Crooked Pitch

Everyone has been screaming for rankings. I wanted to wait for a while, but I’m also tired of being harassed.

Remember that it’s December 30th, and this list will surely change by the time the season starts. Also note that every team has at least one catcher on this list, some teams two.

There are some catchers who have been left off of this list, most notably Jason Varitek and Pudge Rodriguez. These players won’t be added until they are picked up by a Major League club.

Here are the 2009 fantasy catcher rankings.

1. Russell Martin | Los Angeles Dodgers - He may not hit as many home runs or drive in as many as McCann and Soto, but he scores more runs and steals bases. His ability to contribute in five categories makes him the #1 choice here.
2. Brian McCann | Atlanta Braves - McCann tied for the lead amongst catchers in home runs, finished second in RBI, and was one of three backstops to bat over .300 last season. Expect more of the same in 2009.
3. Joe Mauer | Minnesota Twins - Mauer led all catchers with a .328 batting average last season and even though his home run total isn’t in double digits, he drives in runs like a fiend and scores more than any catcher out there.
4. Geovany Soto | Chicago Cubs - Won Rookie of the Year honors and the hearts of fantasy GM’s who took a shot on the unproven youngster in the 2008 draft. Don’t expect to get Soto cheap in ‘09 but do plan on him mashing balls again, and again, and again.
5. Ryan Doumit | Pittsburgh Pirates - Enjoyed a breakout season in 2008 and sits just outside of the elite catchers of this list. There is potential for Doumit to join them by the end of ‘09.
6. Victor Martinez | Cleveland Indians - It’s unusual to see Martinez this low on a ranking list, but injuries slowed the star last year. His power should return and opportunities to play at first base some could help keep him healthy.
7. Chris Iannetta | Colorado Rockies - Broke out to the tune of 18 home runs in only 333 at-bats. This young slugger could even improve his power production for 2009.
8. Bengie Molina | San Francisco Giants - Molina led all catchers with 95 RBI, something he’s always done well. He’ll be 35-years-old this year so be wary of his ability to reach 530 at-bats again, but expect the power production to remain.
9. A.J. Pierzynski | Chicago White Sox - This guy quietly hits 13-16 home runs and bats around .270 every year. Expect much of the same this season as Pierzynski is the model of consistency.
10. Mike Napoli | Los Angeles Angels - Hit a sick 20 home runs in only 227 at-bats last season. His second half was much better than his first half, so don’t pay for full season consistency on draft day. But, do imagine what he could do with 500+ at-bats.
11. Kelly Shoppach | Cleveland Indians - Filled in swimmingly for Martinez last season. If the Indians find him at-bats or make a trade, Shoppach could improve on his 2008 numbers.
12. Ramon Hernandez | Cincinnati Reds - Was driven out of Baltimore by a top prospect, but you can expect similar numbers in Cincy.
13. Kurt Suzuki | Oakland Athletics - In his first full season, Suzuki entrenched himself as the every day catcher. He may approach double digit home runs, but his true value is his better than most batting average.
14. Chris Snyder | Arizona Diamondbacks - Hit 16 home runs in 334 at-bats last season and has even more power potential. But, he needs to improve his .237 batting average to convince the team to stop platooning him.
15. Dioner Navarro | Tampa Bay Rays - It’s unfair to compare him to Joe Mauer, but he does seem like a cheaper knock off to the Twins catcher. Beware of a slight batting average dip due to his unusually high 2008 hit rate of 32.1%.
16. Yadier Molina | St. Louis Cardinals - Did a lot of fantasy GM’s proud as you don’t usually get a .304 hitter from the waiver wire. Expect Molina’s batting average to drop a little, but not by enough to stop enjoying him as a solid #2 option at catcher.
17. Miguel Olivo | Kansas City Royals - Love his 12 home runs in 306 at-bats last season. Hate his 26.8% strikeout rate and his 2.2% walk rate. He’s probably better left to AL-only leagues unless he finds consistency and earns extra at-bats.
