2008 Fantasy Baseball Sleepers - Catchers

Judging by the keywords that are landing people on this site from search engines, there seems to be a high demand for sleeper picks. This makes sense as everyone wants to grab that diamond in the rough and use it as a pick-up line: "You know, I got B.J. Upton in the 21st round last year. Wanna make out?" That one gets my wife going every time.

My goal is to please and, thus, I will be starting a series of the top sleeper picks at each position. Everyone has a different definition of sleeper. Here's mine: a player who is generally ranked outside the top 200 (roughly) but stands a chance of being ranked in the top 100 heading into next season. Make sense? You've probably already jumped down to the list by this point, anyway, and I can say anything I want here. A.J. Pierzynski is a whiny little bitch. How's that? OK, here are the top three "sleepers" at catcher (in order of sleeperishness):

Sleepers
1. J.R. Towles - I mentioned before that he could have a Russell-Martin-like season. Let me explain why: his stats last year between three minor league stops and a 14-game stint in the majors: 114 G, 459 PA, 75 R, 12 HR, 74 RBI, 14 SB, .296 AVG. Notice I know how to bold things and I did just that to the SB total. Any time a catcher can give you some steals, you should be awfully excited.

The main risk here is that the Astros are idiots and play that beautiful Brad Ausmus too much. (I'm not gay or anything, but that is one fine-looking man.) Keep a close eye on the goings-on during Spring Training.

I have Towles projected to only play 100 games due to the Ausmus threat, but even still he ranks eighth among catchers with a projected line of: 49 R, 10 HR, 59 RBI, 8 SB, .286 AVG. If he plays something in the neighborhood of 120-130 games, I wouldn't be surprised to see him rank as the fourth or fifth best catcher this season.

2. Carlos Ruiz - He played in 115 games last season and I expect to see him reach 130 this season. In 2006, he hit 19 HR in 127 games between AAA and the majors. Last season, he only hit 6 with the big club. Judging by the HR totals he put up in the minors, I'm going to say that was somewhat flukishly low. Add in the fact that he plays in a great hitters' park and I'm projecting 12 HR this year. He should also throw in a few steals (he had 6 last year and I'm projecting 5 this year).

I am a little concerned about his ability to hit for average. I've projected him at .274 compared to the .259 he posted last season. He really doesn't strike out much which leaves me with hope that he can raise his batting average.

3. The Arizona catchers - Miguel Montero and Chris Snyder are similar in that they both have good power but hit for a low average. The problem here is that they steal playing time from one another. Last year, they combined to hit 21 HR in a playing time split where Snyder got more of the plate appearances (377 to 233). I could see either one of these guys hitting 15+ HR with enough playing time, so keep an eye on the situation. You probably don't need to draft either one, but if it starts to look like one of them is going to get the bulk of the playing time, you may be able to grab him off the waiver wire.

For what it's worth, I'd prefer to see Montero play more because he's younger, has more upside, and has hit for a higher average in the minors.

Semi-Sleeper
I like Geovany Soto even more than any of these guys I've mentioned, but I just couldn't call him a sleeper. Enough people seem to be recognizing his potential and drafting accordingly. He has great power (29 HR in 128 games last season).

Deep Sleeper
Jeff Clement is going to be a very good player, but it's unclear how much playing time he's going to be able to get this year. Kenji Johjima is a very good player and the Mariners have no reason to sit him more than necessary, especially since they seem to want to compete this season. Injuries could create opportunities for Clement, but you can probably afford to skip him in the draft and snag him as a waiver wire pickup.