Even though the positional rankings aren;t being updated monthly, the tiers are, so let’s take a look at some of the movement amongst the catchers. We saw a few things happen with the May tiers but I held back any extreme movement because of sample sizes and questions surrounding performance sustainability. This month, guys are moving… Read the rest of this entry »
The release of the monthly positional rankings and subsequent position tiers always spurs a lot of discussion here on the site. Some people like them, some people hate them and some people just have questions as to why they are the way they are. So while Eno and the boys get ready to compile the rankings for the month of June, I figured I’d open up the catchers discussion early and see if we can’t help influence some of the decisions. Read the rest of this entry »
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… Read the rest of this entry »
Two of the catcher situations we said we would continue to follow closely throughout the season revolved around a pair of up-and-coming backstops who, based on pure talent and upside, were expected to eventually steal away the starting job on their respective teams. Devin Mesoraco from the Reds was being paired with incumbent backstop Ryan Hanigan while the Rockies brought in former-Reds catcher Ramon Hernandez to mentor Wilin Rosario and set him up for future success. We might be just three weeks into the season, but according to the current game logs, neither youngster is running away with anything right now.
If you’re using ADP to help guide you through your draft, it’s always good to see it in action. The lists you see on Mock Draft Central are great because of the aggregate data, but you know how a lot of mocks go — sometimes you get guys that stay for the first 10 rounds and then leave, putting it on auto-pick the rest of the way. That just skews the data towards the site’s rankings and becomes less helpful. So while the sample size is tiny, let’s look at the RotoGraphs Reader Mock Draft and see how a group of informed and dedicated fantasy baseball citizens did with their catchers in comparison to the ADP data we see.
At the request of you, the readers, we are covering the early Average Draft Position (ADP) results by individual position Over the past week, you’ve seen results for Second Basemen and AL Starting Pitchers, so now it’s time to cover the boys behind the plate. Here are some early ADP results for the Catchers with a few thoughts added in. Read the rest of this entry »
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.
By now you’ve already heard the news that the Rockies traded Chris Iannetta and his over-inflated OBP to the “can we please have Mike Napoli back, our catchers stink” Angels while signing Reds free agent Ramon Hernandez as a replacement and mentor for prospect Wilin Rosario. If not, then wake up and check out articles here from Erik Hahmann, Jack Moore and Chris Cwik, all of whom have chimed in on the move. But while all that is certainly big news, my fantasy radar keeps me in Cincinnati. With the departure of Hernandez, the Reds will have a new catching tandem to watch and, more than likely, bigger possibilities on the horizon.
As I said in yesterday’s Tier 4, I have to draw the line somewhere as to which players are worthy of keeping and which ones should be thrown back into the pool. That line has now been drawn. However, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention a few names of some young up and comers that I think will blossom into potential keepers and, if you believe in them enough now, could warrant consideration for 2012 depending on how much they are going to cost you. Again, relative value is up to you, but here are a few guys worth mentioning.
With so many articles designed to help you win your fantasy league this season, it’s time we threw some out to the bottom-feeders, especially those in keeper and dynasty leagues. While most of the competitors currently in the lower third of your league’s standings couldn’t care less about what’s going on today, it is the wise and savvy GM that continuously prepares for the future. With so much young talent behind the dish these days, it only makes sense to see what’s out there beyond the horizon. So here’s a look at a couple of top catching prospects that could debut with a late season call-up this year, but will likely be forced to wait in the minors until their time comes in 2012. Read the rest of this entry »