Fantasy Baseball Advice

Well, lookie lookie!  If it’s not Carlos Beltran really back from over a year layoff after leaving the lineup initially with what was described as a day-to-day issue.  Those sure are long days, New York Mets?  They’re like Alaska in the summer days.  Beltran returned briefly last year in September, but he’s claiming that he wasn’t 100% at that point.  He is now.  How far you can throw Beltran is how much you should believe him.  As I mentioned in the top 100 for the 2nd half when I gave him the projections of 35/12/45/.270/4, “He comes with injury risk, might not be ready to hit major league pitching and who knows if he’ll be able to steal any bases…”  And that’s me quoting me!  We’re just as likely to see Beltran reinjure himself, come out of the closet and take Claire Danes to the People’s Choice Awards as a friend.  (On a sidenote, in a meeting I went to yesterday, I held a People’s Choice Award for about 12 seconds.  I knew I was in trouble when I picked it up and said, “I’d like to thank the 16 million Guatemalans who I paid a nickel each to vote for me.  This is as much yours as it is mine, but you’re still not invited to come visit it,” and was met with silence.)  About two weeks ago, I told you to sell Beltran.  Nothing’s changed on that front.  You do what you do, I’ll do what I do and we’ll run parallel and wave to each other.  Hey!  Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:

Jose Reyes – Manuel said Reyes won’t return until he’s 100% pain free.  As someone who has struggled with oblique soreness… Oh, who am I kidding, I don’t even know where it is.  I’m not sure why they don’t just DL Reyes so I can at least do the same in my fantasy leagues.  Doesn’t anyone care about fantasy?!  C’mon, I’m juggling Bartlett and Hardy in my SS spot!  I wouldn’t be surprised if we don’t see Reyes for another week to ten days.  <–optimistic

Matt Wieters – To the DL.  I have a suggestion for a new Matt Wieters Fact.  A Houston Astros fan swung a bat at a Brad Ausmus piñata and Matt Wieters fell out.

Justin Morneau – To the DL with side effects from his concussion.  Too bad side effects are never positive.  Oh, well.  You knew you were gonna have to deal with some sorta injury concern at some point with Morneau.

Gordon Beckham – 2-for-3 as he went deep for his 4th homer.  You’re probably wondering why he went deep.  Saying to yourself, “Why, Grey, why did he go deep?”  Let me answer that for you.   Cause I traded him.  This will almost guarantee Beckham has a solid 2nd half.

John Danks – 6 IP, 6 ER, 11 baserunners, 5 Ks.  In the preseason, I said I liked Floyd more than Danks.  I forgot the modifier “after April.”

Kevin Slowey – 3 IP, 5 ER, 9 baserunners, 2 Ks.  Wow, what happened to this young brother?  Actually, I know what happened.  He got screws put in his wrist and now he’s putting the screws to his owners.

Ryan Howard – 3-for-4 with his 18th and 19th home runs.  I’m like a broken record here, but he will go on one of his crazy 10 homers in 15 game streaks one of these days– one of these days– one of these days.

Geovany Soto – Hit his 10th homer as he hits .282 on the year.  Aren’t you glad you Ron Popeil’d him?  You didn’t?  Rats to you.

Derrek Lee – 3-for-5, 2 RBIs with his 11th homer as he bats .239.  He’s never hit less than 20 homers in a full season or under .270 since his rookie year.  Cust kayin’.

Jason Heyward – 0-for-4 as he returned from the DL.  On one play, he chased down a fly ball and ran into the outfield wall.  The crowd went silent as Heyward laid on the field for 5 minutes.  Finally, when Heyward popped up and smiled, the crowd erupted.  Find the replay, it was seriously like watching the end of Jerry Maguire.  I was waiting for Tee Pee to walk into my room to announce he was keeping it real.

Bengie Molina – 1-for-4 with his 1st homer as a Ranger.  I was eating dinner, so I didn’t see him hit it.  When I was done eating 25 minutes later, I saw him cross home.

Josh Hamilton – 3-for-4 with 3 doubles.  When he ran into 2nd on his last double, he looked like he was favoring his knee.  He probably would’ve been fine to stay in the game, but he was immediately lifted.  That cracking you hear is the eggshells the Rangers are walking on trying to avoid a Hamilton injury.

Manny Ramirez – 0-for-3, batting cleanup as he returned from the DL.  Another Vladimir Shpunt success story!

