Huff was resigned by the Giants for two years and $22 million with a team option for 2013. No real surprise here with the impact Huff had as one of the best hitters in the Giants lineup and given general manager Brian Sabean’s love of veteran players. There should be little change to Huff’s value in 2011 except for a few less home runs after he turns 34 next month. More impacted by the move is rookie first basemen Brandon Belt. It likely means Belt will spend the majority of the season in Triple-A unless he gets off to a blazing start the first half of the year. Because Huff has the ability to play first base, outfield and even third base, there will be room for Belt when he is ready. Plus, although Sabean loves veterans, he has shown the willingness to promote top young talent, such as Buster Posey last year and Madison Bumgarner when they are ready. If you are in a dynasty fantasy baseball league, this is a good chance to talk up the resigning of Huff and try to get Belt at a discount from another owner.

Although the contract has not been officially signed, it looks like Victor Martinez is headed to the Detroit Tigers on a four year contract. For fantasy baseball owners, there is some risk as far as a positional impact goes. It sounds like Martinez will serve as the primary designated hitter and a backup catcher. Depending on your fantasy baseball league parameters, there is a slight chance that if the limit is say 20 games, Martinez may not have enough starts behind the plate and ends up as a utility player only in 2012 instead of a catcher which would severely impact his value in keeper leagues. With his age combined with his lack of defense behind the plate, this is bound to happen in the next year or two anyway so dynasty league owners should take note.

Remember, this is ranking JUST the Free Agent catchers based off of Todd’s final catcher rankings.

1.) Victor Martinez: The latest and strongest rumor has Victor Martinez signing with the Tigers.  This makes sense for them as current catcher Alex Avila is nothing more than a backup and Martinez could spell Miguel Cabrera at 1b and also be productive at DH.  Playing in Detroit rather than Fenway Park won’t help V-Mart’s numbers, but in the grand scheme of things it shouldn’t hurt his value as he’s still a top catching option.

2.) John Buck: John Buck had a career year last year on the homer-happy Blue Jays smacking 20 homers and finishing 6th on Todd’s 2010 final catcher rankings.  The Blue Jays have prospect J.P. Arenciba in the wings and even surprisingly traded for Miguel Olivo (more details below) so there is no reason for them to resign Buck.  If the Red Sox lose Martinez to the Tigers they’ll need a catcher and I believe they’ll turn their attention to Buck.  Buck would move from one hitting park (Rogers Centre) to another (Fenway Park), so this move likely won’t affect his value.

3.) Miguel Olivo: Olivo stole the starting job from Chris Iannetta last year and turned in a solid year at the always thin position.  As I mentioned, if he’s already been traded then how could he be a free agent?  Well, the Rockies decided they weren’t going to pick up Olivo’s option but realizing that he would be a Type B free agent, the Blue Jays swooped in, traded for Olivo and then promptly declined his option.   The thinking was  that if the Blue Jays offer Olivo arbitration and he signs with another team, he will give them a compensatory draft pick and if he accepts arbitration then they’ll have a veteran to pair with J. P. Arenciba.   It’s a win/win for the Blue Jays but a lose/lose for Olivo’s value.  Even if the ideal team picks him up like I believe the Texas Rangers will, Olivo still isn’t guaranteed a full-time job and won’t be calling Colorado his home anymore.

4.) A.J. Pierzynski: Pierzynski has always been an acceptable catcher in fantasy because he’s always gotten a lot of at bats which isn’t something that every catcher can say.  In 2011 I don’t think Pierzynski will be able that anymore with Chicago likely handing over the starting duties to prospect Tyler Flowers.  Pierzynski is a Type A free agent, so he won’t be offered arbitration by the White Sox as no team in their right mind would give up draft pick compensation for him.  So, AJ will be free to sign with whomever wants him which right now points to the Marlins.   They are a young team who may want that “veteran” catcher presence which may help a young staff but won’t help your team splitting time in a less homer friendly ballpark.

5.) Ramon Hernandez: Don’t let Ramon Hernandez’s 2010 batting average fool you, he’s not a starting catcher.   With a BABIP over 50 points higher than his career average Hernandez did not find any fountain of youth this year.  Hernandez’s days as a full time catcher are over having split duties with Ryan Hannigan the last two years on Cincinnati and now as a free agent he’ll be looking for another part-time job.   The Dodgers have a mess at catcher and I expect them to take a long look at him while fantasy owners take a long look the other way.

6.) Bengie Molina: I can’t predict what team he’ll be on because I’m guessing he retires.  Each time Molina has been a free agent he’s had to settle for a deal less than he’s wanted.   At this point in his career I think he’s done negotiating and fully satisfied retiring with a World Series ring on his finger (even though he actually lost the World Series).

7.) Yorvit Torrealba: He should remain on the Padres splitting time with Nick Hundley and away from your fantasy team.

8.) Rod Barajas: He’s now 35 and will just be looking for a backup gig.  Nothing here to see.

Other free agent catchers:

Josh Bard
Henry Blanco
Gerald Laird
Matt Treanor
Jason Varitek
Greg Zaun

Here is a look at the 2010 fantasy baseball tiers for catchers.

