Fantasy Baseball Rankings 2011: Review of Preseason Catcher Rankings

I posted my preseason Fantasy Catcher Rankings back on March 3rd with Atlanta catcher Brian McCann leading the way in my rankings. Today, I am going to start looking at how I fared in my preseason position rankings, and will follow that up with Fake Teams preliminary position rankings for 2012 where Robert and I will take an early look at each position.

Onto my 2011 preseason rankings:

1. Brian McCann, ATL - McCann hit .270-.351-.466 with 24 HRs, 71 RBI and 51 runs scored in 466 at bats this season. While his home run total tied a career high, his RBI total was the lowest of his career. Is this a symptom of an MLB wide drop in run scoring or a sign McCann's production has begun to slide?

2. Carlos Santana - CLE - I almost ranked Santana as my #1 catcher in my preseason catcher rankings, but decided against it. Santana hit .239-.351-.457 with 27 HRs, 79 RBI, 84 runs and 5 SBs in 552 at bats this season. Santana his 16 of his home runs in the second half, along with 43 of his RBI, so the question for fantasy owners is Santana can reach the 30 HR level in 2012. I think he can, and may rank him accordingly.

3. Buster Posey, SFG-well, Posey only had 162 at bats as he was injured in a home plate collision with Marlins outfielder Scott Cousins. Before he was hurt, Posey hit .284-.368-.389 with 4 HRs, 21 RBI, 17 runs and 3 stolen bases. We will be following how his offseason rehab is going and will let you know when news is reported. It will be interesting to see if there is talk that he may see more time at first base in 2012 to save his knees and keep his bat in the lineup.

More Year End Catcher Rankings after the jump:

4. Joe Mauer, MIN-another catcher who has battled injuries this season. Mauer hit .287-.360-.368 with just 3 home runs, 30 RBI and 38 runs scored in his 296 at bats. He is "Mauer with no power" to me, as injuries and Target Field have reduced him to a good hitting catcher, but his slugging percentage has dropped over 200 points in the last two seasons.

5. Victor Martinez, DET-Martinez was limited to just 26 games at catcher in 2011, mainly due to the emergence of Tigers catcher Alex Avila, but Martinez did not seem to mind as he flourished at the plate. He hit .330-.380-.470 with 12 HRs, 103 RBI and 76 runs scored in 540 at bats. His 12 home runs was a career low, but tied his career high with 40 doubles, and had his highest line drive rate-24.2%-since 2003. His 103 RBI lead all major league catchers. He will maintain his catcher eligibility in 2012, but I wonder if it will be his last season doing so.

6. Miguel Montero, ARI-Montero had another solid season at the plate for the playoff-bound Diamondbacks. Montero hit .282-.351-.469 with 18 HRs, 86 RBI and 65 runs scored in 493 at bats. Montero was second amongst all major league catchers in RBI and 4th in runs scored. Montero was fairly consistent in the power department as he went 9-40 in the first half and 9-46 in the second half.

7. Geovany Soto, CHC-Soto had a down year at the plate, and he is becoming the Prince Fielder of catchers, as he has had on year-off year-on year-off year over the past 4 seasons. Soto his just .228-.310-.411 with 17 HRs, 54 RBI and 46 run scored in 421 at bats. Here are Soto's triple slash lines the past 4 seasons:

2008-.285-.364-.504

2009-.218-.321-.381

2010-.280-.393-.497

2011-.228-.310-.411

Will 2012 bring the .280-.380-.500 Soto?

8. Matt Wieters, BAL-here's a guy who I think is on the cusp of a breakout year. Sure, he had an excellent year in 2011, hitting .262-.328-.450 with 22 HRs, 68 RBI and 72 runs scored, but I think this might be the start of several solid power years for Wieters. He hit more line drives and less ground balls in 2011, while maintaining his fly ball rate, but he increased his HR/FB% from 8.0% to 13.6%. Whether the HR/FB rate is sustainable remains to be seen, but he hit for excellent power in the minors, so his 2011 may just be a glimpse into what the future brings.

9. Mike Napoli, TEX-Napoli continued to show of his power in 2011 as he hit .320-.414-.631 with 30 HRs, 75 RBI, 72 runs and 4 stolen bases. If you want a power hitting catcher, Napoli is your guy, as he has hit 20 or more home runs in each of the last 4 seasons, and his home run totals are increasing. He hit 20 home runs in 2008 and 2009, hit 26 HRs in 2010 and 30 this year. Napoli actually lead all major leaguers in slugging percentage this season. Yes his SLG was higher than Jose Bautista's.

10. Kurt Suzuki, OAK-Suzuki proved to be consistent at the plate as he he triple slashed .237-.301-.385 after triple slashing .242-.303-.366 in 2010. He also hit 14 HRs, drove in 44 and scored 54 hitting in one of the more anemic lineups in baseball. 

11. Jorge Posada, NY-Am I reading Baseball-Reference's Posada page which shows that he only played 1 game at catcher in 2011? Actually, he played as many games at second base than he did at catcher. Posada hit just ,235-.315-.398 with 14 HRs and 44 RBIs. It appears Posada is at the end of his storied career, but is probably not draftable in 2012.

12, Chris Iannetta, COL-Iannetta's days in Colorado may be nearing an end as the Rockies took a long look at catching prospect Wilin Rosario in September. Iannetta hit .238-.370-.414 with 14 HRs, 55 RBIs, 51 runs scored and 6 stolen bases. I had no idea he stole so many bases, but the Rockies had trouble scoring runs this season, so he may have received the green light more often than usual.