Fantasy Baseball: Top 15 Catchers for 2011

Have spring performances caused any major movement in our catcher rankings?  If it’s his struggles or news about his playing time, one young catcher fell off in the rankings.  Let’s take a look at who it was and how things currently stand:

1. Joe Mauer — Minnesota Twins
2. Victor Martinez — Detroit Tigers
3. Brian McCann — Atlanta Braves
4. Buster Posey — San Francisco Giants
5. Carlos Santana — Cleveland Indians
6. Miguel Montero — Arizona Diamondbacks
7. Kurt Suzuki — Oakland Athletics
8. Matt Wieters — Baltimore Orioles
9. Geovany Soto — Chicago Cubs
10. Mike Napoli — Texas Rangers
11. Jorge Posada — New York Yankees
12. Chris Iannetta — Colorado Rockies
13. Yadier Molina — St. Louis Cardinals
14. Miguel Olivo — Seattle Mariners
15. Russell Martin — New York Yankees

Thoughts:

• You can pretty much interchange Montero, Suzuki (click here for my ’11 projection), Wieters (click here for my ’11 projection) and Soto depending on your opinion of the group.  If you prefer Soto as the best of the four, there certainly is nothing wrong with that assessment.  If you like Montero the least, drop him down.  They all are basically on even footing heading into draft day.
• With the news coming out that J.P. Arencibia is probably catching just three out of every five days, you have to drop him down draft boards.  At this point, he comes in just outside the Top 15 for me.  His preseason struggles don’t help matters, but they are not the biggest concern.
• Second year players are certainly a risk, but is anyone shying away from Buster Posey or Carlos Santana?  Both players have the upside to leapfrog the other top choices and emerge as the elite of the position by year’s end.  Don’t let Santana’s .260 average from ’10 prior to his injury deter you.  He should carry a significantly better BABIP (.277) in ’11.
• What are the chances that the Rockies actually stick with Chris Iannetta all year long?  They consistently have pulled the plug rather abruptly in the past, but he still is more than worth the risk, especially in two-catcher formats.

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Make sure to check out our 2011 rankings:

• Top 15 Catchers
• Top 15 First Basemen
• Top 15 Second Basemen
• Top 15 Third Basemen
• Top 15 Shortstops
• Top 30 Outfielders
• Top 30 Starting Pitchers
• Top 15 Closers

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