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Arizona Diamondbacks catcher Miguel Montero was activated from the disabled list yesterday after successfully rehabbing a broken right index finger. On his first night back he saw limited action, pinch hitting in the 8th inning, where he flew out to right field.

Those of you who may be expecting Montero to provide some home runs for your fantasy baseball team might want to think again. Sure, he hit 10 home runs in 214 at-bats in 2007, but he’s third on the depth chart currently, and a pinch hitting role is where manager Bob Melvin wants to use Montero.

Montero’s arrival meant the departure of outfielder Alex Romero, who was optioned to Triple-A Tucson, meaning the Diamondbacks have three catchers: Montero, Chris Snyder and Robby Hammock.

That will allow Melvin to use Montero more as a pinch-hitter, a role in which he hit .350 (7 for 20) with three home runs last season.

Montero isn’t a fantasy play in any format right now. He might become an NL-only option if Chris Snyder continues to flounder at .204/.343/.315.

Brad Ausmus is starting again in place of JR Towles today, specifically because Cooper doesn’t want to “overwhelm” JR with having to catch Houston’s one good pitcher. This despite the fact that JR homered the day before, and is a much better hitter today than Ausmus was when he broke into the bigs 48 years ago. Well the move is already starting to pay dividends for everyone else.

Ausmus had runners on the corners with none out in the 1^st, and a nice 3-1 count on Jason Marquis. And a drum roll please… Houston fans you’ve won another 1-4-3 double play! Brad the Impaler crushed it all the way back to the pitcher, who proceeded to turn two - even after initially hesitating towards 3^rd base.

Woah, but we’re not done yet. Top of the 8^th and the Astros have pulled to within 8-7. Two outs and the tying run on first. Time for Cecil to pinch-hit for Ausmus with JR, who can actually hit homers. What…ah… wait it looks like Cecil’s going to leave Brad in to hit against Carlos Marmol. 2 strikes… what’s it going to be… there it goes… it’s a screaming dribbler towards 3^rd! Ausmus is booking it down the line! So close… actually it looks like they got him by 4 steps. Rally over! Inning over! Game over!

Cecil Cooper, we hardly knew ya’
photo credit: AlphaTangoBravo / Adam Baker

Quick, I’ll give you two guesses as to who’s hit the most home runs this spring…

…

Yeah, I wouldn’t have guessed that either. It’s Detroit Tigers catcher, Ivan Rodriguez. The veteran backstop who is closer in age to Yankees DH Billy Crystal than some rookies (that’s an exaggeration) has six home runs in 12 games this spring. He’s averaging a home run every 5.33 at-bats.

Now, he won’t keep that pace up all year, but what do you guys think about a little game of over/under? Pudge hit 11 bombs last season and over the past three years has averaged 12.5 homers per year. So, let’s set the over/under there.

Over/Under 12.5 home runs for Pudge in 2008? (Leave your answers below in the comments)
photo credit: jimcchou

My oh my, what a difference a year makes. Last year we had three top tier catcher options with Joe Mauer, Brian McCann and Victor Martinez. In 2008, only one of those guys remains a top option, Victor Martinez. Joining Martinez this season is only one other catcher for top billing status, and that guy is Dodgers backstop, Russell Martin.

McCann and Mauer have been relagated to 2nd tier status and are joined by Jorge Posada, who had a fantastic year in 2007.

Over the next few posts, we’re going to look at the player profiles in the catcher postion and talk a little draft strategy. There are a number of different strategies regarding catcher acquisition this season, but only four make real sense.

1. Pay big bucks, or use that early draft pick on Martin or Martinez. You’re, most likely, going to have to snatch these guys in the late second round or third somewhere.
2. Draft Mauer, Posada, or McCann in the early middle rounds (5th - 8th rounds) and bank on position scarcity screwing everyone else who didn’t use option #1 or #2.
3. Take the boring route (read: somewhat solid numbers, not much wow factor) and grab a veteran like Kenji Johjima, Ivan Rodriguez, or Bengie Molina in rounds #10 through #18.
4. Or, you could gamble on one of the young, rising stars like J.R. Towles, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, or Geovany Soto in rounds #12 through #21.

So far, in mock drafts, I’ve been using either option #2 or option #4 for the most part.

Coming next… player profiles for tier 1 and tier 2 fantasy catchers.

Here is the list of fantasy catchers who play in the National League West Division. You’ll only find players on this list that will or could make a fantasy impact in 2008.

The NL West catcher situation is something of an enigma going into 2008. Only two teams (Dodgers and Giants) have full time starting catchers. The other three teams areplanning to enter Spring Training with a platoon situation at catcher. If those three teams keep platooning the catchers throughout the season, they’re value will be lower that a full time, starter. However, if a few of these guys win the positional battles, their stock will rise and this list could change dramatically.

1. Russell Martin | Los Angeles Dodgers
2. Bengie Molina | San Francisco Giants
3. Josh Bard | San Diego Padres
4. Chris Snyder | Arizona Diamondbacks
5. Yorvit Torrealba | Colorado Rockies
6. Michael Barrett | San Diego Padres
7. Chris Iannetta | Colorado Rockies
8. Miguel Montero | Arizona Diamondbacks
9. Guillermo Rodriguez | San Francisco Giants

Update: The 2008 NL draft list has been posted on the 2008 fantasy baseball draft list page.

Here is the list of fantasy catchers who play in the National League Central Division. You’ll only find players on this list that will or could make a fantasy impact in 2008.

An interesting occurance with this list, as I usually believe that a starter, no matter how poorly he plays, is more valuable than a reserve. That’s mainly due to the extra at-bats and is strictly a numbers thing. However, here I have a reserve (Ryan Doumit) ranked higher than a few of the projected NL Central starters. This is due to Doumit’s eligibilty and playing time at both first base and outfield.

1. Ronny Paulino | Pittsburgh Pirates
2. David Ross | Cincinnati Reds
3. Geovany Soto | Chicago Cubs
4. J.R. Towles | Houston Astros
5. Ryan Doumit | Pittsburgh Pirates
6. Yadier Molina | St. Louis Cardinals
7. Jason Kendall | Milwaukee Brewers
8. Javier Valentin | Cincinnati Reds
9. Brad Ausmus | Houston Astros
10. Eric Munson | Milwaukee Brewers
11. Henry Blanco | Chicago Cubs
12. Lou Palmisano | Milwaukee Brewers

Update: The 2008 NL draft list has been posted on the 2008 fantasy baseball draft list page.

Here is the list of fantasy catchers who play in the National League East Division. You’ll only find players on this list that will or could make a fantasy impact in 2008.

1. Brian McCann | Atlanta Braves
2. Johnny Estrada | New York Mets
3. Carlos Ruiz | Philadelphia Phillies
4. Miguel Olivo | Florida Marlins
5. Jesus Flores | Washington Nationals
6. Ramon Castro | New York Mets
7. Chris Coste | Philadelphia Phillies
8. Max Treanor | Florida Marlins
9. Brian Schneider | New York Mets
10. Brayan Pena | Atlanta Braves

Update: The 2008 NL draft list has been posted on the 2008 fantasy baseball draft list page.