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2008 Final Catcher Rankings Name AB AVG R HR RBI SB Score Joe Mauer 536 .328 98 9 85 1 922.648 Brian McCann 509 .301 68 23 87 5 882.2735 Russell Martin 553 .280 87 13 69 18 844.651 Geovany Soto 494 .285 66 23 86 0 787.503 Ryan Doumit 431 .318 71 15 69 2 763.382 Bengie Molina 530 .292 46 16 95 0 726.048 A.J. Pierzynski 534 .281 66 13 60 1 614.255 Kelly Shoppach 352 .261 67 21 55 0 593.197 Chris Iannetta 333 .264 50 18 65 0 556.326 Mike Napoli 227 .273 39 20 49 7 536.4675 Ramon Hernandez 463 .257 49 15 65 0 514.9275 Yadier Molina 444 .304 37 7 56 0 494.669 Dioner Navarro 427 .295 43 7 54 0 481.9165 Chris Snyder 334 .237 47 16 64 0 477.6 Kurt Suzuki 530 .279 54 7 42 2 461.767 Ivan Rodriguez 398 .276 44 7 35 10 441.826 Gerald Laird 344 .276 54 6 41 2 425.204 Rod Barajas 349 .249 44 11 49 0 393.9875 Miguel Olivo 306 .255 29 12 41 7 386.892 Jason Kendall 516 .246 46 2 49 8 372.736 Jesus Flores 301 .256 23 8 59 0 352.887 Brandon Inge 347 .205 41 11 51 4 337.6355 John Buck 370 .224 48 9 48 0 336.024 John Baker 197 .299 32 5 32 0 307.4125 Brian Schneider 335 .257 30 9 38 0 306.2625 Chris Coste 274 .263 28 9 36 0 302.145 Jason Varitek 423 .220 37 13 43 0 291.611 Victor Martinez 266 .278 30 2 35 0 272.974 Pablo Sandoval 145 .345 24 3 24 0 260.8795 Jeff Mathis 283 .194 35 9 42 2 255.726 Kenji Johjima 379 .227 29 7 39 2 243.0185 Gregg Zaun 245 .237 29 6 30 2 239.3645 Carlos Ruiz 320 .219 47 4 31 1 239.041 Yorvit Torrealba 236 .246 19 6 31 0 207.605 Paul Bako 299 .217 30 6 35 0 206.7265 Jarrod Saltalamacchi 198 .253 27 3 26 0 202.968 Ramon Castro 143 .245 15 7 24 0 182.0975 Miguel Montero 184 .255 24 5 18 0 180.932 Shawn Riggans 135 .222 21 6 24 0 177.978 Nick Hundley 198 .237 21 5 24 0 173.446 Jorge Posada 168 .268 18 3 22 0 172.986 Taylor Teagarden 47 .319 10 6 17 0 158.5315 Jeff Clement 203 .227 17 5 23 0 144.5665 Matt Treanor 206 .238 18 2 23 1 144.218 Henry Blanco 120 .292 15 3 12 0 139.215 Wil Nieves 176 .261 15 1 20 0 133.663 Jose Molina 268 .216 32 3 18 0 132.4 Javier Valentin 129 .256 10 4 18 0 128.792 Jason LaRue 164 .213 17 4 21 0 123.817 Mike Rivera 62 .306 8 1 14 2 117.55 Brad Ausmus 216 .218 15 3 24 0 113.199 Mike Redmond 129 .287 14 0 12 0 110.8185 David Ross 142 .225 18 3 13 0 104.509 Paul Lo Duca 173 .243 16 0 15 1 100.9025 Kevin Cash 142 .225 11 3 15 0 88.678 Raul Chavez 116 .259 12 1 10 0 84.558 Ryan Hanigan 85 .271 9 2 9 0 84.2895 Humberto Quintero 168 .226 16 2 12 0 82.312 Ronny Paulino 118 .212 8 2 18 0 78.412 Dusty Ryan 44 .318 6 2 7 0 75.684 Jamie Burke 92 .261 10 1 8 0 71.536 Chad Moeller 91 .231 13 1 9 0 70.2645 Toby Hall 127 .260 7 2 7 0 64.981 Max Ramirez 46 .217 8 2 9 0 64.935 Steve Holm 84 .262 10 1 6 0 64.454 Mike Rabelo 109 .202 9 3 10 0 55.826 Guillermo Quiroz 134 .187 12 2 14 0 54.095 Raul Casanova 55 .273 5 1 6 0 50.7975 Michael Barrett 94 .202 9 2 9 0 49.161 Josh Bard 178 .202 11 1 16 0 47.581 Robinson Cancel 49 .245 5 1 5 1 46.5725 Sal Fasano 46 .261 5 0 6 0 39.418 Danny Ardoin 51 .235 3 1 4 1 33.1865 Wilkin Castillo 32 .281 6 0 1 0 27.444 Lou Marson 4 .500 2 1 2 0 27.146 J.R. Towles 146 .137 10 4 16 0 25.361 Mike DiFelice 20 .300 1 0 4 0 22.733 Rob Bowen 91 .176 6 1 9 0 19.406 Gary Bennett 21 .190 1 1 4 0 17.948 Mark Johnson 17 .294 1 0 2 0 14.012 Robinzon Diaz 10 .300 0 0 1 1 13.45 Luke Carlin 94 .149 12 1 6 0 12.809 Luke Montz 21 .143 2 1 3 0 12.1025 Brayan Pena 14 .286 3 0 0 0 12.001 Curtis Thigpen 17 .176 2 1 1 0 10.262 Robby Hammock 42 .190 4 0 2 0 4.662 Matt Tupman 1 1.000 0 0 0 0 4.07 John Jaso 10 .200 2 0 0 0 3.366 Adam Melhuse 30 .167 3 0 2 0 2.154 Michel Hernandez 15 .200 2 0 0 0 1.716 George Kottaras 5 .200 1 0 0 0 1.683 Edwin Bellorin 3 .333 0 0 0 0 1.2045 Bobby Wilson 6 .167 0 0 1 0 0.681 Rob Johnson 31 .129 2 1 2 0 -0.4695 J.R. House 3 .000 0 0 1 0 -0.54 A.J. Ellis 3 .000 1 0 0 0 -0.957 Ryan Jorgensen 1 .000 0 0 0 0 -1.43 Vinny Rottino 1 .000 0 0 0 0 -1.43 Paul Hoover 40 .200 1 0 2 0 -2.367 Paul Phillips 2 .000 0 0 0 0 -2.86 Ryan Budde 2 .000 0 0 0 0 -2.86 Clint Sammons 54 .148 2 1 4 0 -3.898 Angel Salome 3 .000 0 0 0 0 -4.29 Chris Stewart 3 .000 0 0 0 0 -4.29 Gustavo Molina 7 .143 0 0 0 0 -4.5045 Colt Morton 15 .067 2 0 1 0 -5.5065 Eliezer Alfonzo 11 .091 0 0 1 0 -6.4745 Dane Sardinha 44 .159 2 0 3 0 -6.526 Francisco Cervelli 5 .000 0 0 0 0 -7.15 Omir Santos 10 .100 0 0 0 0 -8.8 Johnny Estrada 53 .170 0 0 4 0 -11.235 Koyie Hill 21 .095 0 0 1 0 -15.3075 Corky Miller 60 .083 4 1 5 0 -18.628
Three Year Average Name Three Year Average Score Russell Martin 882.2175556 Joe Mauer 828.8312778 Brian McCann 820.5113889 Bengie Molina 673.6575556 Victor Martinez 589.6018889 A.J. Pierzynski 580.9236111 Ryan Doumit 545.8688889 Jorge Posada 528.2259444 Ramon Hernandez 519.7384444 Ivan Rodriguez 519.6338889 Geovany Soto 481.5916667 Brandon Inge 475.4463889 Mike Napoli 462.945 Miguel Olivo 426.7882222 Kelly Shoppach 425.0190556 Chris Snyder 421.1902222 Yadier Molina 411.6639444 Kenji Johjima 410.716 Dioner Navarro 408.8167222 Gerald Laird 399.5773333 Jason Varitek 398.6237222 Jason Kendall 378.9501111 Chris Iannetta 372.6814444 John Buck 354.8026111 Kurt Suzuki 348.9553889 Brian Schneider 309.1221667 Gregg Zaun 303.9999444 Rod Barajas 296.5145 Paul Lo Duca 287.5216111 Carlos Ruiz 285.3040556 Yorvit Torrealba 282.1913889 Chris Coste 266.1587222 Ronny Paulino 265.5329444 Jesus Flores 255.616 Jarrod Saltalamacchia 228.9603333 Josh Bard 214.9265556 Ramon Castro 212.9551667 Johnny Estrada 211.4957778 David Ross 