All Positions: C / 1B / 2B / SS / 3B / CF / OF
With elite prospects like J.R. Towles reaching the upper halves of top prospect lists and making the back end of under 25 positional lists, it's no wonder that some people have trouble understanding why prospect junkies routinely become huge fans of unproven talent. Fantasy owners, this list's for you. Below we have every catcher in baseball who has either yet to hit his prime or is playing in it. Take this list to your keeper draft. And we forgive you if you don't share it with anyone else in your league.
Stay tuned as we release top prospect lists, top players under 25 by position and top players under 30 by position in the months to come. We will wrap up our 2009 prospect coverage by unleashing top prospects by organization lists, which will include more detailed analysis than our positional lists.
| Top 10 Catchers Under the age of 30 | |||||||||||||
| No. | Player | Pos. | Comments | Age | Org | Lvl | |||||||
| 1 | Joe Mauer | C | Already selective, had highest BB rate (14.4%), lowest K rate (7.8%) of career; .369 wOBA | 25.5 | MIN | MLB | |||||||
| 2 | Brian McCann | C | Returned to form (.378 wOBA) after slow season in '07 (.319); 43.1% XBH, 10.6% BB rates | 24.6 | ATL | MLB | |||||||
| 3 | Russell Martin | C | OBP up slightly (.385 vs. .375 in '07), but SLG down significantly (.396 vs. 469); 14.9% BB | 25.7 | LAD | MLB | |||||||
| 4 | Geovany Soto | C | Tied McCann for ML lead in HR (23) among catchers as rook; showed patience too (12.0% BB) | 25.7 | CHC | MLB | |||||||
| 5 | Matt Wieters | C | Put up videogame-esque .355/.454/.600 line between A+, AA; .918 OPS (33 AB) in AFL | 22.4 | BAL | AA | |||||||
| 6 | Victor Martinez | C/1B | Injury-plagued season resulted in .301 wOBA (298 PA); still, career .832 OPS in 2,658 AB | 29.8 | CLE | MLB | |||||||
| 7 | Dioner Navarro | C | Production slowed after All-Star Break (.785 OPS vs. .715); .333 wOBA, .112 IsoP overall | 24.7 | TB | MLB | |||||||
| 8 | Chris Iannetta | C | What a difference a year makes: turned .296 wOBA in '07 into an impressive .386 in '08 | 25.5 | COL | MLB | |||||||
| 9 | Buster Posey | C | No. 5 overall pick off to solid start; having his way with HWB pitchers: .373/.442/.433 (67 AB) | 21.5 | SF | SS | |||||||
| 10 | Ryan Doumit | C | Seen wOBA move from .309 to .344 to .359 in past 3 seasons; low BB (5.8%, low K (11.8%) | 27.5 | PIT | MLB | |||||||
| Honorables: Mike Napoli (LAA), Carlos Santana (CLE), and Max Ramirez (TEX). | |||||||||||||
| * Our rankings combine a player's ceiling with the odds that he'll reach it within a five-year period |
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| ** Ages are as of November 1st, 2008 | |||||||||||||
| *** Level is the highest level the player has reached | |||||||||||||
| <<< Discuss these rankings | |||||||||||||
Questions about this list can be directed toward Doug Gray at dougdirt@cinci.rr.com.