Fantasy Baseball Position Primer: Catcher

In leagues with standard Yahoo settings, there are basically two acceptable ways to address the position of catcher on draft day:

1) Get Buster Posey in the early rounds, or...

2) Wait it out and find a value — and when it seems like you've finally waited long enough, wait another round or two.

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Seriously, with the exception of Buster, this position is really a minefield of uninteresting numbers and grossly inflated prices. Last season, Posey was the only catcher to finish among the top-50 overall fantasy assets in the year-end ranks (No. 42). In fact, over the past 15 years he's one of just four backstops to have delivered that sort of value. Here's the full list of the catchers who've achieved top-50 status in recent seasons:

2014 – Posey

2013 – none

2012 – Posey

2011 – none

2010 – none

2009 – Joe Mauer

2008 – none

2007 – none

2006 – none

2005 – none

2004 – none

2003 – Javy Lopez

2002 – none

2001 – none

2000 – Mike Piazza

That's it, that's all. No more. Four guys in a decade and a half. Victor Martinez had a couple close calls back in his catcher-eligible days, but he never quite cracked the overall top-50 until he became a DH.

The scarcity devotees may urge you snag a luxury catcher in the early rounds, but, generally speaking, that's a sure way to take a loss. Due to the physical demands of the position, it's rare for any catcher to appear in more than 140 games — only three exceeded that total in 2014. Counting stats will be low. Steals almost never happen. Injuries are incredibly common. No catcher has seen the 30-homer plateau since Lopez in '03. No catcher scored 75 runs last season.

We can find low-level power among the backstops, and Evan Gattis gets a bump because he'll be out from behind the plate. But, again, this is not a spot where you'll want to spend big, unless you're eying Buster. (Or unless you're playing in a two-catcher A.L./N.L.-only league, which isn't the norm at Yahoo.) Posey is the one player who might reasonably give us a 70-20-90-.320 season. Everyone else reeks of 60-14-65-.270.

And if you don't believe me, just check last year's average stats...

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Position averages for the top-15 fantasy catchers, last three years

2014 — 53.0 R, 15.7 HR, 68.5 RBIs, 1.6 SB, .270 AVG

2013 — 60.4 R, 17.2 HR, 71.9 RBIs, 2.1 SB, .279 AVG

2012 — 61.3 R, 19.8 HR, 73.6 RBIs, 2.9 SB, .278 AVG

TIER ONE

Buster Posey

TIER TWO

Carlos Santana

Devin Mesoraco

Jonathan Lucroy

Evan Gattis

TIER THREE

Yan Gomes

Salvador Perez

Yadier Molina

Brian McCann

Matt Wieters

Russell Martin

Wilin Rosario

TIER FOUR

Wilson Ramos

Miguel Montero

Yasmani Grandal

Mike Zunino

Jason Castro

Stephen Vogt

Travis d'Arnaud

Derek Norris

Chris Iannetta

TIER FIVE

Tyler Flowers

Jarrod Saltalamacchia

Carlos Ruiz

Alex Avila

John Jaso

Josmil Pinto

Michael McKenry

Christian Bethancourt

Rene Rivera

Christian Vazquez

Robinson Chirinos

Kurt Suzuki

Dioner Navarro

Hank Conger

Nick Hundley

Francisco Cervelli

A.J. Pierzynski

Welington Castillo

A.J. Ellis

from Yahoo Sports http://ift.tt/1AWMGjp