Fantasy Baseball Top 15 Catchers for 2011: Keeper Leagues

Obviously, when you are drafting for a keeper league, things are a little bit different than if you are drafting simply for one year.  You need to think not just for 2011, but potentially 2012 and beyond (depending on your format).  Let’s take a look at how that changes things for our rankings:

1. Joe Mauer – Minnesota Twins
2. Carlos Santana – Cleveland Indians
3. Buster Posey – San Francisco Giants
4. Brian McCann – Atlanta Braves
5. Victor Martinez – Detroit Tigers
6. Matt Wieters – Baltimore Orioles
7. Geovany Soto – Chicago Cubs
8. Miguel Montero – Arizona Diamondbacks
9. J.P. Arencibia – Toronto Blue Jays
10. Kurt Suzuki – Oakland Athletics
11. Chris Iannetta – Colorado Rockies
12. Mike Napoli – Los Angeles Angels
13. Jesus Montero – New York Yankees
14. Devin Mesoraco – Cincinnati Reds
15. Jorge Posada – New York Yankees

Thoughts:

• While McCann is a great catching option, both Carlos Santana and Buster Posey have the potential to pass him, even in yearly leagues, by the end of 2011.  Having never scored more than 68 runs in a season, McCann has a fairly big strike against him. 
• Victor Martinez should get a renewed sense of value thanks to spending significant time as the DH in Detroit.  Still, I’ve constantly called Santana “the next Victor Martinez” so in long-term keeper leagues it is hard not to consider him (and Posey for that matter) a better option.  Martinez is just 32 years old, so he should have a few more years of quality production, keeping him among the better options as long as he maintains catching eligibility.  With Alex Avila starting, it would be surprising to see him not get 20+ games a year behind the plate for the foreseeable future. (The debate between Santana and Posey is one for another day, however.)
• Arencibia has as much power as anyone and now, with regular playing time, should develop into a player similar to Mike Napoli.  As long as the Blue Jays play him regularly, he should be a solid option moving forward.  The potential problem is his average, but after the first grouping of options, the majority of catchers also have that concern.
• The reason Montero is not slotted higher on this list is two-fold.  One, there are significant questions on if he stays behind the plate long term.  Second, with the signing of Russell Martin, there’s a good chance his exposure to the major leagues in 2011 is minimal.  He’ll likely make his debut at some point and, if he does stick behind the plate, could be one of the elite catching bats in the game.  That makes him worth stashing in all keeper leagues, but you don’t want to draft him as your starter because you may get nothing out of him this season.
• Mesoraco’s name may be a bit of a surprise on this list, but he has the chance to emerge in 2010 if he can get his glove in order (10 passed balls and four errors in 18 games in the Arizona Fall League).  The Reds didn’t get much offense from behind the plate in 2010 and his .302, 26 HR, 75 RBI line would certainly play well at Great American Ballpark.
• Like Montero, there are questions if Will Myers will be able to stay behind the plate.  That certainly knocks him down a peg, as does the fact that he won’t reach the majors until late 2012 or 2013, most likely.  If you are in a long-term dynasty league things are different, but for now I have to leave him off this list.
• There are numerous players that could’ve been selected for the final spot on the rankings including Josh Thole, Hank Conger and Jarrod Saltalamacchia, among others.  There really is no clear-cut option that shines through at this point.  That’s why, at that point in the draft, I’d much rather take one year of Jorge Posada and worry about getting one of the other options for depth later on.

What are your thoughts on the rankings?  Who's too high?  Who's too low?

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Make sure to check out our 2011 rankings:

• Top 15 Catchers
• Top 15 First Basemen
• Top 15 Third Basemen
• Top 15 Shortstops
• Top 30 Outfielders
• Top 20 Starting Pitchers
• Top 15 Closers
• 2011 Fantasy Draft First Round Breakdown

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