by Todd Lammi

This is the first series of our fantasy baseball rankings looking at the position of catcher. If you are playing in a mixed fantasy baseball league that only has one catcher spot, it is okay to wait toward the latter part of a draft or auction because there is some depth down to around 15 catchers or so. If, however, you are playing in a league that requires two catchers, or in an American League or National League only league, I would try to acquire good catchers rather than tanking the position with a lower stat player.

The reason being, during the fantasy baseball season, there are hardly ever rookie catchers that come up to the major leagues that are going to make an impact to your team that you could claim as a free agent. There are a lot more options at other positions where you will be able to claim free agents to improve your roster. Having a better catcher than the rest of the owners in your league gives you an advantage at that position, plus you will have the chance to improve your roster more at other positions through free agency.

The only caveat I will mention in mixed leagues with two catchers is how high do you want to draft a catcher. The only risk with drafting a catcher is the nicks and bumps they get throughout the season, catching for 150+ games, taking pitches off their body and collisions at home plate. While injuries can happen to any player, there is a better chance that catchers end up being a little more banged up throughout the season. A case in point is Geovany Soto last season, who put up about half the numbers most owners were expecting from him. In most leagues he was drafted in rounds 7-10 depending on the size of your fantasy baseball league, but in reality his value earned placed him in rounds 15-20.

With all that said, let’s take a look at the 2010 fantasy baseball rankings for catchers.

1) Joe Mauer – he will be overrated this year. Yes, he is the best catcher so it may be heard to call him overrated, but he is going the first round in fantasy baseball drafts this year which is way too high. He had a magical year in 2009 hitting 19 more home runs that the previous season. I have to believe there is some power regression coming, down to the 20 home run range or possibly even lower.

2) Victor Martinez – the second best catcher and really not that far away from Joe Mauer, outside of the batting average. Martinez offers the added flexibility of being eligible at first base as well.

3) Brian McCann – would be neck and neck with Martinez if he played in the American League where his runs scored would be higher, but McCann is a solid number three catcher, ahead of the next tier of fantasy baseball catchers.

4) Matt Wieters – I have the next five of six catchers grouped really close to each other in Tier 4, but have Wieters on top for now based on his youth and upside. Probably is one year away from making the jump up to McCann’s level.

5) Jorge Posada – bounced back nicely from his injured 2008 season. Now 39, he has been amazingly consistent for the past 10 seasons, hitting 20 or more home runs every season outside of his injury year in 2008 and 2005 when he hit 19.

6) Geovany Soto – has lost 40 pounds in the off-season and should be ready to bounce back from his disappointing 2009 year. Despite the low batting average, if you project his at bats out to his 2008 totals, he still would have hit roughly 16 home runs and 71 RBI last year.

7) Miguel Montero – Montero was the fantasy baseball breakout at catcher in 2009. With Chris Snyder possibly being traded out of Arizona, Montero should see 500+ at bats this season.

8.) Russell Martin – there once was a catcher named Jason Kendall that used to be pretty good back in the day. At the age of 26, Kendall hit .320 with 14 home runs, 58 RBI and 22 stolen bases. After that season, Kendall’s stolen bases fell off to 13, 15, 8, 11, 8, 11. Martin looks like he may be on the same arc as Kendall’s, with two seasons of declining numbers in home runs and stolen bases. I think Martin is the fantasy baseball catcher of 2010 with the most upside / downside depending where is he drafted.  His current ADP (average draft position) is the 10th round in a 15-team mixed fantasy baseball league draft.

9) Kurt Suzuki – had solid improvement year-over-year, doubling his home run and RBI total in only 40 more at bats. He turned on the power after the All-Star break, hitting 10 home runs in 263 at bats. Could see more RBI in 2010 depending where he hits in the lineup. In 2009, he had over 100 at bats hitting second, third, fifth and sixth.

10) Bengie Molina – I have him 10th in my fantasy baseball rankings for now, as it looks like he will get the majority of at bats for the San Francisco Giants, pushing Buster Posey to AAA to start the season or to a backup with the major league team. Watch the situation in spring training for word from the Giants on where Posey will play. If they carry Posey on the big league club, I would think he would get maybe two starts per week which would cut 100 at bats from Molina’s stats from the season.

11) Mike Napoli – solid power, but limited at bats keeps his value in the middle of the fantasy baseball rankings at catcher. Got some extra bats (62) at DH last year with Vladimir Guerrero sidelined due to injury. Thanks to defensive issues, he will still share time with Jeff Mathis at catcher so project 325 at bats for Napoli at the high end this season.

12) Ryan Doumit -  another injury filled season for Doumit in 2009 as he put up stats similar to 2007 in comparable at bats. Will be 29 in April and only has one major league season of more than 400 at bats. Has the ability to put up good power numbers when healthy. The downside is the injury risk and the potential of being traded, as Doumit’s name was floated in trade talk during the winter.

13) A.J. Pierzynski – the most consistent fantasy baseball catcher you will find every season with little deviation in his numbers. He is in his final year of his contract and with prospect Tyler Flowers knocking on the door, there is an off chance A.J. could be traded during the season if the Chicago White Sox fall out of the race, so AL only owners take note.

14) Chris Iannetta – good power numbers in limited at bats, but the batting average takes a toll on your team numbers. Shared time with Yorvit Torrealba last season and could be in for more of the same with the recently signed Miguel Olivo so keep the at bat projections realistic.

15) Yadier Molina – continues to show gradual improvement at the plate and even threw in nine steals last season. A nice pick as a number two catcher for the batting average support. Upside is .300 with 10 home runs and 10 steals.

16) Carlos Ruiz – similar stats to what he produced in 2007. With the recent three-year contract extension and the trade of top prospect Lou Marson to Cleveland for Cliff Lee last year, Ruiz is locked in as the starter.

17) John Baker – I had Baker on my watch list last year and he came up with solid numbers in his first year as starter for the Florida Marlins. The platoon with Ronny Paulino keeps his limit to around 375 at bats so expect similar type fantasy baseball stats in 2010.

18) Nick Hundley – missed seven weeks last year due to injury which limited his at bats in 2009. If the San Diego Padres give him 400+ at bats this season, Hundley could hit 10-12 home runs with 45-50 RBI. The downside is the batting average which might be around .240.

19) Kelly Shoppach – lots of strikeouts, lots of power when he connects. Should see the majority of at bats ahead of Dioner Navarro for the Tampa Bay Rays.

20) Ramon Hernandez – a disappointing season in his first year in Cincinnati, but he has a full-time job and qualifies also at first base so things should be slightly better in 2010.

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• Projections in Excel for 480 players using the standard 5 x 5 fantasy baseball categories
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Next up in the series for 2010 fantasy baseball rankings will be first basemen.