Catcher Tiers Update — May 2012

In contrast to what we did last season, this year we’re doing monthly updates for our positional rankings as laid out by Eno Sarris and his minions.  In addition to that, we’re doing our monthly positional tier updates as well which should aid you in your waiver pick-ups and trade negotiations when you’re comparing values.  The rankings can be found over here and below is how I see them by tier…

U.S. Prime

Mike Napoli

Buster Posey

Carlos Santana

Hard to argue against any of these guys being a top backstop.  Napoli and Santana give you great power, a mediocre average, but a solid OBP.  Posey gives you a little less power but a better batting average with a solid OBP as well.  A slight tweak within the tier to reflect my thoughts as to who I would actually rank where.

U.S. Choice

Matt Wieters

Jesus Montero

Brian McCann

Joe Mauer

In truth, I really thought about just combining these top two tiers into one mega-tier and again, I made a few tweaks to reflect my opinion.  Wieters could very well reside with the top group, as could Montero based on the way he’s hit coupled with expectations.  McCann and Mauer are here more for name and reputation, in my opinion, but McCann could separate himself a little.

U.S. Select

Miguel Montero

Yadier Molina

Alex Avila

Molina is playing well enough to move up a tier, but would prefer to see where the power ends up in another month or two.  Montero is steady and Avila’s got some pop, but the average is suffering this season.

U.S. Standard

Wilson Ramos

J.P. Arencibia

A.J. Pierzynski

Geovany Soto

Russell Martin

Ryan Doumit

Jonathan Lucroy

Run of the mill catchers here.  A little bit of potential in the various offensive categories, but we’ve seen the ceilings of the veterans listed here and the youngsters still have a ways to go before they reach their full potential.

U.S. Commerical

Kurt Suzuki

Carlos Ruiz

Ramon Hernandez

Jarrod Saltalamacchia

Now we’re looking at some drop-off, although Salty could really be on his way up if he fixed that batting average.   Ruiz is playing great, but realistically, how long can he keep his current pace going?  My guess is not long.

U.S. Utility

Chris Iannetta

Devin Mesoraco

Josh Thole

Nick Hundley

Iannetta’s average dropped hard throughout the month and could push him down further if he doesn’t make some positive changes.  Mesoraco is still stuck in a platoon, Thole is barely average and Hundley is struggling right now, but could easily turn things around sooner than later.

U.S. Cutter

Salvador Perez

John Buck

Ryan Hanigan

A.J. Ellis

Rod Barajas

Ellis should be up a tier, in my opinion, but I didn’t want to alter the rankings too dramatically here in the tiers.  He’s greatly improved at the plate and has more walks than he does strikeouts.  The rest of the crew in this tier can be avoided, although we’ll see how Perez does once healthy.

U.S. Canner

Yorvit Torrealba

Miguel Olivo

John Jaso

Jason Castro

Bottom of the barrel….well, can.  You don’t want ’em.  You don’t need ’em.  You only use if you are absolutely desperate.