Categories: Fantasy Baseball

2013 Fantasy Baseball Catcher Rankings

Giants catcher Buster Posey was the NL MVP in 2012, and he was the top Fantasy Catcher, with 24 homers and 103 RBI. Photo Credit: SD Dirk

These 2013 Fantasy Baseball Catcher Rankings get me a little excited. The position itself is one of the most interesting in all of sports. A baseball catcher has to know offense, defense and pitching. They’re the only position player that faces the entire field. They’re one of the most important players on the team – and they have to wear a mask. Fantasy Baseball catchers, however, just need to know how to score you points like crazy.

Catchers are also one of the smartest players on the field, with many eventually becoming Major League Baseball managers – yet they wear equipment that has been called, “The Tools of Ignorance.”

Catchers are awesome. (And yes, if you couldn’t guess, I played catcher in high school, so I’m a little biased.)

Giants catcher Buster Posey was the NL MVP in 2012, and he was the top Fantasy Catcher, with 24 homers and 103 RBI. Photo Credit: SD Dirk

This past year was actually an UP year for Fantasy Baseball Catchers. It was actually the best year at the position since 2008, when Joe Mauer, Brian McCann, Russell Martin, Geovany Soto and Ryan Doumit were the top dogs.

In 2012, we had four catchers score 400 Fantasy Head-to-Head points, which is again, the highest since 2008. But we also had 10 players score 300 and 22 catchers score at least 200 points. Those numbers are higher than any of the past five years.

As you begin to peruse the 2013 Fantasy Baseball Catcher Rankings, understand that this is a position with some depth. But, unfortunately, those crazy people that invented Rotisserie Baseball deemed that you had to start two catchers in your lineup. The position is deep – but you want to make sure you grab two top 20 players and not chance beyond that.

Also, are you playing in a one-catcher mixed Rotisserie league? Here’s my take on why that’s just crazy-talk!

There are a few changes you’ll want to track, like:

Mike Napoli leaves Texas for Boston, and he’ll be a power bat for the Red Sox. The question is – where will he play? The team has several catchers, including Jarrod Saltalamacchia, who joins Napoli as one of the nine catchers to hit 20 or more homers in 2012.
Victor Martinez returns from a knee injury, but Fantasy owners playing at CBSSports.com will not be able to play him at the catcher position until he gains eligibility again. ESPN owners can still play him at catcher it seems.
A.J. Pierzynski left the South Side of Chicago for Texas, which just makes things tough for Geovany Soto’s prospective Fantasy owners. But it does make things better for Tyler Flowers, who now takes over as the starting backstop for the White Sox.
The A’s acquired John Jaso from Seattle in the Mike Morse, three-team trade with Washington. That means Jesus Montero will get more time behind the plate, with Kendrys Morales working at DH, and Oakland’s Derek Norris moves to the bench.
The Astros, who are now in the AL West, will be relying on Jason Castro behind the plate. He looks to be a low-end Fantasy starter in two-catcher mixed leagues. And he’ll probably end up hitting seventh in the Astros’ lineup.
On March 23, I grabbed Salvador Perez for $10 in the 15-team Tout Wars Mixed Auction League ($260 budget). He was the 12th-most expensive catcher.
I also picked up A.J. Pierzynski for $6 in Tout Wars. He was tied for the 11th-cheapest catcher in the draft (23rd-most expensive).

Overall Rankings | C | 1B | 2B | SS | 3B | OF | DH | SP | RP | 2013 15-Team Mock Draft