Chris Carpenter – 8 IP, 1 ER, 4 baserunners, 6 Ks as he looked fine for the first time in a few starts.  I left him off my top 100 for the 2nd half because I was worried about his forearm and his health, in general.  Better safe than sorry, now finish your milk.

Dontrelle Willis – Signed with the Giants.  Sabean signing him would’ve made more sense if Willis were 40.  Going young, I guess.  Perhaps Matt Cain wanted to help out a young kid named Willis that’s going through tough times….Oh wait, Mr. Drummond was played by Conrad Bain not Matt Cain.

Ryan Braun – We enjoy funny.  We really enjoy unintentionally funny.  But Ryan Braun’s extended commercial with SI model Marissa Miller hits a third level of “So bad that it’s funny someone signed off on this idea.”  And you’d think if you’re going to hire an athlete to promote Remington razors, you’d find a player whose name isn’t your main competitor.  That’s like Perdue hiring Mike Tyson for a chicken ad.

By the dawn’s early light, why are you unhealthy again, Jose Reyes?!  Tough week for MIs.  Rollins must be contagious.  It’s the Middle Infieluenza Outbreak of Twenty-Ten.  This is like in 1918 when Skeeter McGillicuddy sneezed and the Brooklyn Robins entire team was in the hospital for two weeks with the Robins forcing a team of jailbirds and hooligans onto the field in the heart of the pennant race.  Or maybe that was a movie pitch I overheard in a Hollywood Starbucks.  Neverthehoo!  Right now, Reyes doesn’t sound too bad with only a stiff back and not an issue with his oblique, the mystery ailment that sidelines players and no one has any idea where in the body it is.  Reyes said he could’ve even played last night.  Excellent, now keep him away from any Met doctors that treated Beltran’s day-to-day thing last year that knocked him out for over a year.  Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:

Jimmy Rollins – 0-for-4 as he hits third for the 2nd straight game.  Yeah, it didn’t work for Reyes either.  Rollins is now batting .270 after returning from the DL with a .341 average.  Granted, that was only through 11 games, but they’re my small sample sizes and I’ll put them wherever I want.

Roy Halladay – 8 IP, 4 ER, 13 Hits, 0 Walks, 10 Ks and 119 pitches.  The 13 hits were a career high, the 119 pitches were not.  Not even his high in his last ten starts.  He’s a gingie horse… Nay (pun point)… He’s a gingie robot.  A gingie robot that wouldn’t mind some run support.

Joey Votto – 1-for-4 with his 18th homer.  He eats gingie robots for breakfast.

Jay Bruce – Bruuuuuuuuuuuce!  Where the heckfire you been?  Bruce hit his 10th homer yesterday as he bats .281 on the year.  I’d actually take five more homers and a .265 average.  Cust kayin’.

Tom Gorzelanny – 5 IP, 0 ER, 7 baserunners, 5 Ks.  It was vs. the Pirates so take it with a grain of NaCl.  But he now has an ERA of 3.14 and more Ks than innings.  I wouldn’t even be pointing him out if his next start vs. the Diamondhacks wasn’t favorable.  Mmm… deep flyer.

Wandy Rodriguez – 7 IP, 1 ER, 8 baserunners, 6 Ks.  The Wandwagon rides again with two straight quality starts.  If he falters against the Pirates in his next start, I may jump out my window.  Sure, I’m on the first floor, but it’s about the gesture.

Chris Johnson – 4-for-4 and now has two 4 hit games.  Tell me more, tell me more, can hit the ball far? Was that Grease, random italicized voice?  Stop judging me! The two four hit games surround a 1-for-12 stretch.  Definitely worth a flyer in NL-Only leagues, but I wouldn’t go crazy with him yet in mixed leagues.

Barry Enright – 5 IP, 1 ER, 8 baserunners, 5 Ks.  Barry had pinpoint control in the minors, but gave 4 free passes in yesterday’s game.  But that might’ve just been nerves.  But II:  The Return of But, he might only be up for one start anyway.  But III:  But Lives, Willis may not stay in the rotation, which would give Barry more starts.  But IV:  But vs. However, even if Barry sticks in the rotation, he needs to prove himself in the majors before I’d add him.

Aaron Heilman – 1 IP, 0 ER as the blind man picked up the saw and said, “Hey, I got a save!”

Chris Snyder – 3-for-4 but gave up 5 Cardinal steals.  I wonder if the Cards players own Montero in fantasy and this was their subtle hint to Hinch.

