2011 Player Rankings: Catchers
The 2011 baseball season is almost upon us, so we here at RotoGraphs put our collective heads together to come up with some aggregate positional rankings. I’ll be taking the lead all year with the catchers, but as a group, here’s what we came up with for now:
| Penthouse on Park Avenue |
| Joe Mauer |
| Brian McCann |
| Buster Posey |
| Victor Martinez |
Despite last year’s power decline, we know the potential is there so Mauer gets the nod for the top spot. Welcome to the big time, Buster!
| Comfy Living |
| Carlos Santana |
| Geovany Soto |
| Mike Napoli |
| Jorge Posada |
| Matt Wieters |
Happy to have any one of these guys on my roster. Santana is on the rise, but this could be the last chance for Wieters in the fantasy trust department.
| Small House in the ‘Burbs |
| Kurt Suzuki |
| Miguel Montero |
| Chris Iannetta |
| Russell Martin |
| Carlos Ruiz |
| John Buck |
| Yadier Molina |
Stable group of guys who can just tow the line for your backstop position. Martin could be a nice sleeper in hitter-friendly Yankee Stadium.
| Shoebox Apartment |
| John Jaso |
| A.J. Pierzynski |
| Miguel Olivo |
| Ryan Doumit |
| J.P. Arencibia |
| Josh Thole |
| Rod Barajas |
| Ryan Hanigan |
| Jesus Montero |
No major investment needs to be made here. Some will rise, some will fall. Arencibia’s power potential puts him at the top of the sleeper list.
| Sharing a Room |
| Yorvit Torrealba |
| Jarrod Saltalamcchia |
| Jonathan Lucroy |
| Alex Avila |
| Nick Hundley |
| Chris Snyder |
Maybe a pair of diamonds in the rough in Lucroy and Snyder, but I wouldn’t want to invest more than a buck on the rest of the lot.
| Shanty-town |
| Jason Kendall |
| Jason Castro |
| Ramon Hernandez |
| Kelly Shoppach |
| Wilson Ramos |
| Ivan Rodriguez |
You’ve got to be pretty desperate to be living with these guys on your roster.
We’ll all be chiming in throughout the week with more detailed thoughts on some of the backstops and the overall rankings will be updated on a monthly basis, so stay tuned for more!
Howard Bender has been covering fantasy sports for over 10 years on a variety of websites. In addition to his work here, you can also find him at his site, RotobuzzGuy.com, Fantasy Alarm, RotoWire and Mock Draft Central. Follow him on Twitter at @rotobuzzguy or for more direct questions or comments, email him at rotobuzzguy@gmail.com
Wieters will be pushing the Penthouse on Park Avenue tier by the end of the season, count on it.