Every year, it's pretty
much the same deal. We pay a fairly healthy amount for our catchers and they
fail us to one degree or another.
Ten Most Expensive A.L.
Catchers 2012
|
#
|
Player
|
$
|
Sal
|
+/-
|
CBS
|
LABR
|
TW
|
PK
|
2011
|
|
1
|
$15
|
26
|
-11
|
27
|
24
|
28
|
25
|
$17
|
|
|
2
|
$16
|
23
|
-7
|
26
|
22
|
22
|
22
|
$16
|
|
|
3
|
$11
|
21
|
-10
|
21
|
23
|
19
|
21
|
$25
|
|
|
4
|
$25
|
19
|
6
|
16
|
20
|
20
|
18
|
$8
|
|
|
5
|
$8
|
18
|
-10
|
19
|
17
|
17
|
18
|
$20
|
|
|
6
|
$16
|
13
|
2
|
14
|
15
|
11
|
10
|
$8
|
|
|
7
|
$10
|
13
|
-3
|
12
|
13
|
14
|
9
|
$11
|
|
|
8
|
$9
|
10
|
-1
|
11
|
9
|
11
|
9
|
$13
|
|
|
9
|
$10
|
10
|
0
|
12
|
9
|
10
|
8
|
$10
|
|
|
10
|
$0
|
9
|
-9
|
9
|
9
|
9
|
9
|
$9
|
|
|
Average
|
$12
|
16
|
-4
|
17
|
16
|
16
|
15
|
$14
|
For the third year in a
row, the A.L. market shelled out an average of $16 for the players they thought
would be the best catchers in the American League. And - for the third year in
a row - the market took a moderate loss.
An argument can be made
that since these prices don't account for position scarcity that losing $4 per
catcher on average isn't as bad as losing $4 per player at another position. And
I'd agree with that argument...to a point. Getting $9 worth of stats out of a
$10 Martin or even $10 worth of stats out of a $13 Arencibia isn't a bad
proposition. The problem is that half of the hitters on this list lost their
owners $7 or more last season. Wieters obviously wasn't worthless last season,
but $16 on a $23 investment isn't a win regardless of what position you play.
Hidden in the boring news
that the average price for catchers hasn't budged is the flattening of the
expert market since 2010. Seven catchers went for $10 or more in 2010, eight in
2011, and nine this season. The average prices stay the same because the top
catcher is getting less. Mauer went for $45 in CBS in 2010 while only going for
$30 in LABR and Tout. He's the most extreme of the extreme examples, but in the
past CBS used to push up the salaries of the best players. Depending on what
your league looks like, this either made the expert market look absurd or made
it look more like your league if LABR and Tout are too conservative for your
liking.
In the past I'd spend more
time talking about the faux competition between CBS, LABR, Tout Wars and Rotoman's
prices (represented here by Peter Kreutzer's real life initials, PK), but why
bother? There are only two outliers here: CBS' $26 price on Wieters and their
$16 price on Mauer. Everything else is within $3 or less of at least one of the
expert leagues. I was at both the CBS and Tout Wars auctions. The $27 price for
Santana seemed crazy when CBS auctioned, but Tout Wars topped that price at
$28.
No one swings for the
fences behind the dish anymore because the fences are almost impossible to
reach.
Top 10 A.L. Catchers 2012
|
#
|
Player
|
$
|
Sal
|
+/-
|
CBS
|
LABR
|
TW
|
PK
|
2011
|
|
1
|
Joe Mauer
|
$25
|
19
|
6
|
16
|
20
|
20
|
18
|
$8
|
|
2
|
$19
|
8
|
11
|
6
|
8
|
9
|
8
|
$11
|
|
|
3
|
Matt Wieters
|
$16
|
23
|
-7
|
26
|
22
|
22
|
22
|
$16
|
|
4
|
Ryan
Doumit
|
$16
|
13
|
2
|
14
|
15
|
11
|
10
|
$8
|
|
5
|
Carlos Santana
|
$15
|
26
|
-11
|
27
|
24
|
28
|
25
|
$17
|
|
6
|
$12
|
1
|
11
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
$3
|
|
|
7
|
$11
|
6
|
6
|
5
|
10
|
2
|
2
|
$6
|
|
|
8
|
Mike Napoli
|
$11
|
21
|
-10
|
21
|
23
|
19
|
21
|
$25
|
|
9
|
Jarrod Saltalamacchia
|
$10
|
10
|
0
|
12
|
9
|
10
|
8
|
$10
|
|
10
|
J.P. Arencibia
|
$10
|
13
|
-3
|
12
|
13
|
14
|
9
|
$11
|
|
Average
|
$14
|
14
|
0
|
14
|
15
|
14
|
12
|
$12
|
Mauer was the only catcher
to crack the $20 barrier last year. In 2011, Victor Martinez ($26), Napoli ($25), and
Avila ($20) did it. In 2010 it was Mauer ($23) and Martinez ($21). Why spend
over $25 when it's almost certain you're going to take a loss?