Krispie Young – 1-for-4 with his 14th Krispie fly.

Jonathan Sanchez – 5 IP, 4 ER, 8 baserunners (only 2 Walks), 4 Ks.  Filthy Sanchez just gave up two poorly timed homers.  Sure, I’m making excuses, but I own him everywhere.  Gotta stay positive, Mike Skinner.

Erik Bedard – Could return to the M’s rotation on Tuesday.  He just has to get through one final rehab start healthy.  Vegas isn’t taking bets, but I’d put his return next week at 4 to 1.

Felix Hernandez – 9 IP, 0 ER, 5 baserunners, 11 Ks.  It’s so sexy when he does that thing with the Ks and the no runs.

Michael Saunders – 2-for-4 with 2 homers.  He’s death against lefties, which is not the same as murdering lefties.  At .217 on the year, he’s nothing but an AL-Only OF at this point.

Milton Bradley – 2-for-5 with his 2nd homer in his last 4 games.  Sure, he’s a head case, but he has 8 homers and 6 steals on the year in less than 200 ABs.  He should be owned in more than 3% of ESPN leagues.

Bengie Molina – With apologies to Alfred, the fattest, slowest Molina was sent from the Giants to the Rangers.  The Rangers add Molina to their organizational catching depth of Max Ramirez, Teagarden, Treanor and Saltalamacchia as they continue to follow the “catching wins championships” credo that has never worked for anyone.  Molina moves into a much better lineup and ballpark, which should help his numbers.  He’s a 15 homer, .260 hitter.  On the basepaths and the buffet line, he’s a station-to-station guy.

Buster Posey – With Molina moving to Texas, Posey gets a nod of approval and every day catching duties, which may not necessarily help his hitting since he now has a much harder position to play.

Matt LaPorta – 1-for-2 with his 2nd homer in the last two games.  You know the drill.  When guys are hitting, you what?  *taps finger, scratches head, whistles*  You own them!  C’mon, that was an easy one.

Chris Perez – Got the save since Wood pitched in the three prior games.  Though if you saw the box score and thought Wood was gone, it’s understandable.

Matt Garza – 7 IP, 3 ER, 8 baserunners, 5 Ks vs. the Sawx.  Sonavabench!  Why can’t he pitch well vs. bad teams and crappy vs. good ones?  Is that too much to ask?

Vladimir Guerrero – 4-for-4, 5 RBIs, 2 homers.  Must’ve been nice to not only homer twice off the Angels, but to hit one off of the impostor, Francisco Rodriguez.  If Vlad stays healthy, he can keep his name in the MVP conversation.  That “if” isn’t exactly Rhode Island-sized.

Zack Greinke – 8 IP, 6 ER, 10 baserunners, 3 Ks.  He flew through 7 innings only to give up 5 runs in the 8th as he tried to blow his own win and Greinke himself.

Jair Jurrjens – 5 IP, 1 ER, 8 baserunners, 6 Ks.  Meesa tinks Jar-Jar looked sharp in his return.  He even struck out some hitters in this game.  If you’ve forgotten, Jurrjens’ bugaboo is he doesn’t K people.  A healthy Jar-Jar should absolutely be owned in your league.

Adam Jones – 3-for-5 with his 13th homer while hitting .274 and chipping in 3 steals.  You know what’s fascinating to me (which means it’ll be a yawnfest for you), if Jones hit .274 all year while spreading his 13 homers out over the first three months, he would be owned everywhere and people would harbor no ill will towards him.  This is why you draft guys you trust and let them play.   On the other hand, Markakis is suckakis.

Ty Wigginton – Hit his 14th homer.  After the game, Casey McGehee called him to say, “Nice hit, Dad!”

Matt Kemp – 3-for-4, 3 RBIs and his 13th homer.  Probably a day late on that buy low Kemp trade offer.

Rafael Furcal – 4-for-5, 3 Runs, 2 RBIs and his third homer.  Hitting around .500 in the last week with 4 steals.

Clayton Richard – 7 IP, 2 ER, 6 baserunners, 10 Ks with a 2.74 ERA on the year.  Aren’t you glad you loaded your team with hodgepadres?  I am.

Adrian Gonzalez – Didn’t play because of shoulder soreness as the Padres exploded for 13 runs.  Ticker tease!

Dustin Pedroia – Since he was unable to put any weight on his foot, he took grounders while on his knees.  He’s obviously been watching the instructional video, Dorf on Baseball.

