With the top 150 fantasy baseball players all ordered and ranked on the inaugural Big Board, it’s time to get into the individual position rankings.
First up? The catcher spot, which is deeper than owners might expect. There are still a few elite names at the top, but any one of the top 10—and maybe even one or two beyond that—should be just fine as a starter.
In other words, if you don’t want to pay the price to land a star like Buster Posey (pictured), Joe Mauer or Yadier Molina, you can wait a few rounds and grab a more-than-quality backstop or even a few more and still take your pick of some worthwhile upside options.
Let’s run down the top 20 overall fantasy catchers and a few others you should watch.
These rankings consider three factors:
First, everything is based on 10- or 12-team mixed leagues with standard five-by-five rotisserie scoring (BA, R, HR, RBI, SB for hitters; W, ERA, WHIP, K, SV for pitchers).
Second, lineup construction accounts for 22 active roster positions consisting of: one each for catcher, first base, second base, third base, shortstop, corner infield, middle infield and utility; along with five outfielders and nine pitchers.
And third, to be eligible at a particular position, players either must have played at least 20 games there in 2013 or be in line to start there in 2014.
Statistics come from Baseball Reference and FanGraphs.