Notice anything missing?
Anyone, maybe?
Arguably the best fantasy catcher on the planet will not be making our 2012 Fantasy Baseball Catcher Rankings. Detroit’s Victor Martinez had microfracture surgery on Jan. 27 to repair both the medial and lateral meniscus in his left knee. He might even need another bout with the surgical knife to finish clearing things up.
It’s looking more and more likely each day that Martinez will not play, at all, in 2012. As fictional Cleveland Indians owner Rachel Phelps from the movie Major League would say, “Cross him off, then!”
- Mike Napoli, TEX
- Carlos Santana, CLE
- Brian McCann, ATL
- Buster Posey, SF
- Matt Wieters, BAL
- Joe Mauer, MIN
- Alex Avila, DET
- Miguel Montero, ARI
- Jesus Montero, SEA
- Wilson Ramos, WAS
- Yadier Molina, STL
- Geovany Soto, CHC
- J.P. Arencibia, TOR
- Russell Martin, NYY
- Kurt Suzuki, OAK
- Chris Iannetta, LAA
- Jarrod Saltalamacchia, BOS
- Jonathan Lucroy, MIL
- Devin Mesoraco, CIN
- Nick Hundley, SD
- Ryan Doumit, MIN
- Carlos Ruiz, PHI
- A.J. Pierzynski, CHW
- John Buck, MIA
- Slvador Perez, KC
- Josh Thole, NYM
- Miguel Olivo, SEA
- Ramon Hernandez, COL
- Wilin Rosario, COL
- Rod Barajas, PIT
- Yorvit Torrealba, TEX
- Hank Conger, LAA
- Tyler Flowers, CHW
- Ryan Lavarnway, BOS
- John Jaso, SEA
- Ryan Hanigan, CIN
- Tim Federowicz, LAD
- Kelly Shoppach, BOS
- Jason Castro, HOU
- I expected the extra pop from Texas catcher Mike Napoli. Well maybe not to such an extreme measure, but moving from Los Angeles to Texas was good for Nap. What’s good for you fantasy owners is his dual eligibility. With 35 games played at first base, Napoli will slide into a number of different positions on your fantasy roster.
- You want a sure-fire guarantee that Giants catcher Buster Posey will be ready for Opening Day 2012. I can’t do that. But when beat writers in San Francisco are devoting more column inches to his new catcher’s mask than to his fight back from an ankle injury, I’d predict it’s a good indication he’ll be around from Day 1. However, don’t expect all the power from 2010 to materialize early on.
- For the first time in his major league career, Jarrod Saltalamacchia (yes, I can still spell his name on the first try) eclipsed 300 plate appearances and played in more than 100 games. The results were good power numbers. Salty is still going to whiff more times than a group of pre-teens at a ‘You Smelt It, You Dealt It’ convention, but his stinky batting average shouldn’t keep you from grabbing him late as a strong No. 2 catcher.