18. Gerald Laird | Detroit Tigers - He’s finally going to be the only guy in Detroit after fighting for time in Texas. He improved his strikeout rate last season and saw a 50+ point batting average increase. Don’t expect another gain like that, but feel free to take a late round flier as Laird might continue to improve as he doesn’t have to look over his shoulder anymore.
19. Jorge Posada | New York Yankees - Posada is 37-years-old and coming off of a major medical procedure that kills most hitters power potential. With recent additions to the team he won’t be given many opportunities to DH either. Posada is a risky pick for 2009.
20. Jesus Flores | Washington Nationals - Flores strikes out too much and doesn’t walk enough. But, the Nats think he’s their catcher of the future. He does have some pop.
21. Rod Barajas | Toronto Blue Jays - Barajas is a 33-year-old journeyman who doesn’t offer much to fantasy owners at all. His 11 home runs don’t really make up for the .249 batting average. He might even end up in a platoon situation in 2009.
22. Brian Schneider | New York Mets - Schneider gets a majority of the at-bats for the Mets because of his defensive skills. Until they replace one of these five categories with defense, Schneider is pretty useless on your mixed-league team.
23. Matt Weiters | Baltimore Orioles - Weiters hit 27 home runs in his 437 at-bats at the Advanced-A and Double-A level last season. That was good enough for the O’s to bid farewell to Ramon Hernandez, practically giving the starting job to Weiters as a 23-year-old rookie.
24. Jason Kendall | Milwaukee Brewers - Kendall had three consecutive years of hitting above .320 and stealing more than 20 bases. Unfortunately those years were 1998 through 2000. Kendall’s only fantasy value comes from his 500 plus at-bats. At that’s not worth much.
25. Jarrod Saltalamacchia | Texas Rangers - Salty had fewer than 200 at-bats last season as a forearm injury slowed him. When he was healthy he didn’t show his top prospect stuff of old. With two top catching prospects in his rear view mirror, Saltalamacchia is too dangerous to run with as your #1 catcher.
26. John Baker | Florida Marlins - Baker was impressive last season in 197 at-bats and should enter Spring Training as the expected starting catcher. His .299 batting average, good strikeout to walk ratio, and good on-base skills could lead to a nice season. But don’t expect too much power production from him.
27. Jeff Clement | Seattle Mariners - Clement will be given every opportunity to be the M’s every day catcher even though he stunk it up after being called up from Triple-A. He has a ton of potential and you could do worse than he with a last round flier for your #2 catcher spot.
28. Carlos Ruiz | Philadelphia Phillies - Ruiz is sharing at-bats behind the plate. And until he figures out how to hit higher than .219, he’ll remain useless to the fantasy world.
29. Nick Hundley | San Diego Padres - Hundley has shown some pop in the minors hitting 20 home runs in 2007 at the Double-A level. But, he’s never had a decent batting average and he showed his inability to hit Major League pitching last season as he only batted .237.
30. J.R. Towles | Houston Astros - Towles was as touted of a prospect going into last season as Geovany Soto. Soto hit 23 home runs. Towles batted .137 and was sent back to the minors. Towles should be given the opportunity to be the Astros every day catcher in 2009, but his leash will be short.
31. Taylor Teagarden | Texas Rangers - In only 47 at-bats last year Teagarden hit six home runs and batted .319. He’s still behind Saltalamacchia on the depth chart going into Spring Training. But, if he wins the starting job, you’ll see his value skyrocket.
32. Kenji Johjima | Seattle Mariners - Johjima crashed and burned last season batting .227 in 379 at-bats, finally losing his job to Jeff Clement. While Clement is a highly touted prospect, he won’t be given a lot of rope to hang himself with. Johjima could slide back into the starting role at any time. Whether or not he produces, well that’s another story.

