Here, friend, are some catchers that I will be targeting at my 2010 fantasy drafts after the top options are gone. I’m not going to get into the strategy of punting catchers. Been there, half-drunkenly wrote that. Click on the player’s name where applicable to read more and see their 2010 projections. This is a supplement to the top 20 catchers of 2010 fantasy baseball. Anyway, here’s some catchers to target for 2010 fantasy baseball:
Ramon Hernandez – He’s unexciting3. But so is losing your league.
Chris Iannetta – He’s exciting, but has Hacky McHackstein breathing down his neck. For Iannetta’s upside, I’m grabbing him in a few leagues. Playing time be damned! The nice thing about going for upside at catcher is no one wants to own more than one (in one catcher leagues), so if you don’t like the catcher you have, there’s plenty more on the waiver wire.
Geovany Soto – Punting doesn’t mean you want to avoid getting value at catcher.
Carlos Ruiz – He just missed the cut for the top 20 catcher post. It wasn’t easy to leave him off after his bit torrent 2nd half last year. In less at-bats, he doubled his homers from the first half and added forty points on his batting average. Unfortunately, his first half was like watching someone suck a boba through a regular-sized straw. In the 2nd half, he hit 6 homers and batted .276. So better than the first half, still not incredible. He has a good lineup for RBIs, so he could be a very minor surprise. Think 45/14/65/.260/3.
J.R. Towles – Here’s what I said last year in the preseason with added notes in parentheses, “In 2008, I was off him like black off rice, but I haven’t mentioned him much, if at all, in 2009 (or in 2010). You just need to throw out 2008 (and 2009). Pretend like it never happened. Or pretend like the only part that happened was when he hit .304 in almost 50 games after his callback from the minors (in 2008. Then ignore his .188 average in 2009, because he had a .233 BABIP). He has speed and some slight power. The absolute best case scenario seems to be Russell Martin. In the so-late-it-doesn’t-matter-anymore round, you turn your head to the East and you see no catchers by your side. Then you turn your head to the West, still nobody in sight. So you turn your head to the North, swallow that pill that they call pride and draft Towles.” And that’s me amending me, quoting me and paraphrasing T.I.!
Jarrod Saltalamacchia – This guy is even more frustrating than Towles because I have to spell his stoopid name every time I want to write about him. Saltymochachino is somehow still only 25 years old though it feels like he’s been hyped forever. If he pans out, he could give you top ten catcher numbers. Think 60/17/75/.250, but those are Boras speculative numbers when he’s trying to get Salty a contract.
Mike Napoli – This always drives me flippin’ crazy about ESPN. They’ll rank someone (Napoli at 219) very low. They’ll rank him after Doumit, Yadier Molina et al (<– Not the Israeli airline) then say Napoli’s a sleeper. They’ll say he’s better than Molina, Doumit, etc. Everyone knows this and ranks Napoli above those guys so he’s not a sleeper. Once again, ESPN’s in the monkey house too long.
Jeff Clement – Looking for this year’s Inge? A guy that plays another position while rocking the sweet, sweet eligibility of catcher? Yeah, I don’t know if there’s one of those guys this year, but Clement’s the closest we have. His upside is 20 homers and solid RBIs from playing every day. His downside is not playing every day. I’d conservatively put his 2010 projections at 55/15/65/.255.
