Kuzul

What do Craig Biggio, Pablo Sandoval, and Neil Walker have in common? All three saw a significant amount of time behind the plate in the minors but found new positions in the big leagues.

The trend of moving young catchers to other positions because of their defensive deficiencies behind the plate or to increase longevity has left fantasy owners with a diluted pool of catchers from which to choose. 

The rankings that follow are designed to help you get as much value as possible at the shallowest position in the game. All percentage of ownership numbers are from ESPN Fantasy Baseball leagues. Stats through 7/18/2010.

Tier One

Joe Mauer (100 percent owned)- Mauer owners might have expected a decrease in power numbers this season (28 HR, .587 SLG in 2009 and just 4 HR, .433 SLG in 2010), but few could have expected his on-base percentage (.372) to fall to what it was in his first full season in the majors. 

The power outage can be explained by the fact that about one out of every five Mauer fly balls left the yard last year while only about one out of every 20 is leaving the yard this year.  As for the on-base percentage, Mauer is simply chasing more balls outside of the strike zone. 

All that said, only Miguel Olivo was better than Mauer in the first half, so Mauer must still be considered the top option at catcher. 

Brian McCann (100 percent owned)- McCann provides great value at the catcher position, not only because he produces, but because he produces consistently. His home run totals the last four seasons are 24, 18, 23, 21, and he is on pace to finish this season in that range.  Although McCann is currently hitting .270, he is a career .291 hitter, and it is entirely possible he finishes the season close to that mark.

Buster Posey (96.2 percent owned)- Since his call-up on May 29, all Posey has done in 145 at-bats is hit .352 with 7 HR, 23 R and 26 RBI.  If you scale those numbers out to a full 162-game season, he would be on pace for 28 HR, 93 R, and 105 RBI. Sure, you are likely to see some regression from the young hitter, but to this point, Posey has done nothing but prove that he is the real deal.

Carlos Santana (92 percent owned)- In 125 big league plate appearances, Santana has walked a very impressive 25 times.  Add the fact that he has only swung at 22.1 percent of pitches out of the strike zone, and it looks like the kid who might now be the best athlete in Cleveland has the ability to succeed against big league pitching.

Tier Two 

Miguel Montero (78.8 percent owned)- Chris Snyder is cutting into Montero’s playing time a bit, but Montero is hitting .308 since his return from the DL after hitting .294 with 16 homers last season. 

Kurt Suzuki (50.3 percent owned)- Suzuki is basically a poor man’s Brian McCann. He has just a little less power, will probably end the year 15 to 20 points behind McCann in average, and trails McCann in counting numbers (R, RBI) simply because he hits in a weaker lineup. 

Geovany Soto (59.8 percent owned)- Lately, Soto has been ceding less time to Koyie Hill than he was earlier in the year.  That is probably because he is hitting more like Geovany Soto circa 2008.  In the last 30 days, Soto is hitting .309 with 4 HR, 8 R, and 15 RBI. 

Miguel Olivo (90.4 percent owned)- So many things point to a significant Olivo regression in the second half.  He is currently hitting .325, but he has never hit better than .263 in his career.

He also has a BABIP of .396 (Batting Average on Balls In Play; generally, above .300 means a hitter has been lucky, and below .300 means a hitter has been unlucky). However, no other catcher has been better to this point, so it may be worth it to try and ride the hot bat. 

Tier Three

Matt Wieters (49.9 percent owned)- My Wieters man-love knows no bounds, but he was one of the bigger disappointments of the first half and is likely to miss a week’s worth of games in the second half.  If you still believe, go ahead and stick with him, but you might be wise to temper your expectations.

Victor Martinez (100 percent owned)- If he were healthy, Martinez would undoubtedly be a top-five catcher option the rest of the way.  However, he has only recently become able to squeeze a baseball without feeling soreness in his thumb.

There is just too much uncertainty about how much time V-Mart will miss in the second half for him to be considered the elite fantasy option that he usually is.

Mike Napoli (79 percent owned)- The sub .250 average is not ideal, but at the end of the day, you know Napoli is going to hit for power as he averages a home run every 17 at-bats for his career.

John Buck (42 percent owned)- Buck’s 2010 numbers look great: .272, 13 HR, 27 R, 41 RBI.  The problem is that in the last 30 days Buck has only contributed 1 HR, 3 R, and 6 RBI to those season totals. 

Tier Four

Bengie Molina (35.3 percent owned)– The move to Texas has to make Bengie more valuable.

Jorge Posada (92.4 percent owned)– Yeah, he is healthy now, but how long is that going to last?

