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A Look Back at our 2013 Consensus Catcher Rankings

Ray takes a look back at the Fake Teams 2013 Consensus Catcher rankings published last November, discussing Salvador Perez, Wilin Rosario, Mike Napoli among others.

By Ray Guilfoyle
Joy R. Absalon-USA TODAY Sports

Today, I begin my review of the Fake Teams 2013 Consensus Position Rankings, which were published way back in November and December 2012. I will start with the catcher position, roll through the infield rankings, then cover the outfielder rankings in two parts, and the starting pitchers in three parts.

The catcher position in 2013 was very deep, deeper than I can remember. Here are a few stats to ponder when reviewing the catcher position for fantasy purposes:

  • We saw six catcher hit 20 or more home runs in 2013. In 2012, there were nine catchers who hit 20 or more bombs.
  • There were 26 catchers who hit 10 or more home runs in 2013. That number was 25 in 2012.
  • Eight catchers drove in 70 or more runs in 2013. Eight catcher accomplished that feat in 2012.
  • Of catchers who played 100 or more games, ten of them hit .270 or higher. In 2012, that number was 11.
  • If you include part time catchers, 16 catchers hit .270 or higher in 2013.

So, the catcher position isn't what it used to be. You can actually count on solid production going forward, so it is important to know this heading into 2014 fantasy drafts.

With that said, let's take a look at the Fake Teams 2013 Preseason Catcher Rankings. Then, like Jason Hunt did with his review of the 2013 Consensus Prospect Rankings in September, I will look at three catcher whose value increased in 2013, and three catchers whose value dropped.

Rank

Player

Team

Ray

Bret

Jason

Craig

Score

App

1

Buster Posey

SF

1

1

1

1

108

4

2

Yadier Molina

STL

3

4

2

2

101

4

3

Joe Mauer

MIN

5

2

6

3

96

4

4

Carlos Santana

CLE

2

3

3

8

96

4

5

Matt Wieters

BAL

4

5

4

7

92

4

6

Miguel Montero

ARZ

6

12

7

4

83

4

7

Wilin Rosario

COL

9

6

10

13

74

4

8

Victor Martinez

DET

7

7

12

12

74

4

9

Carlos Ruiz

PHI

8

13

5

16

70

4

10

Mike Napoli

TEX

16

11

9

6

70

4

11

Sal Perez

KC

14

9

11

9

69

4

12

Jonathan Lucroy

MLW

13

14

13

5

67

4

13

Jesus Montero

SEA

10

8

18

10

66

4

14

Brian McCann

ATL

18

15

8

11

60

4

15

Ryan Doumit

MIN

12

10

20

14

56

4

16

AJ Pierzynski

CHW

11

16

24

15

46

4

17

A.J. Ellis

LAD

15

20

17

17

43

4

18

Yasmani Grandal

SD

21

17

15

18

41

4

19

Russell Martin

NYY

17

24

16

21

34

4

20

Alex Avila

DET

19

19

25

20

29

4

21

Travis d'Arnaud

TOR

20

25

21

25

21

4

22

JP Arencibia

TOR

NR

NR

14

22

20

2

23

Derek Norris

OAK

25

21

NR

19

19

3

24

Wilson Ramos

WSH

NR

22

19

NR

15

2

25

Chris Iannetta

LAA

NR

18

NR

24

14

2


Three Up

Salvador Perez, KC

Perez had a solid first full season in the big leagues, hitting .292-.323-.433 with 13 HRs, 25 doubles, 48 runs and 79 RBI in 138 games in 2013. Among catchers with 100 or more games played, Perez ranked third in RBI and fourth in batting average. His 13 home runs ranked 16th among all catchers with 70+ games played.

Mike Napoli, BOS

Napoli had a terrific season for the Red Sox in 2013, hitting ..259-.360-.482 with 23 HRs, 79 runs and 92 RBI. FanGraphs doesn't include him as a catcher in their catcher leader boards, but Napoli would have ranked first among all fantasy catchers in the following categories: home runs, runs, and RBI. He will get a pretty big contract from some team this offseason.

Wilson Ramos, WAS

Ramos missed a good part of the 2013 season with a knee injury, but still managed to hit .272-.307-.470 with 16 HRs, 29 runs and 59 RBI in just 78 games in 2013. I think he will be highly ranked in 2014 catcher rankings by some fantasy writers, and one of them will be me.

Wilin Rosario, COL

Rosario proved, in 2013, that his power breakout in 2012 was for real. This season, Rosario hit .292-.315-.486 with 21 HRs, 63 runs and 79 RBI in 121 games. Should he be a top 3 fantasy catcher in 2014? I think he should be considered. Over the last two seasons combined, Rosario leads all fantasy catchers in home runs with 49 and is tied for fourth in RBI with 150, despite played 30-50 less games than the catchers ahead of him.

Three Down

Miguel Montero, ARI

After being one of the top 5-7 ranked fantasy catchers over the last few seasons, Montero had a down year in 2013, hitting .230-.316-.344 with 11 HRs, 44 runs and 42 RBI in just over 100 games in 2013. Coming into the season, he had never hit lower than .266 in his previous four seasons, and had driven in 80 or more runs in each of the last two seasons.

Carlos Ruiz, PHI

Ruiz was coming off a career year in 2012, and was ranked accordingly heading into 2013 fantasy drafts, but he failed to duplicate his terrific 2012 season. Ruiz missed some games at the start of the season due to a 25 game suspension, and then missed a good part of May and June due to injury. When healthy, Ruiz hit .268-.320-.368 with 5 HRs, 30 runs and 37 RBI in 2013. At 35 years of age, he is probably no longer an every day catcher.

Jesus Montero, SEA

Miguel Montero wasn't the only Montero to have a disappointing season for fantasy owners in 2013. Jesus had a disappointing season in 2013 as well hitting just .208-.264-.327 with 3 HRs, 6 runs and 9 RBI in 29 games before being send back to AAA. He struggled there as well, hitting .247-.317-.425 with a HR, 12 runs and 9 RBI in 19 games before an injury ended his season.

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