Brandon Inge – 0-for-3, but after the game he was all smiles.  When asked why, he said he loves having books read to him with his adopted brother.

The average for caught stealing percentage in the Major Leagues is 28% so there’s not a whole lot of clubs that believe keeping the guy at first base is of much importance.  Of course, some pitchers and catchers are just much easier than others.  I remember watching one game where John Popper stole 2nd, 3rd and home on Chris Young while Run Around was playing on the stadium’s PA.  Or maybe I just made that up.  Either way, Chris Young’s terrible but he’s also a seven foot stick of injury proneness, which is a “u” and some fiber short of pruneness.  So let’s look at some guys who are actually playing and how easy they are to steal on for fantasy baseball:

Gil Meche – Leads the league in steals allowed at 13.  That’s also more than a third of the bases stolen against Kendall.  So Kendall sucks, but Meche is making the most of his suckiness.  Or the least.  Not sure, lost myself there.

Tim Wakefield – About as obvious as Chris Young when it comes to allowing steals.  When you throw the ball 37 MPH, these things happen.

Fausto Carmona – The Indians have actually only allowed 26 steals, but Fausto has allowed 10.

Victor Martinez – Three of the top 20 worst pitchers are Sawx.  It’s not all their fault.  V-Mart’s a DH disguised as a catcher.

Bengie Molina – The throwing out baserunners’ gene definitely is not hereditary.  Bengie’s inability to throw past his belly also hurts Jonathan Sanchez, Zito and Cain; all three appear in the top 24 pitchers for stolen bases allowed.

Carl Pavano – Mauer helps only so much.  Pavano led the league last year in stolen bases allowed and he’s top 15 this year.

Ervin Santana – Teamed up with Mike Napoli and you’ll see Scioscia shake his fist at the sky at least 3 times a game.

Ryan Doumit – During the pre-All-Star Game festivities, Century 21 should pick one lucky fan to try and steal a base on the Chris Young-Ryan Doumit tandem.

Sometimes when a player gets hurt, I feel bad if I told you to buy into them.  I’m like, “Shove your emotions into your cankles, you sissy!”  Alas, my inner Native American watching someone litter in a 70′s commercial comes out.  A tear forms in my eye and rolls into my mustache.  Then I leave it there to remind me of my fallen fantasy baseball comrades.  This mustache holds a lot of tears.  But when a player that I warned you against like Aaron Hill heads off to the DL with tightness in his hamstring, I do a little dance like MC Skat Cat.  You know the kid in high school that wore a helmet all day that you used to make fun of?  Okay, now remember when you were alone in the hallway and that same kid walk passed you and you said hello to him because no one else was around?  Today, that kid is Aaron Hill’s owners.  Save your ridicule until their back is turned.  Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:

Jimmy Rollins – Having an MRI on his right calf strain.  Mr. Obvious phoned into Razzball HQ yesterday and said, “This is not great news for Rollins owners.  Hope for the best when the test comes back tomorrow.  Remember testing negative is a positive.”  Thanks, Mr. Obvious!

Jayson Werth – Left the game with hip soreness.  After the game, he said he’ll be fine.  He obviously just wanted to scare his fantasy owners.

Placido Polanco – 2-for-4, batting .484 so far.  That’s Polanculous!

Cole Hamels – 5 2/3 IP, 4 ER, 6 Ks, only one walk.  Okay, I’m a Hamels apologist, but he didn’t really pitch that bad.  Marquis hit a cheap grounder that scored two runs and Hamels’s control looked fine.  As they say in the porn industry, you can’t help it if balls find holes.  Would I have liked a shutout?  Yeah, well, dur.

Brian Roberts – Heads to the DL.  His abdominal muscle injury appears to have hurt his back too.  Like Chipper, he too is currently an injury domino.  This isn’t a great place to be if you own him.  You really should wait for any good news before selling him.  For instance, the day before a player returns there will be a news report something like, “Roberts feels great, set to return.”  He’ll probably return and get hurt again.  But your opponents don’t need to know that.  Take that “feels great” news and turn it into something.

Justin Duchscherer – 7 1/3 IP, 0 ER, 4 baserunners, 4 Ks.  Was glad I hung onto him in one league, wish I would’ve held onto him in two leagues.  Damn you, Mike Gonzalez, making me back you up!

