Sunday, March 17, 2013

2013 Catcher Sleeperz™

Every year I bring you the best Sleeperz™ in baseball, at the last possible moment before your draft, and huzzah! This year is no different. All this week I will be posting my 2013 Sleeperz™.  Let there be rejoicing throughout the land.

Last year, over 50% of my Sleeperz™ significantly outperformed their ADP (not counting historically healthy players that suffered random injuries). Seems good to me, but since other "experts" never seem to revisit their picks, I don't really know. Last year I brought you gigantic hits like Jason Kipnis, Jose Altuve, Chris Sale, R.A. Dickey, and A.J. Burnett. I also had pathetic misses like Jemile Weeks, Jose Tabata, and Jhoulys Chacin. All in all, I'm calling it a win, and so I've decided to keep pestering you with my opinions.

If you want to win at fantasy baseball, the best thing you can do to increase your chances is to squeeze every bit of value out of your draft or auction. That means understanding the tiers at each position - never pay more when you can get similar stats for less. It's pretty simple: target players who you have reason to believe will outperform their price - or as I call them, Sleeperz™.

My analysis is primarily based on 5x5 mixed roto non-keeper, all ADP values are from ESPN.

Carlos Santana, ADP 79
The best value of the second tier of catchers. Expect him to improve on last year, and he's going 20 picks after Weiters.  I'm a sucker for guys with plate discipline.

Miguel Montero, ADP 176
I love Victor Martinez, but given the fact that he's 35 and did not play baseball last year, why not wait 90 picks and get the very reliable Miguel Montero.

Salvador Perez, ADP 182
High batting average, growing power, what's not to like. Lots of upside with very little risk.

Jesus Montero, ADP 213
All signs point to improvement. Great value here - if Miguel Montero and Salvador Perez go at ADP, be happy with Jesus 30 picks later.

Jonathan Lucroy, ADP 225
Probably the best value at the catcher position, all things considered.

Alex Avila, ADP 260
Use him as the last acceptable deeper league #1 catcher if you want to wait.

No. 2 Catcher Sleeperz:
Welington Castillo, 260
Rob Brantly, 260
Jason Castro, 260

Future looks bright, but probably not this year:
Travis D'Arnaud, 260
Devin Mesoraco, 260
Yasmani Grandal, 260
Martin Maldonado, 260
Hector Sanchez, 260

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