The 2015 fantasy baseball season has come to a close, so it is time to look back at the season past and determine which players were the most valuable at each position. As we have in the past, we’re starting out with catchers.

The players were ranked based on their 2015 production, using the evaluation system explained and updated on this site some time ago. The valuations are built for $260 budgets and standard 5×5 roto fantasy leagues, where only one catcher is started. Players are listed only at their primary positions from 2015.

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Episode 285

The latest episode of “The Sleeper and the Bust” is live!

In this episode, Paul Sporer and Eno Sarris are back to discuss more playoff standouts including Daniel Murphy, Stephen Piscotty, Kevin Pillar, and Jorge Soler. They finish with scouting reports on the game 1 starts of each LCS and how the teams facing them might find success.

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I will continue to implement player grading on the scouting scales of 20-80. I will use Kiley McDaniels scale he discussed in this article.

I will give a value for where I think the pitcher could currently fit in on the average team (CV=current value) and where they could end up (FV=future value). I am sure I will disagree with some grades from others, but I am only looking at one game.

Note: If I say a pitch moves 11-5, it is from the pitcher’s perspective.

Tyler Duffey (CV: 50/FV: 60+)
9/20/15 vs Angels

Game Thoughts
• On the surface, the 24-year-old righty looked to have just two pitches, fastball and curveball, but his manipulation of these two make him tougher to figure out.
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Swing expert and friend of the Daily Grind Dan Farnsworth sent me his thoughts on three players right after the season ended. Typically, I’d post those comments in the Grind, but it’s time recover for next season’s grind. I don’t want Dan’s effort to go to waste. What follows is analysis of three early sleepers for the 2016 season.

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Welcome to the annual series: ‘A Minor (League) Review of 2015.” This series is a great way to receive a quick recap of the ’15 minor league season for your favorite club(s), while also receiving a brief look toward the 2016 season and beyond. It can also be a handy feature for fantasy baseball players in keeper and Dynasty leagues.

The Graduate: Carson Smith, RHP: I was a huge proponent of Smith prior to the 2015 season but even I was surprised by his raging success. The right-hander is an absolute ground-ball-inducing machine and he can miss more than his fair share of bats too — as witnessed by his 92 Ks in 70 innings pitched in 2015 in the Majors. As a result of those overpowering results, the 25-year-old hurler allowed just 49 hits and took over the Mariners’ closer’s role. He should return to the role in 2016 and his approach should help him find success for years to come, if he can stay healthy.

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• I am really light on content today, but I am going to stick to my plan of publishing every Thursday no matter the news.

• Ruben Tejada is expected to be ready by spring training after having his leg broke.

The Mets announced Monday afternoon that infielder Ruben Tejada, injured on a slide into second base by the Dodgers’ Chase Utley in NLDS Game 2, won’t need surgery to fix the non-displaced fractured fibula in his right leg.

CBS MLB Insider Jon Heyman reports that Tejada instead will spend 6-8 weeks in a cast, and be ready for spring training in February.

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I’ve already gloated about my ottoneu success, bemoaned my DFS performance, and wistfully analyzed my nearly 7-for-10 Bold Prediction performance. Today I’ll run through my performance in eight other leagues.

I’ll be up front – it wasn’t my best season. Even in March, I knew I was biting off more than I could chew. In my sophomore year of high school, I doubled up in Geometry and Algebra 2. Every time I caught up in one subject, I fell behind in the other. That’s how my 2015 season felt. Whenever I put in the time to grind some advantage in one league, I let another fall into the weeds. By the end of the year, I was down to actively managing two teams. Let’s discuss those successes first.

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This is one of those fun awards where there is debate about what the award means. Roto and Hitter are clear, but what constitutes a comeback? Does the winner have to come back from injury or ineffectiveness or both? How good does he have to be to have “comeback?”

Well, since I get the only vote, I also define the parameters. I prefer unexpected comebacks, so I give more credit to coming back from ineffectiveness than injury. I think you need to make a BIG return to win this award – going from top 20 bat, to borderline useful player, to top 20 bat is more impressive than going from top 75 bat, to top 200 bat, to top 75 bat. With that in mind, my pick: Chris Davis.

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So yesterday, I reviewed the results of my other HR/FB rate analysis based on ESPN Home Run Tracker data and recapped the players identified as having significant upside in 2015. My list didn’t perform too well, so let’s hope today’s goes better. I’ll be checking in on the guys who hit the most Just Enough home runs in 2014, which I deemed as having serious HR/FB rate downside in 2015.

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I had a weird experience with my bold predictions. A majority of my predictions were close to right. However, I ultimately fell way short of my goal to hit .400. Let’s get to it.

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