Jeff Clement, yesterday, homered in his final two at-bats for the Seattle Mariners and is starting to show why he should be behind the plate full-time, instead of Kenji Johjima.

Johjima is having a rough go at it this season batting .223 with only three home runs in 224 at-bats. He should have already been dropped in most mixed leagues, and remains only a reserve AL-only catcher, at best.

Clement hasn’t started off great either since his call-up, but is now starting to heat up. And if you compare the two catchers over the last week, you see that Clement is beginning to take over the role of starter.

• Clement is 6 for 22 this past week with 3 runs, 3 home runs, 4 RBI and slash stats of .273/.360/.682.
• Johjima is 0 for 9 with zeros everywhere else.

You can see that Clement is getting a lot more at-bats than Johjima. For your fantasy catcher needs, forget completely about Johjima, and begin to keep your eye on Clement in mixed fantasy baseball leagues. He should already be owned in shallow AL-only leagues and probably be signed right now in deep AL-only leagues. Also remember that Clement was hitting .337 with 14 home runs at Triple-A Tacoma before being called up. He’s only 25, he’s got the good stuff, and the Mariners are about ready to let him show it off.

For everyone who reads my weekly post here at Crooked Pitch I have moved to a new domain. You can find my daily updates at RotoSavants.com. As always I will try to supply one from each of the following positions at my weekly review here on Crooked Pitch (C, CI, MI, OF, SP and RP) I will include there current availability which may have changed since my initial review.

C - Jeff Clement - I hope he gets full time at bats, because he has top 5 potential at the catcher position. I don’t think he will take to much time from Kenji, but he could get more at DH to get maybe 4-5 days a week. He is owned in 20% of CBS leagues

CI - Andy LaRoche- How long have we been waiting for this. He still isn’t getting full time at bats, but DeWitt doesn’t have his power and should be back in the minors soon enough. He is also getting starts at 1B which will be helpful with multiple eligibility. He is only owned in 18% of CBS leagues.

MI - Mike Aviles - He is slugging way to much right now, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have good pop. Being a SS and MI should get him owned in most deep leagues. For those still playing a Betancourt type SS for average you should get Aviles as his average is good and he has more pop. He is only owned in 25% of CBS leagues.

OF - Chase Headley - I’m not expecting him to start of like a Jay Bruce and his ownership will likely stay low for a week or so. He is not OF eligible yet, but he is starting there and should have eligibility soon. He will help in most leagues, but at about 300+ AB’s possible remaining this season he will likely hit about 10 homers for the remainder of the season. He is only owned in 47% of CBS leagues.

SP - Charlie Morton - Before AAA he had never pitched like this, but he had thrown 79 innings of great pitching. He then had a good start against the Angels. I would expect several hiccups in his work, but pitching in Atlanta he couls be worth a shot as they know pitching. He is owned in 26% of leagues.

RP - Mike Gonzalez - I know I recommended him last week, but since then he has been activated and hinted that he will close full time. He has already proved his health in his rehab starts so don’t worry about that. He should still strikeout enough batters to be an above average closer. He is only owned in 23% as of this morning on CBS.

News out of Seattle today is that Mariners GM Bill Bavasi has been fired.  Manager John MacLaren can’t be that far behind him.  What this means to fantasy owners (aside from the M’s fans among us having a good reason to crack a beer and celebrate) is that it should mean the beginning of a youth movement in Seattle, now that Bavasi isn’t throwing every young player under the bus in an attempt to save his job.

Assuming the M’s ownership brings in a GM who is ready to build for the future (something the team hasn’t been willing to consider in the last ten years) this could mean a few interesting developments for fantasy owners:

• Jeff Clement should see time in the majors, immediately. He’s killing AAA, and could be a big surprise in the second half for fantasy owners with his Catcher eligibility. Look for him to DH primarily and get a couple starts a week behind the plate.
  Big Loser: Jose Vidro

• It’s a little up in the air what will happen until JJ Putz gets back, but Brandon Morrow is easily more valuable to the M’s as a starter than a reliever. I would expect him to get sent down to AAA to get stretched out, and then be back up in the second half to join the rotation.
  Big Winners: The M’s have liked Mark Lowe in the closer spot before, and Ryan Rowland-Smith has to be an option as well. If Morrow closes until Putz returns, look for one of these guys to take up the reigns as Putz’ backup until draft pick Josh Fields is ready.
• It wouldn’t be a surprise if Jarrod Washburn were to lose his job, whether that means a move to the bullpen or an outright release.  The M’s don’t have a lot of major-league-ready starting pitching talent in the organization (which makes giving away Cha-Seung Baekfor nothing and keeping Morrow in the ‘pen even more indefensible) but trying just about any young arm in the rotation would be better for the team in the long-run, and might even net better short-term gains than sending Washburn out there every five games.
  Big Winner:  Ryan Feierabend?

• With the team’s focus undoubtedly changing, underperforming soon-to-be free agent Richie Sexson could find himself benched or even released.  The smart move would be to move Raul Ibanez to first base full time (as his awful defense negates any offensive contributions he makes), which would open up left field for a full-time player.
  Big Winners:  Jeremy Reed (your full-time left fielder), Wlad Balentien (Right Field).  Balentien has bigger offensive upside than any young player the Mariners have in the upper minors, aside from Clement.  Giving him the rest of this season to adjust to the majors could pay huge dividends.  He’s somebody to target for ‘09 in deep keeper leagues if this happens.