206.0773333 Jeff Mathis 196.068 Michael Barrett 195.3310556 Miguel Montero 192.7926667 Mike Redmond 179.9906667 Javier Valentin 175.4268889 John Baker 170.7847222 Brad Ausmus 169.1756111 Pablo Sandoval * 144.9330556 Matt Treanor 143.7494444 Jose Molina 141.1579444 Paul Bako 128.1182222 Henry Blanco 106.419 Shawn Riggans 99.52244444 Mike Rivera 97.47261111 Jeff Clement 97.01538889 Nick Hundley 96.35888889 Jason LaRue 95.528 Taylor Teagarden 88.07305556 Jamie Burke 86.91172222 Dane Sardinha 84.14461111 Wil Nieves 79.23388889 Rob Bowen 76.35377778 Mike Rabelo 70.24422222 Raul Casanova 69.689 Gary Bennett 63.76638889 Toby Hall 63.35411111 Ryan Hanigan 53.39383333 J.R. Towles 50.08844444 Eliezer Alfonzo 49.24905556 Kevin Cash 49.11205556 Humberto Quintero 48.40805556 Raul Chavez 45.961 Chad Moeller 45.40238889 Dusty Ryan 42.04666667 Sal Fasano 38.26083333 Max Ramirez 36.075 Guillermo Quiroz 35.91266667 Steve Holm 35.80777778 Curtis Thigpen 34.82044444 Adam Melhuse 27.22011111 Robinson Cancel 25.87361111 Danny Ardoin 18.90716667 Brayan Pena 18.77422222 Mike DiFelice 18.03477778 Wilkin Castillo 15.24666667 Lou Marson 15.08111111 Ryan Jorgensen 13.52188889 J.R. House 11.86133333 Mark Johnson 7.784444444 Robby Hammock 7.488666667 Robinzon Diaz 7.472222222 Luke Carlin 7.116111111 Luke Montz 6.723611111 Paul Phillips 6.706944444 Rob Johnson 3.751666667 Vinny Rottino 3.555333333 Chris Stewart 3.386388889 Koyie Hill 2.526666667 Paul Hoover 2.327111111 Matt Tupman 2.261111111 John Jaso 1.87 Michel Hernandez 0.953333333 George Kottaras 0.935 Clint Sammons 0.072944444 Corky Miller -0.134277778 Edwin Bellorin -0.284166667 Ryan Budde -3.407888889 Colt Morton -3.535833333 Omir Santos -4.888888889 Gustavo Molina -7.517
* Rankings are configured based on a standard 5X5 league that uses Runs, Batting Average, Home Runs, RBI, and Stolen Bases as categories for hitters. The three-year average is weighted so that each player's most recent performance factors in a bit more than his past performance.
* Sandoval may qualify at catcher depending upon your league's format.
Tier I: Joe Mauer, Brian McCann, Russell Martin
While hotshot youngster Geovany Soto certainly impressed in his first full season as a starter, he's going to have to prove he can repeat that performance to truly join the elite catchers. Mauer, McCann, and Martin each provide a little something different. Mauer is the outstanding average-hitter of the bunch, coming off of his second batting title in three years. McCann is the big-time power bat, as he's led all catchers in home runs in two of the past three seasons. Martin is the multi-talented option who hits fairly well for average while adding some power and usually leading all catchers in stolen bases.
