2012 Catcher Keeper Rankings — 3rd Tier

The 2012 Catcher keeper rankings continue here with the third tier which is filled with a little bit of hope and a whole lot of promise.  How much of that promise we see…well, that’s going to be the question.  In case you missed the first two tiers, here are links to Tier 1 and Tier 2 so you can see exactly where these guys here in Tier 3 rank in the grand scheme of things.

Matt Wieters, BAL — You would think, being just 25 years old and coming off of a 22 HR season that Wieters would have squeezed into the second tier, but he lands on the outskirts because of his season splits last year.  Which is the real Wieters?  Is it the guy who hit .264 with 8 HR and 34 RBI in a very quiet and unassuming first half of 2011, or is it the guy who hit .275 with 12 HR and 31 RBI over the final two months of the season that looked like the stud catcher we all thought was coming out of the minors back in 2009?  The funny thing is that if you look at all of his numbers, save for a slight increase in BB% and a major upswing in ISO, Wieters’ numbers are eerily consistent.  True, the BABIP spiked in August, but it shot right back down in September while the power remained.  If I could say with any real degree of certainty that Wieters’ second half is more indicative of the player we will see moving forward, then he easily jumps to the second tier, but right now there’s still some skepticism.  That being said, his late season power surge is relatively similar to what we saw from Jose Bautista at the end of the 2009 season and from Curtis Granderson at the end of 2010, so perhaps he should garner a little more of your attention in 2012.

J.P. Arencibia, TOR — The Blue Jays left no doubt about their intent to give Arencibia every chance in the world to succeed in 2011 when they traded away the newly-acquired Mike Napoli to go with the rookie and little-used Jose Molina as his primary backup.  After his 2010 Triple-A season  in which JPA posted a .301-32-85 line, where he also increased his walk rate and lowered his K%, the Jays figured he was ready.  Well, the power was still there, as evidenced by his 23 HR and .219 ISO mark, but the walk rate dropped and the strikeouts went through the roof (27.4%).  However, if you look at his growth between the different minor league levels and the improvements he made, it definitely gives you hope that the soon-to-be-26 year old can fix certain aspects of his game while not losing all that delicious power.  He may never be a high-average hitter, but you can make certain sacrifices behind the plate if it means a 20+ HR season.

Chris Iannetta, COL — To be honest, it’s getting harder and harder each year to find a decent place to rank Iannetta.  He’s got solid power potential (career .195 ISO) and can certainly draw a walk (16.4% in 2011), but the guy’s average is perpetually in the toilet and his managers don’t usually like him hitting higher than eighth in the order.  He’s a solid play in OBP leagues, but given his deficiencies elsewhere and the fact that his power has yet to be considered massive by any account, he certainly becomes a question mark when discussing keepers in standard leagues.  There’s also the question of Iannetta’s job security to consider.  The Rockies seem to want to lean towards a switch to prospect Wilin Rosario and they also have Jordan Pacheco who caught in the minors but primarily played third base during his late season call-up.  Iannetta is still signed for 2012 for $3.55M and the club holds a $5M option for 2013.  However, that option can be voided by Iannetta himself if he is traded before the 2013 season.  Those that are into speculating are now looking for possible new destinations for the soon-to-be 29 year old — Boston, Tampa, Houston and Philadelphia have all been mentioned at some point — and ultimately his place in the rankings could change in either direction based on where he plays next year.  Personally, I think down is more of a possibility than up, but we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.