Ranking Keeper Catchers

I was thinking last night about players I'd really like to have if I were a general manager starting a team, which by extension applied to my keeper Strat-O-Matic team.

And, paraphrasing Casey Stengel who once said when asked who he'd pick first if starting a team, "a catcher, otherwise you'll have a lot of passed balls."

So, beginning with catcher, I went team-by-team around the major leagues in my mind, listing who played the position for each team and given age and performance, who I'd most like to have.

Then, in morning's light, I went and found their statistics to see how my impressions bear out.

Top of My Head Top Three:

Brian McCann, 27, ATL (.313/.384/.516, 16 home runs, 53 rbi, 39 runs, 3 stolen bases)
Carlos Santana, 25, CLE (.228/.357/.427, 15 home runs, 46 rbi, 44 runs, 3 stolen bases)
Alex Avila, 24, DET (.283/.368/.496, 10 home runs, 46 rbi, 30 runs, 3 stolen bases)

As a Giants fan, I would love to put Buster Posey, SF on the list, but a) he's out for the season, and b) he may not be a catcher when all is said and done.

But Joe Mauer, MIN and Victor Martinez, DET aren't the sure things they once seemed to be. VicMart is 32 and is most productive now against lefties, and Mauer, 28, has a triple slash line (batting average, on base percent, slugging percent) of .291/.364/.336 with zero home runs in an injury-marred campaign after 28 two seasons ago and 9 last year.

In Strat-O-Matic, McCann is owned by the Rome Mohawks, and both Posey and Avila by the Goths. But I used my first overall pick this year (#4 overall) to take Santana, and other than the low batting average he's quite solid. I don't know much about his defensive chops, but though he's played some first this year, that's more to keep his bat in the lineup than about deficiency in catching I think. I also have Geovany Soto, who mashes left-handed pitching.

In both of my A.L.-only fantasy leagues, which allow for five keepers, Santana is my keeper catcher. Really, only Avila and VMart are comparable this year to Santana's production.

I'm glad I have Carlos Santana in all three of the keeper leagues I care about.

Further discussion of the rest (in rough rank-order):

Matt Wieters, 25, BAL was expected to be more of an offensive force than he's been so far in his career, and Geovany Soto, 28, CHN has turned in one and a half really good offensive seasons to this point in his, but neither approaches the top three.

Miguel Montero, 28, ARZ was seen as an up-and-comer by many, but his on base and slugging percentages haven't climbed back to their 2009 levels when he had an .832 OPS (on base plus slugging percentages). Last season he was at .770, this year .785.

Chris Ianetta, 28, COL was similarly regarded, and though he has an OBP of .358 for his career (.378 this year), he is a career .233 hitter with a bit of pop.

J.P. Arencibia, 25, TOR was the rookie who held the most promise entering 2011, and while he has shown power as anticipated, with 12 home runs, he has also managed to bat only .211 with an OBP of .273 while striking out 81 times in 265 at bats.

Jonathan Lucroy, 25, MIL, on the other hand, has increased all his triple slash stats from last year to a serviceable level (.282/.322/.409).

Wilson Ramos, 23, WAS has also performed well, .251/.326/.430, with 9 home runs, 33 rbi, and 31 runs scored in 235 at bats.

Ryan Doumit, 30, PIT was doing okay for a catcher when injured, with a line of .269/.333/.441.

John Jaso, 28, TAM and Josh Thole, NYN were both thought to have on base skills, if not much power, but both have regressed in 2011. Jaso's OBP stood at .300 when he hit the disabled list recently, after a whopping .372 in 2010. Thole has apparently been demoted, as he doesn't appear on the Mets' roster, replaced by non-factor Ronny Paulino.

Kurt Suzuki, 27, OAK has seen his OBP and slugging percentage drop each of the last two seasons.

Carlos Ruiz, 32, PHI has dropped from a .400 OBP in 2010 to a still-respectable .366, but his slugging percentage has fallen from .447 to a rare "lower-than-his-OBP" .361.

The CIN duo of Ryan Hanigan, 30, and Ramon Hernandez, 35, are both productive but not if we're looking at a dream scenario.

Jorge Posada and Russell Martin, NYY don't make the list for age and decline reasons, and the same is true for Jason Varitek, BOS. Jarrod Saltalamacchia, BOS may prove to be something, and he's still only 26 and he's a switch-hitter. His OPS so far in 2011 is close to Montero's at .771.

Other catchers who don't dominate offensively, though they might be better than "replacement level," include any of the Molinas (Yadier, the starter for STL; Jose, the backup in TOR; and Bengie, last seen with TEX but out of baseball at present), anyone on the Giants (Eli Whiteside and Chris Stewart), or the Padres (Kyle Phillips, Rob Johnson, and Nick Hundley), or the Angels (Jeff Mathis, although 23-year old and recently-demoted switch-hitter Hank Conger deserves more of a chance)

More "also-ran" catchers include Brayan Pena, KCA, Miguel Olivo, SEA, Rod Barajas, LAN, A.J. Pierzynski, CHA, Yorvit Torrealba, TEX, Ivan Rodriguez, WAS, John Buck, FLA, and J.R. Towles, HOU (an injury replacement for Jason Castro, a defense-first prospect).

The Yankees have top hitting prospect Jesus Montero in AAA, but there is much speculation that he won't be able to stay behind the plate in the bigs.

Tampa Bay called up both Jose Lobaton and Robinson Chirinos, and though Chirinos may become something he's already 27 while receiving his first major league action.