Ryan Doumit (59.8 percent owned)– Doumit may lose some playing time because he has been abysmal defensively.  His caught stealing percentage is easily the worst in the league, and he leads the league in passed balls.  However, as long as he keeps hitting while he is back there, Doumit is a viable fantasy option.

A.J. Pierzynski (9.3 percent owned)– To date, Pierzynski’s BABIP is fairly low (.245), and he is striking out less than he has in previous years.  There seems to be some potential for a better second half.

Tier Five

Russell Martin (58.6 percent owned)– Martin has no business even being discussed as ownable in a 10-team league, but in deeper formats, he has value simply because he plays alm ost every day.  Among catchers, he ranks third in at-bats behind Jason Kendall and Mauer.

Jason Kendall (7.4 percent owned)– To reiterate, Jason Kendall leads the league in at-bats with 309. Add his .269 average and six steals, and it is clear that Kendall is a nice option in deeper league and AL-only formats.

Jonathan Lucroy (0.1 percent owned)– Lucroy is likely to receive the majority of the playing time in the second half for the Brewers, and he is hitting a respectable .280 with two homers and two steals so far this season.

Chris Ianetta (2.9 percent owned)– Ianetta could see increased playing time if Miguel Olivo does actually regress. His ISO (Isolated Power measures a hitter’s raw power based on his ability to get extra base hits) indicates that if he does see more ABs, he might be able to do some serious damage with them.

Just missed the cut: John Jaso (1.7 percent owned)

Agree or Disagree with the rankings? Leave a comment and let us know, or reply to us on Twitter@TheFantasyFix.

Article written by Brett Talley exclusively for TheFantasyFix.com

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The process of having fans only vote on the MLB All-Star Game has finally backfired on Major League Baseball, as they have announced no active players have made it onto either roster this year.

For years, the fan vote process has been chided by critics for allowing undeserving popular players to slip into the game ahead of those with better stats. But now the biggest snub might be players like Albert Pujols and Joe Mauer, as not a single player will be taking part in the festivities this year.

“Well, I guess I just wasn’t quite having the year I thought I was,” said a dejected Miguel Cabrera after hearing the news that he hadn’t made the AL team. “I thought for sure a .339 average, 20 homers, and 71 RBI would be good enough to punch my ticket, but apparently they thought someone else would make a better choice.”

Jerry Birkowitz, the man who the fans thought made a better choice at first base, has never played in the major or minor leagues, but does occasionally take part in a winter softball league with his coworkers. His popularity in Detroit, for owning three car dealerships, is believed to be the primary reason he made the team this year.

“I’m just honored to make the team,” said Birkowitz. “I worked long and hard to make sure everyone at Tigers games wrote down my name on the ballot under the write-in category. Playing in an all-star game has been a dream of mine since…at least two months ago, when I realized I could probably bend the rules to get away with it. I’m so happy right now.”

He is just one of 48 fans who managed to get enough votes to propel them over major stars and into the game which will decide home field advantage and the fate of the MLB season.

“Wow, this is a big responsibility, I hope we don’t let the viewers down,” said Dave Henderson, another fan taking part in the game, “But even if we can’t really play baseball, we’re all planning on being really really drunk, so it’s going to be pretty fun to watch anyway.”

SportsComedian.com

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The Colorado Rockies are used to it. They are the lone team that plays in the Mountain Time zone. Therefore, games on the east coast are wrapping up when they start, and games on the west coast are underway shortly after the Rockies start.

This article is also featured on INDenverTimes.com

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Unless you’re new to Major League Baseball, you know the American League has been unbeatable against the National League in the All-Star Game for the last 13 years.

Excluding the 2002 contest that ended in a tie and featured the infamous Bud Selig shrug, the Junior Circuit has won every game since being shutout in 1996.

Obviously, a 12-game winning streak that spans over a decade has a litany of explanations. For example, the AL has been quite a bit stronger at times during the run and Lady Luck has played her role as she always does on the diamond.

However, for at least the last several years, there’s been a blatant and irritating deficiency with the assortment of Senior Circuit talent. It’s opened the Midsummer Classic with a distinct disadvantage.

One that can be traced back to the voters—including the fans, players, and managers.

While the American League has suited up for the early July exhibition with its strongest roster of available athletes (give or take a couple on the fringe), the National League has been taking the field with a mixture of richly deserving stars and guys who rode the coattails of misplaced popularity to the honor.

Either the hometown fans in a large market ignorantly and blindly stuff the ballot box or the players/managers give a pseudo-lifetime achievement nod to a recognizable name. One way or another, glaring omissions are common-place and the team is weaker as a result.

