2012 Catcher Tiers: Preseason

So we’ve been through the Catcher Consensus Rankings and we’ve heard some of my initial thoughts on said rankings.  Well, now it’s time to put these guys into tiers so that you can see which players are most comparable to each other in expected production and where you can likely find them in your draft.  I’ll also chime in with a few thoughts here and there…

Beef….it’s what’s for dinner!

U.S. Prime

Mike Napoli

Carlos Santana

Brian McCann

What more do we need to say about these three?  They’ll each cost you a high draft pick or some substantial auction dollars and all three should be worth the price of admission.  There’s not much separating these three from the three below, but my confidence level is higher here, hence the separation.

U.S. Choice

Joe Mauer

Matt Wieters

Buster Posey

Any of these three could end up the most valuable fantasy catcher by season’s end, but they each give me a bit of pause as opposed to the three above.  Mauer needs to prove he can comeback and stay healthy, Wieters needs to show that last season’s late power surge is for real and Posey needs to show that he can return to form after such a brutal injury.

U.S. Select

Miguel Montero

Alex Avila

Yadier Molina

J.P. Arencibia

First of all, if you’re in a league where Jesus Montero immediately qualifies as a catcher, then this is the tier in which I would place him.  Wish Molina would show a little more power and I wish Arencibia would show a little more average.

U.S. Standard

Geovany Soto

Wilson Ramos

Russell Martin

Ryan Doumit

Kurt Suzuki

Very serviceable catchers, good power to be had with a splash of upside.  Ramos could be in for a strong year and this could be an interesting season if Doumit can grab a full season’s worth of at-bats.

U.S. Commercial

Salvador Perez

Jonathan Lucroy

Ramon Hernandez

Carlos Ruiz

Jarrod Saltalamacchia

Well right off the bat, Perez needs a downgrade.  Once more information about his surgery and rehab come in, I’ll know where to downgrade him to.  In the meantime, he’s still got value, especially in keeper leagues.  This could be Hernandez’ last hurrah and I’d like to see Salty take the next step.  He’s got good power potential but needs to cut  strikeouts to atleast somewhere closer to league average.

U.S. Utility

A.J. Pierzynski

Chris Iannetta

John Buck

Devin Mesoraco

Josh Thole

Miguel Olivo

Nick Hundley

I actually expect Iannetta to drop a little by the end of the first month while Hundley should actually shoot up, possibly into the next tier.   Love Mesoraco for the long haul, but I still haven’t heard that he’s the primary backstop in Cincy just yet.  He might drop, depending on playing time.

U.S. Cutter

Ryan Hanigan

Rod Barajas

Yorvit Torealba

Chris Snyder

A.J. Ellis

Lou Marson

You’re pushing it if any of these guys is your primary.  Snyder could pan out to be a little better but that will depend on whether or not the guy he’s replacing comes back healthy.  If Mesoraco busts early, then Hanigan could jump a tier as well.

U.S. Canner

Jason Castro

Hank Conger

John Jaso

Really?  Don’t even think about it….