Luke Hochevar – 5 IP, 4 ER, 5 Ks.  It’s true, I like to be able to pronounce a guy’s name when I own them.  Nevertheless!  That’s not why I’m ignoring Hochevar… Though I’m not exactly ignoring him when I’m talking about him… Nevertheless II!  He was hit pretty hard yesterday and had some luck to come out the game with a win.

Scott Podsednik – 4-for-5, 5th steal yesterday.  SAGNOF! (Yes, two days in a row, but some people need shizz drill into their heads.)

Jose Guillen – 2-for-5, 2 RBIs, HR yesterday.  Now has three homers in two days.  You pick up players when they’re hot, you drop them when they’re not.  Took Matthew Berry a whole semester at the College of Fantasy Baseball at Charleston to say that, but the gist remains.  (Oh, and loved loved loved what Merchant Ivory did with “The Gist Remains.”  Much better than “New Delhi On Wry” in my opinion.)

Brandon Inge – 2-for-4, 2 RBIs.  Hitting .345 through the 1st week.  Last year, he hit 7 homers in April with a .319 average.  Rudy dropped Sean-Rod for Inge in one of our leagues.  I didn’t object.

Ryan Raburn – Did nothing yesterday, but he did play 2nd base.  Probably was just a day off for Sizemore, but it’s not like he’s done anything.  Then again, Raburn hasn’t done anything either.  But if Raburn can get 400 ABs, he can hit 20 HRs.

Josh Willingham – Another homer yesterday.  The other white meat!

Julio Borbon – 0-for-4, now batting .040.  I have him in a league and I agree with George Thorogood.  One Borbon, one Scotch, and one beer.

Vladimir Guerrero – Bats over .450 on the year as he stole a base yesterday.  When Vlad has a tell-all autobiography ghostwritten one day, there will be a whole chapter about how he snuck a motorized scooter onto the field to steal a base.

Nelson Cruz – Hit his fifth homer yesterday.  I wish Hamilton was smoking whatever Cruz is.

Kerry Wood – Threw a bullpen session yesterday and the Indians said they might activate Wood without him going to the minors first to rehab.  In related news…

Chris Perez – Came into the game, didn’t record an out and loaded the bases.  You think he’d have the decency to at least try and scuff the balls with his stupid frickin’ mullet!  Jensen Lewis would be the next guy in line for saves.  Member when Lawrence Taylor said his life is in the toilet and no one is flushing?  That’s how my teams have been with closers.  So, for full disclosure, I did not grab Jensen Lewis in any leagues.

Fausto Carmona – 8 IP, 2 ER, 9 baserunners with 4 walks and 4 Ks.  It may seem like I’m stubbornly refusing to believe in this guy, but that’s really not that good of a line.

Frank Francisco – 1 IP, no baserunners, but his 1-2-3 inning wasn’t pretty.  Balls were hit hard.  Andrus had to make a diving stop.  On the other hand — the 100 MPH hand…

Neftali Feliz – Makes me feliz to watch him throw.  Made short work of the Indians for the save.  Could have the job for a while, but you still can’t drop Frank-Frank.

Andruw Jones – Look at everyone’s surefire Hall of Famer circa 2006 hitting 2 HRs yesterday.  His play is too sporadic to have fantasy value right now outside of AL-Only leagues, but if he gets outfield eligibility then he’ll be someone to look at.

Jason Frasor – Blew the save yesterday.  I’d grab Gregg where you have room, but I do think it’s still safely Frasor’s job.  Of course that could change quickly.

Vernon Wells – Hit his fifth homer yesterday.  You can’t spell Wells without sell…  Or swell, but ignore that.

Wandy Rodriguez – 4 1/3 IP, 4 ER, 9 baserunners.  Obviously wasn’t a good start, but there were only 2 walks.  Yes, that’s me trying to find the positive where there wasn’t much of one.  He gets the Cubs next, a team he dominated last year.  Hopefully he can right the Wandwagon.

Jay Bruce – 2-for-4 yesterday.  People are asking me in the comments if they should pick up Bruce because someone in their league dropped him.  The universal answer is yes and set a reminder for May 15th to mock your leaguemates.

Johnny Cueto – 5 IP, 4 ER, 2 Ks.  From what I saw, he was doing a good job getting ahead of the hitters, not as good a job putting them away.  He gets the Pirates next.  If that’s not a cakewalk, we may need to reevaluate.

Scott Rolen – 3-for-5, 2 HRs.  2002 called, it wants its home runs back.

Bengie Molina – 4-for-4, HR and 4 RBIs yesterday.  Was Monday Old Timer’s Day?