The situation is no different in 2010.

The errors almost jump out at you:

—The San Francisco Giants’ Tim Lincecum hasn’t even been the best pitcher on his own team, yet he’s going to Anaheim and Matt Cain gets a long weekend.

—Or what about the St. Louis Cardinals’ Chris Carpenter getting the call over teammate Jaime Garcia or the San Diego Padres’ Mat Latos?

—The Friars are the Show’s biggest surprise, they’re tied for the NL’s best record with the Atlanta Braves, and have the same number of All Stars (one) as the putrid Houston Astros, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Arizona Diamondbacks. The Milwaukee Brewers, who are eight games under .500, have three.

Meanwhile, the Braves have five.

—One of those Bravos is a utility infielder with a painfully empty .311 average in only 164 AB. For some reason, though, Omar Infante beat out the Cincinnati Reds’ Joey Votto’s .312 BA and league-leading .984 OPS (over 200 points better than Infante’s).

Got that? A decent singles hitter who doesn’t play every day beat out arguably the NL’s Most Valuable Player for the first half.

Of course, the Philadelphia Phillies’ manager Charlie Manuel—who’ll skipper the All-Star club for a second consecutive year—sees a ton of Atlanta. Apparently, Infante has played in enough of those games to impress one key set of eyes.

The list of self-inflicted wounds could go on and on—no Ryan Zimmerman, no Aubrey Huff, no Josh Willingham, etc.

But an exhaustive and tedious look at all the snubs isn’t necessary because there’s one in particular that demonstrates the ill-fated phenomenon to a perfect tee.

Athletic injustice, thy name is Miguel Olivo.

The Colorado Rockie hasn’t just been the best catcher in the Senior Circuit, but he’s been the best one in all of baseball. If you don’t believe me, take a quick look (minimum of 200 PA):

—His .308 BA, 5 3B, .540 SLG, .905 OPS, and 3.0 WAR lead all MLB catchers.

—His 39 RBI are tied for second.

—His 11 HR and 37 R are tied for third.

—His 4 SB are fourth.

—His .365 OBP is fifth.

If you narrow the contenders to the relevant field (NL backstops), Olivo leads the way in batting average, slugging percentage, on-base-plus-slugging percentage, runs batted in, home runs (tied with the New York Mets’ Rod Barajas), and triples.

Pump your brakes; there are two sides to the ball, you say?

Fine, Miguel has also been the best defensive catcher in all of baseball and the margin’s even clearer over here.

To give you an idea of exactly how suffocating a weapon the 31-year-old has been, you have to go beyond his .993 fielding percentage. You have to look at his 20 runners caught stealing against only 19 successful swipes, good for a 51.3 percent success rate.

It’s not often you stumble across a rifle arm that nabs more would-be thieves than it suffers, but the more staggering observation is the company it keeps with that lofty caught stealing statistic.

Olivo’s 20 CS is good for second in the Majors behind the 22 belonging to Jason Kendall of the Kansas City Royals.

In stark contrast to Colorado’s sparkler, Kendall has a meager 25.0 percent success rate courtesy of 66 thefts allowed. Only Yadier Molina’s 47.4 percent clip (18 CS against 20 SB) can hang with Olivo and the Redbird will start the All Star Game simply for his defense i.e. it’s his only contribution and it’s still not better than Miguel’s.

That’s really where this charade becomes perversely laughable.

Neither All-Star rep that “earned” the selection over Olivo—neither the Braves’ Brian McCann nor Molina—can beat the rightful starter in anything except doubles and on-base percentage (in McCann’s case).

St. Louis Cardinal fans should be flat-out embarrassed by their counterproductive idiocy, masquerading as bias.

Their team stands a very good chance of actually making the World Series where home-field advantage could be a huge asset. In other words, it ultimately might not be just an exhibition for the Cards and their faithful.

Yet, they voted their guy to start the game despite offensive metrics that rank dead last almost across the board. What is supposed to be an intelligent baseball city just delivered a .231 hitter with a .616 OPS to the All-Star Game, trying to justify it by pointing out he’s a defensive specialist.

Trouble is, he’s the second-best defender at the position and can’t hold a candle to the lumber swung by the real defensive leader.

Sadly, the fanatics under the Gateway Arch are just the latest example of National League stupidity.

Which is why the Senior Circuit is already trailing the American League, for a 14th straight year.

And the All-Star Game hasn’t even started.

**Click hear to learn more about the Paralyzed Veterans of America**

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