2016 Fantasy Baseball Rankings – Catchers

2016 Fantasy Baseball Rankings – Catcher Overview

Welcome to the 2016 fantasy baseball season! I know, it’s hard to believe, given the presence of plenty of white, powdery, cold substance on the ground in much of the country currently. However, within the next few weeks, we will see Yahoo and ESPN open up their free leagues, and as those are the two largest providers of free fantasy baseball leagues on the internet, that truly signals the opening of fantasy baseball for everyone!

So, to kick off the fantasy baseball season we start off with…the worst position in fantasy. Bummer. Seriously, the catching position in fantasy has one tier – Posey. After him, there’s just not much else to really rely on. To further that point, using the ESPN Player Rater (PR) tool, Posey had literally DOUBLE the PR points of any other player who was eligible at the position in 2015, and the guy who finished second on the PR system, a former Brave with the nickname El Oso Blanco, is no longer even eligible at the position.

So, your strategy at catcher in 2016? You’ll have to pick Posey in the first 2-3 rounds in order to get him in most leagues, and if you’re determined to get him, then you’ll have to weigh the opportunity cost of the ace, five-tool outfielder, or slugging first baseman you give up in order to pick Posey. After that, I’d seriously not even consider touching a catcher until you’ve got at least 3 of your starting pitchers and all of your starting offensive positions other than catcher drafted.

Now this will raise some eyebrows because when you see the rankings, the guy who is rated #2 has a lot of hype behind him this season, but let’s just say that I’m not exactly sold that Schwarber is the same guy offensively when he’s playing left field (where he’ll likely be stationed in 2016) than he is when he’s catching or the DH for some reason. In the majors in 2015, he hit .328/.414/.623 as a catcher in 70 plate appearances and .212/.346/.462 as a left fielder. Those still would be solid slash lines for a catcher, but many are ranking him as if he’d be able to easily double his 2015 stats in full-time play in 2016, and I just don’t see him as a no-doubt 30 home run guy.

Behind those two are a number of guys who have plenty of warts for some reason or another. McCann is the clear #3, but really from #4-about #15 could be rearranged by the ranker without a ton of argument.

2016 Fantasy Baseball Rankings – Catcher Rankings

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In my rankings this year, I’ll post first my rank, then the player’s name and team, followed by the PR rank for the position in 2015, and lastly, any other positions the player will be eligible at in 2016, based on 20-game eligibility.

1. Buster Posey, San Francisco Giants, 1, 1B
2. Kyle Schwarber, Chicago Cubs, 11, OF
3. Brian McCann, New York Yankees, 3
4. Russell Martin, Toronto Blue Jays, 2
5. Jonathan Lucroy, Milwaukee Brewers, 15
6. Salvador Perez, Kansas City Royals, 4
7. Stephen Vogt, Oakland Athletics, 5, 1B
8. Devin Mesoraco, Cincinnati Reds, 86
9. Yadier Molina, St. Louis Cardinals, 12
10. Yasmani Grandal, Los Angeles Dodgers, 19
11. Yan Gomes, Cleveland Indians, 22
12. Travis d’Arnaud, New York Mets, 17
13. Miguel Montero, Chicago Cubs, 14
14. Matt Wieters, Baltimore Orioles, 24
15. Wilson Ramos, Washington Nationals, 18

2016 Fantasy Baseball Rankings – Braves Catcher Highlight

The Braves primary catchers to consider for fantasy will be A.J. Pierzynski and Tyler Flowers. Either with a starting job brings something to the table as a low-end player in a deep league. Pierzynski will give you decent average and not much else, while Flowers will give you solid power, but not much else. Pierzynski ranked #21 on my personal rankings, and I only went to 30, so Flowers didn’t make it. I do believe the upside of Lavarnway would be quite high possibly if he ended up getting the job to himself due to injury or performance.

Tomahawk Take Fantasy League Announcement

Last season, the Tomahawk Take staff put together two leagues each on Yahoo and ESPN. We had a lot of fun in those leagues, and there was great participation from writers and readers alike. We’ve decided to do the same thing this year. However, we’re going to have things set up a little more ahead of time.

This season, we will have two leagues on each site again, the size of each depending on the interest in each, however, the maximum for each league will be 14, so first come, first serve until the league fills up. We will have one rotisserie league and one head-to-head league on each site. I made a mistake in setting up one league last season, and that won’t happen this year – each league will have daily add/drop moves available. If you are interested in any of the leagues, please email me at gopherben@gmail.com and indicate in your email whether you would prefer ESPN or Yahoo and whether you would prefer roto or H2H. Thanks!

Next: Braves Top 100 Prospects Updated With Offseason Additions

That’s your break down of the catchers for 2016. Like it, love it, hate it? Comment below, and let’s talk about what you think for 2016!