Tier II: Victor Martinez, Geovany Soto, Ryan Doumit, Bengie Molina, A.J. Pierzynski, Jorge Posada, Ramon Hernandez
This is where we start to see that the catching position is a little deeper than it's been in past years. Both Martinez and Posada are coming off of injury-plagued seasons, while Ramon Hernandez is coming off of a down year. Regardless, their past performance dictates that they are all safe bets to bounce back in 2009.
Geovany Soto and Ryan Doumit were arguably the two biggest breakout catchers last season (with honorable mention going to Kelly Shoppach), and both provide big power production behind the plate. Soto tied for the league lead among catchers with 23 dingers last season. Doumit brings a little more in the average department and a little less as a power-hitter.
Bengie Molina and A.J. Pierzynski are solid vets who you can count on 15+ homers and a quality batting average from. While we'd prefer to find a tier three option with upside rather than telling you to take Molina or Pierzynski, they're both considerably safer options here.
Tier III: Kelly Shoppach, Chris Iannetta, Mike Napoli, Jeff Clement
Shoppach's performance last season was greatly due to increased opportunity. He took advantage of the fact that Martinez wasn't in the lineup and produced astounding results, batting .261 with 21 homers. He has real power, but there's a lot of question as to how often he'll be in the lineup this season.
Iannetta was another one of last year's breakout catchers, but seems much more likely to repeat (or improve upon) his performance. If you're not just going to assume that the Coors factor helps him enough, you should really check out his overall stat line. He strikes out a lot, but has outstanding plate patience for a kid who will turn 26 in the season's first week. No... his walks don't help you in fantasy ball, but they do mean that he's selective about what he's swinging at. That can never be a bad thing.
Napoli is pretty similar to Iannetta in that he has big power, he's incredibly selective at the plate (think extreme.... OBP 100 points higher than his batting average in each of the past three seasons), and he strikes out a lot. Napoli hit 20 homers in just 227 at bats last season, though he'll likely platoon with Jeff Mathis again. He'll hurt your batting average, but he's worth the risk.
Our sleeper catcher of the year is Seattle's Jeff Clement, who probably won't be drafted among the third tier in your league, but should be. He's yet to show us a whole lot at the big league level, but he wouldn't be the first re-hype catcher to produce big in his second extended shot (see Iannetta, Soto from last year). To say he's this year's Soto might be a bit of a stretch, but it's not out of the question. Clement has hit .291/.385/.546 with 34 homers and 52 doubles at AAA in the past two years, and he's primed for a breakout at 24.
The Unknown: Matt Wieters
Many have gone nuts over the top offensive prospect in baseball, and there's little wonder as to why. The 22-year-old switch hitter hit .355/.454/.600 with 27 homers in his professional debut last season, breezing through high A and AA ball. The Orioles are expected to hold off a couple of months to make sure they save a year of arbitration, but Wieters could well be among the top ten catchers selected in your draft. He'll likely get the call in May, and could well be atop this list within the next two seasons. If you're in a keeper league, he's worth taking a shot at early.
Tier IV: Dionner Navarro, Kurt Suzuki, Chris Snyder, Yadier Molina, Ivan Rodriguez, Jason Varitek
Different skill sets, and different stages of their careers here. Varitek fell apart last season, and the fact that he's going to turn 37 a couple of weeks into the season doesn't give him a lot of hope to turn it around. He still has the power to hit 15+ homers if everything breaks right, though, which makes him a late-round option.... Suzuki has a little pop and maintains a solid batting average.... Snyder doesn't hit particularly well for average, but has 15-20 homer pop... Navarro and Yadi Molina are guys who should provide a solid batting average, even if it's fairly empty. Pudge, like Varitek, is in the twilight of his career. The fact that he hasn't found a job yet is scary, but he's got double digit power and hits for average wherever he lands.
Sleepers: Jeff Clement, Taylor Teagarden
Busts: Bengie Molina, Kelly Shoppach
Don't Forget About: Jorge Posada
Don't Overpay: Matt Wieters
Catcher Rankings
Catcher Rankings - Final 2008 Rankings
by James Meyerriecks - Wed Mar 11
