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Here are the fantasy baseball rankings for the top ten catchers for the 2008 season. I will also list the predictions from the pre-season at the bottom of this post for comparison.

1. Joe Mauer, Minnesota Twins - Mauer scored more runs and out hit every catcher in MLB. And the margin with which he did so was amazingly large. 98 runs | 9 HR | 85 RBI | 1 SB | .328
2. Brian McCann, Atlanta Braves - Tough decision here as each of the top three catchers are statistically different, and studly. McCann’s home runs and RBI, plus his .301 batting average, almost warranted top billing, but Mauer was just too good. But you can argue for any of these three guys to top the list. 68 runs | 23 HR | 87 RBI | 5 SB | .301
3. Russell Martin, Los Angeles Dodgers - Martin is the most well rounder catcher, statistically speaking, of the whole bunch. Had he hit closer to .300, he’d easily be the number one ranked catcher. He also played 11 games at third base. That’ll help out his knees from time to time, and if 11 games is enough to qualify at a position in your fantasy league, Martin’s value rises. 87 runs | 13 HR | 69 RBI | 18 SB | .280
4. Geovany Soto, Chicago Cubs - Soto’s numbers are very similar to those of McCann’s. But his lower batting average keep him out of the elite three at the catcher position. 66 runs | 23 HR | 86 RBI | 0 SB | .285
5. Ryan Doumit, Pittsburgh Pirates - Emerged in 2008, maybe you can even call it a breakout. His numbers were fantastic and it’s fun to imagine how good they would have been if he’d received 100 more at-bats. 71 runs | 15 HR | 69 RBI | 2 SB | .318
6. Bengie Molina, San Francisco Giants - You gotta love his RBI production and his home run total and batting average were solid too. It’s too bad he didn’t score a lot. 46 runs | 16 HR | 95 RBI | 0 SB | .292
7. Kelly Shoppach, Cleveland Indians - He only got the opportunity to catch full time when Victor Martinez went down. But, he sure did make the most of his 352 at-bats. 67 runs | 21 HR | 55 RBI | 0 SB | .261
8. A.J. Pierzynski, Chicago White Sox - These are pretty good numbers for the eighth ranked catcher on this list. 66 runs | 13 HR | 60 RBI | 1 SB | .281
9. Chris Iannetta, Colorado Rockies - Iannetta finally lived up to his potential and had a break-out season. Remember that these numbers were produced from only 333 at-bats. 50 runs | 18 HR | 65 RBI | 0 SB | .264
10. Ramon Hernandez, Baltimore Orioles - Hernandez bounced back from a miserable 2007 season . He got his power stroke back, but it’d be nice if the O’s could drive him across the plate a bit more. 49 runs | 15 HR | 65 RBI | 0 SB | .257

Listed below are the pre-season rankings. You can see how great I predicted things or laugh at how far off I was.

2008 American League Fantasy Baseball Catcher Rankings

1. Victor Martinez | Cleveland Indians
2. Jorge Posada | New York Yankees
3. Joe Mauer | Minnesota Twins
4. Kenji Johjima | Seattle Mariners
5. Jarrod Saltalamacchia | Texas Rangers
6. Ivan Rodriguez | Detroit Tigers
7. Jason Varitek | Boston Red Sox
8. Ramon Hernandez | Baltimore Orioles
9. A.J. Pierzynski | Chicago White Sox
10. John Buck | Kansas City Royals
11. Kurt Suzuki | Oakland Athletics
12. Mike Napoli | Los Angeles Angels
13. Dioner Navarro | Tampa Bay Rays
14. Gregg Zaun | Toronto Blue Jays
15. Miguel Olivo | Kansas City Royals
16. Gerald Laird | Texas Rangers
17. Mike Redmond | Minnesota Twins
18. Jeff Mathis | Los Angeles Angels
19. Kelly Shoppach | Cleveland Indians

2008 National League Fantasy Baseball Catcher Rankings

1. Russell Martin | Los Angeles Dodgers
2. Brian McCann | Atlanta Braves
3. Bengie Molina | San Francisco Giants
4. Carlos Ruiz | Philadephia Phillies
5. Johnny Estrada | FA
6. Ronny Paulino | Pittsburgh Pirates
7. Paul LoDuca | Washington Nationals
8. Geovany Soto | Chicago Cubs
9. David Ross | Cincinnati Reds
10. J.R.Towels | Houston Astros
11. Michael Barrett | San Diego Padres
12. Chris Snyder | Arizona Diamondbacks
13. Ryan Doumit | Pittsburgh Pirates
14. Yorvit Torreabla | Colorado Rockies
15. Yadier Molina | St. Louis Cardinals
16. Jason Kendall | Milwaukee Brewers
17. Brian Schneider |New York Mets
18. Josh Bard | San Diego Padres
19. Javier Valentin | Cincinnati Reds
20. Chris Iannetta | Colorado Rockies
21. Ramon Castro | New York Mets
22. Miguel Montero | Arizona Diamondbacks
23. Jesus Flores | Washington Nationals

Here is a review of this weeks best pickups as reviewed on Roto Savants. It’s been an extra week since my last article so I am going to try to get back on track for weekly updates. I will still have one of each of the following (C, CI, MI, OF, SP and RP). I will include their current availability that may have changed since my initial review. The reviews are how I view the player today.

C - Kelly Shoppach- He will never replace Victor when healthy, but he is a good stopgap at the catcher position. I would use him as an injury fill in/ backup in mixed leagues. He has good power, but lacking in the average and OBP categories.

He is currently owned in 30% of leagues.

CI – Billy Butler - He was discussed on The True Guru show last week along with later suggestion Adam Jones. I think he has turned it around and with enough AB’s he will be a usable player. Don’t expect more than 10 homers in the second half, but a good pickup for a breakout second half.

He is only owned in 35% of CBS leagues.

MI – Nomar Garciaparra - Kind of a cheat here, but at 4 games played at SS he should be eligible by Friday for MI. Could be a surprise second half player if healthy with SS eligibility. He has shown some power since coming back and may help for those with a week SS/MI option.

He is only owned in 22% of CBS leagues.

OF – Adam Jones - A slow first half has dropped his ownership and made him a good pickup for a strong second half. The average is up over .280 now although the power is still lacking. I could still see a 15/15 season, which would make for a good pickup.

He is only owned in 39% of CBS leagues.

SP – Ian Snell - I was going to suggest Buchholz, but since my recommendation he has crossed my threshold of 60% ownership. Snell though is still available in many leagues and hopefully a DL stop has helped fix what was bothering him. His bad season has been based largely on luck factors and a dropped K/9. If he ups the K/9 to last years rate he should be a plus. He still won’t get wins in Pittsburgh though.

He is owned in 29% of leagues.

RP – Joel Zumaya - I still like him to close, but there have been rumblings of making him into a starter next year. I don’t think this will factor in this year and any need for a closer will be filled by Zumaya, but keeper leagues should keep him in mind as a possible back end starter for next year.

He is only owned in 27% as of this morning on CBS.