Archive for Catchers

For two of the last three off seasons, Michael Young dominated the headlines with his contempt for the Texas Rangers and his demands for a trade.  He was angry with the team for asking him to move from shortstop to third to make room for Elvis Andrus back in 2009 and then the whole story repeated itself this past winter when the team signed Adrian Beltre, asked him to move to DH and then traded for Mike Napoli, who was supposedly going to steal some at bats from him.  The fight was getting bitter and every time you turned around, there was a new rumor popping up as to where Young was going to land. Read the rest of this entry »

In all honesty, virtually all of the legitimate talent has likely already been plucked from your league’s waiver wire by now.  Everyone gets so transaction crazy early on, that it’s hard to believe there are still some stones left unturned.  And yet, there always seems to be a player or two that slips through the cracks for a variety of reasons.  Here’s a look at two that might interest you… Read the rest of this entry »

Beginning next week, and continuing the first Monday each month, we’ll be doing a fully updated version of the 2011 Catcher Rankings.  We’ll go over the risers and the fallers and talk about who could be climbing up the rankings on a more permanent basis and who’s washing out.  But while we’re heading into the first set of updates, we have a pretty big debate on our hands.  Who’s the number one catcher out there?  Does Joe Mauer’s slow start/DL stint/illness knock him out of the top spot?  Has Brian McCann’s consistency helped move him up?  Has Buster Posey proven himself enough to be the top fantasy backstop?  And where does Victor Martinez fit in with all of this?  These were the four names in the top tier.  These were the four names, in order, from the top tier back before the season started.  Now the question is whether or not that order has changed. Read the rest of this entry »

Negotiating trades in fantasy baseball can always be tough in competitive leagues.  Everyone is trying to gain the upper hand and each time you ask for that better starting pitcher or that more powerful outfielder, you end up taking some kind of grief for over-valuing your own players.  So why not try and get that extra boost in numbers from a low-profile spot like behind the plate?  Negotiate a deal and then try to throw in your over-performing catcher for their under-performing one who you think has the potential to improve.  You just might be able to squeeze some more out from their end.  Looking at early season BABIP and xBABIP, here’s a look at some “throw-ins” you just might want to try out… Read the rest of this entry »

Save for a few rogue ottoneu one league members, we’re all new to this game. One quirk in the game is the fact that though we have two catcher slots, we only get 162 games from those two slots combined. This is to reflect the reality shown in real baseball – all catcher situations are tandems, more or less. It’s a difficult position, and so even the hardiest, youngest catchers need days off. This does leave ottoneu managers in a difficult position – how do we best handle that position?

Let’s focus on the top 12 catchers by games played last year. They averaged 130 games played. That means you should really buy a number one catcher and then look for a $1 value to plug in for those other 32 games. That means if you are playing two catchers every game, you better watch out for your games played limit, like, now.

But how should you use those 32 games best? One thing you could do is find a backup catcher with a great platoon split. Then you could play him whenever that split is activated, and get more value out those games. Going back to 2008 in order to get a decent sample, here are some guys that have played well against lefties but might be backups in your ottoneu league:

Kelly Shoppach (.396 wOBA)
John Buck (.374 wOBA)
Carlos Ruiz (.368 wOBA)
Ryan Hanigan (.360 wOBA)
Ronny Paulino (.353 wOBA)

A natural extension of this approach might actually have you sitting your primary catcher if they aren’t great against southpaws. That would leave more at-bats for your backup in case you ended up with two strong catchers. Here are some front-line dudes that don’t play so front-line against lefties:

Matt Wieters (.275 wOBA)
Kurt Suzuki (.292 wOBA)
Miguel Montero (.328 wOBA)
Russell Martin (.333 wOBA)
Brian McCann (.333 wOBA)

There are some obvious caveats that should come to mind. First, this second list includes some young players that have not ‘proven’ that they cannot hit lefties yet. Also, a .333 wOBA is above average, and strong for a catcher, so maybe you shouldn’t sit Brian McCann, like, ever.

But there is a chance that if you have a first catcher that is a little weaker against lefties, and a backup catcher that is strong against lefties, you might find a great mix between the two. With a little daily effort, you can use platoon splits to get the best 162 games out of your roster.

While the tiers we established in our aggregate pre-season rankings gave you a sound foundation for your draft, you knew there was going to be some movement amongst the backstops.  I’m aware that we’re dealing with a small sample size of at bats, but if you’ve got a guy who’s hot, why not use him while you can? Or, if he’s cold, bench him for now and get yourself a temporary replacement.  Let’s look at a few names of backstops that are both rising and falling in current value. Read the rest of this entry »

Catchers and closers, catchers and closers…

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Last week I told you to keep an eye on Washington backup Wilson Ramos.  He may have been listed as the backup on the team’s depth chart, but it has been widely speculated that he will receive the lion’s share of the work behind the dish for the Nationals this season as they slowly phase out a declining Pudge Rodriguez.  Platoons can be a tenuous situation for fantasy leaguers, so avoiding them is usually one’s priority come draft day.  But if you’re playing in a deep league or a league that calls for two catchers, you are sometimes forced to take a chance and hope you grab the better half of a split situation.  Here’s a couple of notable interest… Read the rest of this entry »

With the season rapidly approaching and spring injuries are popping up all over the place, it’s time to make some of those last minute tweaks on your roster.  If you find yourself looking for a little power boost, here’s a couple of guys with whom you might be interested… Read the rest of this entry »

For any league, it’s always a good idea to keep an eye on some of the backups behind the plate.  With the number of injuries that befall catchers each year, you never know where the next opportunity will reveal itself and enable you to grab a potentially decent bat for a traditionally weak position.  Nothing eye-popping here, but if you get the opportunity to squeeze out an extra 5 HR or 15 points in batting average from your backstop(s), you’re certainly going to be better off in the long run.  Here are a pair of guys you might want to keep on your radar this season… Read the rest of this entry »