Derrek Lee – Lee left the game with an inflamed thumb.   X-rays came back negative.  He’s listed as day-to-day.  In other words, D. Lee is trying to avoid the DL.

Xavier Nady - HR yesterday as he replaced Lee.  Worth grabbing in NL-Only leagues in case Lee can’t return immediately.

Carl Pavano – 6 IP, 1 ER.  Extremely solid control and it looks like his taxi cab years in New York are well in his rear view mirror.  I’d take a chance on him if you need a solid #4 fantasy starter.  Plus, Target Field looks like a pitchers’ park and a great place to get women’s dress slacks.

Reid Brignac – 2-for-4, HR yesterday.  As I said in the comments yesterday, “Sean-Rod and Brignac will share time at 2nd until one can breakout, if one can breakout.”  And that’s me quoting me!  Though Brignac is definitely looking like the one that could breakout.  Right now, neither have much value outside of AL-Only leagues if they’re platooning.

Kevin Correia – 5 2/3 IP, 2 ER, 8 baserunners.  Hodgepadre!

Chase Headley – 2-for-4, batting .448 on the year.  If you’re not owning him at this point, it’s your own fault.

Will Venable – 3-for-5, HR yesterday.  He’s okay in NL-Only leagues or if you can platoon him, but he doesn’t have an every day job.

Jair Jurrjens – 3 1/3 IP, 8 ER.  The positive coming out of this start was Rudy and I came up with a new glossary term.  Smugshot:  the grinning picture posted on a baseball site that drives you nuts when the player’s underperforming.  “Why the f*** are you grinning like that Jurrjens – you just gave up an 8 spot to the Padres!  The real crime isn’t that you’re killing my team, it’s that your damn smugshot rubs it in my face.”

David Ortiz – Big Floppy lashed out at reporters saying he’s not playing with a wrist injury.  “I used to take steroids and no longer do.  I’m a Latin 34, which makes me around 38 years old.  I don’t even know my real age!  Also, do I look like I’m in good shape?  Rhetoríco!  I’m just not a good hitter anymore.  Leave it at that.”  That was me paraphrasing.  But it went sorta like that.

No one carries two catchers in one catcher leagues.  If you do, you probably suffer from mushy brain.  So in 12 team leagues, you have 10 to 15 catchers at any time to choose from.  Hey, Miguel Olivo’s dressed like Johnny Weir and he’s hitting!  What do you know, Rod Barajas looks less Barajas-y!  Skinny Pudge is seeing fat pitches! Most catchers are passed around like blow at a Eric Dane/Rebecca Gayheart clam bake.  That, there, is reason enough to punt catcher.  There’s always available options on waivers.

The top 3 options at catcher last year, who still have eligibility this year, are Mauer, Martinez and McCann.  (Wieters might have to flip his W over to keep with the theme.)  After those guys we have Suzuki, Posada, Montero, A.J. and Napoli.  Three waiver wire pick-ups (Suzuki, Montero and A.J.), one guy who went in the last rounds of drafts (Posada) and one guy who I had to beg with people all year to hold onto (Napoli).  It’s like this every year with catchers.  If you hopped out of a DeLorean to tell me Ramon Hernandez, Ryan Doumit, Chris Iannetta, Jeff Clement and Jesus Flores ended up in the top 10 catchers in 2010, I’d say, “I told you Iannetta was a good bargain,” and I’d ask if I used, “The Resurrection of Jesus Flores” as a post title.  Catchers are unpredictable and bunched together in value.  Open up those little oddly proportioned arms and embrace that fact.

Finally, the last reason why you should punt catcher.  Bengie Molina.  He’s available in every draft.  Always is.  No one drafts this Flying Molina Brother until around the 15th round.  His stats last year were 52/20/80/.265.  Victor Martinez’s stats were 88/23/108/.303/1; he gets drafted 23rd overall, according to Mock Draft Central.  The difference between the two was 36/3/28, some average and a steal.  Flying whoop.  With Adrian Gonzalez, who gets drafted right around V-Mart’s spot, vs. Jorge Cantu, a 1st baseman around Bengie’s spot, the difference is 24 homers.  A shortstop comparison would be Rollins vs. Yunel.  A pitcher comparison would be F-Her vs. Ryan Dempster.  At catcher, you can get away with not having a top one and it won’t hurt your team as much.  No pepper games allowed, but you can always punt catcher.