each other in expected production and where you can likely find them in your draft. I’ll also chime in with a few thoughts here and there…
U.S. Prime
| Mike Napoli |
| Carlos Santana |
| Brian McCann |
What more do we need to say about these three? They’ll each cost you a high draft pick or some substantial auction dollars and all three should be worth the price of admission. There’s not much separating these three from the three below, but my confidence level is higher here, hence the separation.
U.S. Choice
| Joe Mauer |
| Matt Wieters |
| Buster Posey |
Any of these three could end up the most valuable fantasy catcher by season’s end, but they each give me a bit of pause as opposed to the three above. Mauer needs to prove he can comeback and stay healthy, Wieters needs to show that last season’s late power surge is for real and Posey needs to show that he can return to form after such a brutal injury.
U.S. Select
| Miguel Montero |
| Alex Avila |
| Yadier Molina |
| J.P. Arencibia |
First of all, if you’re in a league where Jesus Montero immediately qualifies as a catcher, then this is the tier in which I would place him. Wish Molina would show a little more power and I wish Arencibia would show a little more average.
U.S. Standard
| Geovany Soto |
| Wilson Ramos |
| Russell Martin |
| Ryan Doumit |
| Kurt Suzuki |
Very serviceable catchers, good power to be had with a splash of upside. Ramos could be in for a strong year and this could be an interesting season if Doumit can grab a full season’s worth of at-bats.
U.S. Commercial
| Salvador Perez |
| Jonathan Lucroy |
| Ramon Hernandez |
| Carlos Ruiz |
| Jarrod Saltalamacchia |
Well right off the bat, Perez needs a downgrade. Once more information about his surgery and rehab come in, I’ll know where to downgrade him to. In the meantime, he’s still got value, especially in keeper leagues. This could be Hernandez’ last hurrah and I’d like to see Salty take the next step. He’s got good power potential but needs to cut strikeouts to atleast somewhere closer to league average.
U.S. Utility
| A.J. Pierzynski |
| Chris Iannetta |
| John Buck |
| Devin Mesoraco |
| Josh Thole |
| Miguel Olivo |
| Nick Hundley |
I actually expect Iannetta to drop a little by the end of the first month while Hundley should actually shoot up, possibly into the next tier. Love Mesoraco for the long haul, but I still haven’t heard that he’s the primary backstop in Cincy just yet. He might drop, depending on playing time.
U.S. Cutter
| Ryan Hanigan |
| Rod Barajas |
| Yorvit Torealba |
| Chris Snyder |
| A.J. Ellis |
| Lou Marson |
You’re pushing it if any of these guys is your primary. Snyder could pan out to be a little better but that will depend on whether or not the guy he’s replacing comes back healthy. If Mesoraco busts early, then Hanigan could jump a tier as well.
U.S. Canner
| Jason Castro |
| Hank Conger |
| John Jaso |
Really? Don’t even think about it….
Shouldn’t the last tier be called ‘Pink Slime’?
That stuff from Ghostbusters II? I do think Hank Conger is a nice upside play in 3 catcher, 6 team AL Only leagues for what that’s worth..
What are your thoughts on Josh Donaldson? It’s not a lock that he starts at 3b, but assuming he does, do you like his upside for a two catcher league?
Upside for Donaldson is a little power and he ran in the minors last year. If that carrries through to the majors, you could get a little bonus steals. If he can hold the job all year without platoon he’ll get more ABs than most catchers.
Downside, he’s just not that good a prospect. Could hit for very low average, struggle defensively and wind up being a big fat zero. A’s don’t have a lot of other options there. Sogard and Rosales both AAAA types. I’ve been toying with Donaldson at catcher, but from what I’ve seen of him, I think it’s a little bit of wishful thinking.
I still think Castro or Conger catches a break this year. Both were very solid prospects, and I’m pretty surprised that Sarris doesn’t continually bring up Castro’s junior season at Stanford. Castro has had a pretty strong spring, but the same can be said for Snyder. Now, freakin’ Landon Powell is in the picture and it’s just a mess. It’s just a gut feeling, but that’s what you get from most canned meat, methinks.
Landon Powell is not in the picture, he is organizational depth only. Castro is healthy and will be C1, Snyder will be C2.
Just a couple things stand out when comparing this to your Catcher keeper rankings from the fall:
1. Ianetta was a third tier guy with Weiters (who are now 4 levels apart) and Arencebia
2. Your keeper ranks excluded some servicable guys according to the current rankings: Doumit, Hernandez, etc while including some fodder based on current results: Conger, Rosario
Just letting you know that I’m keeping an eye on our old Mesoraco being behind Lucroy, Olivo, Ianetta tiff (which the rankings appear to somewhat validate, but I remain in disagreeance with) from your keeper rankings.
What about Jesus Montero?
Really dude? Did you even read before asking? Check the third tier commentary.
Arencibia doesn’t look like he should be in the same tier as Miguel Montero. A 5 HR gain seems like a poor exchange for a 50 point BA loss.