Catcher Wrap From Graphs’ Dynasty Mock Draft

As we saw through last week’s series of articles, there’s been quite a lot of talk about the Fan/RotoGraphs Dynasty Mock Draft.  Yes, there seemed to be a bit of confusion — two people thought it was a regular keeper draft rather than a dynasty one — but lost in the mundane and repetitive critique of that aspect was the true meaning of a mock draft.  Its is a test.  It is a guideline.  It is a tool.  You use a mock draft to gauge where particular players are going; where certain positions come off the board in a run.  It certainly isn’t the gospel, but while the calendar hasn’t even flipped to January and offseason player movement has far from ceased, it’s definitely a useful piece of information from which to get started.  That being said, we’re going to wrap up its coverage with a listing of the catchers that went, where they came off the board, and a few notes along the way.

The Top 5

	Round	Pick
Carlos Santana	3	29
Mike Napoli	4	38
Brian McCann	4	42
Buster Posey	5	49
Joe Mauer	5	56

These were all covered last Monday, but click here if you missed that coverage and want to see.  All in all, no real surprises.

The Next Wave

Matt Wieters	5	58
Alex Avila	8	88
J.P Arencibia	8	93

Each one has youth on their side with solid power upside.  Wieters’ strong final month in 2011 has shot him up to the top and a big year is expected.  Avila was incredibly well rounded while Arencibia needs to pull that batting average up if he ever wants top tier respect.

The Reach

Chris Iannetta

9

99

Still having a tough time seeing what all the hoopla is about, and no, getting out of Colorado and into a Mike Scioscia-run team isn’t going to do anything to help his value.  Watch those unintentional intentional walks and OBP decline now that there isn’t a pitcher hitting behind him.  The key thing to remember here is that someone in your league is going to overvalue him too.

Could Have Gone Sooner

Jesus Montero

10

113

No doubt that if Montero had catcher eligibility in this draft, he would have gone with the Next Wave.  Having just DH eligibility would drop even the tastiest of prospects.

Playing for This Year

Miguel Montero	10	115
Victor Martinez	10	119
Geovany Soto	16	183
Yadier Molina	17	195
Kurt Suzuki	17	199

One of the more noticeable thing when you tell a bunch of experts that they’re doing a keeper/dynasty draft is the overvaluing of youth.  You see players coming off the board in earlier rounds that would, more than likely, go much later if you were doing the same style draft with your friends at home.  Not just at this position, but at all positions.  With that, players in this group dropped significantly and may not be available at this point in, dare I say, more “regular” drafts.  The thing to remember is that when doing a keeper draft, some people will ignore proven talent and go with upside.  That leaves a number of quality players that can help you now from which to choose.  Someone has to win this year.  It might as well be you.

The Remainder

Wilson Ramos	21	252
Devin Mesoraco	23	269
Jarrod Saltalamacchia	27	316

Love Mesoraco’s upside but the presence of Ryan Hanigan and the fact that Dusty Baker loves his veterans keeps him down.  Ramos, I thought, could have gone much earlier — say around the 12th round, but maybe the guys drafting weren’t sure how he’s respond to the whole kidnapping ordeal.  Salty showed some good late season power and plays in a potent lineup, but will need to reduce those strikeouts in a big way if he’s ever going to take the next step.

Strangely Omitted

Salvador Perez

Wilin Rosario

Hank Conger

Yasmani Grandal

Especially in a keeper/dynasty draft with a bunch of baseball writers.  Really?  No love at all?  Probably because it was just a 12-team, one catcher league, but still…

So there it is.  Use the information as much or as little as you like.  But most importantly, keep doing/looking at mock drafts.  It’s only going to help you once you get to the real thing.