Tier 1:  rounds 1-2

1.  Joe Mauer
2.  Victor Martinez

Tier 2:  rounds 3-5

3.  Brian McCann
4.  Matt Wieters

Tier 3:  rounds 9-12

5.  Jorge Posada
6.  Kurt Suzuki
7.  Miguel Montero
8.  Geovany Soto
9.  Russell Martin
10. Mike Napoli
11. Bengie Molina
12. Ryan Doumit

Tier 4:  rounds 13-15

13.  A.J. Pierzynski
14.  Chris Ianetta
15.  Yadier Molina

Tier 5:  rounds 16-18

16.  John Baker
17.  Carlos Ruiz

Tier 6:  bottom of the barrel time

18.  Rod Barajas
19.  John Buck
20.  Kelly Shoppach
21.  Ramon Hernandez
22.  Jarrod Saltalamacchia
23.  Gregg Zaun
24.  Gerald Laird
25.  Nick Hundley
26. Miguel Olivo
27. Buster Posey
28. Ivan Rodriguez
29. Jason Kendall
30. Taylor Teagarden

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.

The FBT Fantasy Baseball Draft Guide is now available for purchase for just $9.99. You can view a sample here to see the template for the top 10 catchers and top 10 starting pitchers.

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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.

Instead of using some complicated formula to review May statistics, here is a breakdown for the numbers for the month sorted by RBI, beginning with catchers. The catcher spot is one position that fantasy baseball owners have been burned by this season where owners selected someone in the top 12 rounds.

Joe Mauer was so dominant in the month of May that he doubled everyone’s RBI output outside of Victor Martinez. Omir Santos will likely not be in the top 10 for the month of June with Brian Schneider now back from injury for the New York Mets. Likewise for Chris Ianetta as he is currently on the disabled list for the Colorado Rockies.

Missing from the top 10 list for the month were Brian McCann .394 9-3-11-1, missed time due to eye problems, Geovany Soto .278-6-1-10, still trying to catch up at the plate after missing time early in the season with shoulder problems which seems to be affecting his power and Russell Martin, .330 13-0-9-7. Martin has been a disappointment based on his draft position with no home runs to date and a  .269 batting average for the season.  Recent call up Matt Wieters of the Baltimore Orioles will have a chance to add his name to the list for the month of June.

One cannot underestimate the importance of having a solid closer on a major league team and the impact it has on a pitching staff. Since Trevor Hoffman has returned to the Milwaukee Brewers, the Brewers have gone 16-4 with Hoffman picking up 10 saves. Despite missing the first 19 games of the season, Hoffman is currently second in the National League in saves. I don’t know if that is the most amazing stat, or that he currently has a zero ERA with a 0.27 whip ratio. In other fantasy baseball news around the diamond on Tuesday…

Hitters:

Alex Rodriguez homered for the fourth consecutive game and drove in two runs. Rodriguez has made his hits counts since returning from injury; collecting five home runs and two singles on the season.

Mark Teixeira homered for the fourth time in his last four games and drove in two runs. I don’t think it is any coincidence that since A-Rod has returned to the lineup that Teixeira has picked up his hitting. Since May 8th, Teixeira in 11 games has hit six home runs, driven in 15 runs and raised his batting average roughly 50 points.

Hanley Ramirez hit his seventh home run of the season and is now batting .348 on the year, good for seventh place in the National League.

Scott Hairston hit his fifth home run of the season and stole his fourth base. Hairston is now hitting .354 and is starting to see more playing time as he continues to hit left and right-handed pitching at an over .300 clip.

Pitchers:

Joel Piniero pitched a complete game shutout against the Chicago Cubs to move to 5-3 on the season. Piniero allowed three hits and struck out five and has now gone three consecutive starts without allowing a walk.

Jair Jurrjens allowed one run in seven innings with eight strikeouts to pick up his fourth win of the year. Jurrjens lowered his ERA to 1.96 and has allowed more than two runs in only one start all season.

Dontrelle Willis tossed 6 1/3 shutout innings with five strikeouts to pick up his first win of the season. The win was the first for Willis since September of 2007.

CC Sabathia allowed one run in seven innings and struck out seven to up his record to 4-3. Sabathia has allowed three runs in his last 24 innings while reeling off three consecutive victories.

Tim Wakefield silenced the hot hitting Toronto Blue Jays, allowing one run in eight innings with three strikeouts. Wakefield improved to 5-2 on the year and has give up four runs in 21 innings in his three home starts this season.

Cole Hamels seems back on track, notching his second win of the year, while giving up three runs in six innings and fanning seven. Hamels has now struck out 23 hitters in his last 19 innings.

Mark Buehrle picked up his sixth win of the year, allowing one run in seven innings with three strikeouts. He has allowed two runs or less in all five of his home starts this season.

The Oakland Athletics and Tampa Bay Rays went to 11 innings, before the A’s pulled out a 4-1 win. Both starting pitchers were unscored upon before leaving the game. James Shields hurled 8 1/3 scoreless innings and struck out five. Josh Outman pitched six shutout innings and struck out six.

Closers:

Kerry Wood allowed four runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to cough up the win for Cliff Lee, who allowed two runs in eight innings. AL only owners shoudl take note, several names are already floating out there from the Cleveland Indians as possible trade candidates, with Victor Martinez and Mark DeRosa being mentioned as candidates to be trade if the Indians continue to under perform.