Another reason you might
want to hang back is because there are a lot of double-digit earners. For the
second year in a row, at least 10 catchers earned $10 or more. Why pay over $20
for guys like Wieters or Santana when there's a good chance that you're going
to get double-digit production from at least one of your catchers?
While you might not want to
overpay, you probably should pay something. The fliers are few and far between,
and the only flier that really worked out was John Jaso.
Jaso's the guy everyone
dreams about when they throw a $1 at their second catcher: a double-digit
earner that costs next to nothing.
He's the extreme exception,
though. Going back to 2009, Jaso is the only catcher that has cost $3 or less
and earned double-digits at the position. He also did it in 2010, earning $10
as a true free agent: a player that CBS, LABR, and Tout Wars all passed on.
The reason we don't wait
for the Jasos of the world is because cheap catchers don't offer a lot of
upside.
All $1-3 Catchers, 2012
American League
|
Player
|
$
|
Sal
|
+/-
|
CBS
|
LABR
|
TW
|
PK
|
2011
|
|
$2
|
3
|
-1
|
4
|
2
|
4
|
5
|
$9
|
|
|
$3
|
3
|
0
|
3
|
4
|
2
|
3
|
$2
|
|
|
$7
|
2
|
5
|
3
|
2
|
4
|
|||
|
$0
|
2
|
-2
|
1
|
3
|
1
|
R2
|
$2
|
|
|
-$2
|
2
|
-4
|
1
|
2
|
2
|
2
|
$1
|
|
|
$5
|
1
|
3
|
3
|
1
|
2
|
$5
|
||
|
$4
|
1
|
2
|
1
|
3
|
1
|
$1
|
||
|
John Jaso
|
$12
|
1
|
11
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
$3
|
|
$4
|
1
|
3
|
1
|
1
|
$2
|
|||
|
$2
|
1
|
2
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
$3
|
||
|
$0
|
1
|
-1
|
1
|
1
|
R3
|
$5
|
||
|
$2
|
0
|
2
|
1
|
2
|
$3
|
|||
|
$1
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
$4
|
|||
|
Average
|
$3
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
2
|
$3
|
Eight of the 13 catchers
here earned $3 or less, while six of them took a loss.
Breaking even on a player
here or a player there is fine, but breaking even on your entire team is the
road to a 7th place finish. Your goal with players that you spend next to
nothing on is to turn a profit, even if it is only a small one.
The counterpoint to all of
this is that the idea behind buying one - or even two - $1 catchers is not to
turn a profit but rather to avoid a loss. That is to say pushing your money in
on a $15 catcher that is going to crash and burn and earn $4 is a waste of your
money.
But - despite the failures
like Avlla, Napoli, and Santana - that's not what happened last year. With so
many catchers offering a double-digit return, there is an opportunity to sneak
two productive catchers onto your roster if your league has owners that embrace
the $1 catcher theory. My A.L.-only home league does, so I take the opportunity
to buy at least one catcher at $10 or more every year. Take what the room is
going to give you...especially since it doesn't matter what the room does at
the end when there's nothing left to buy.
So while I started out this
piece talking about how catchers “fail” us, in the last couple of years that’s
not quite what has been happening. Yes, catchers are losing money against our bids.
But catchers are also doing something that we need them to do: provide stats.
You don’t want to go too far out on a limb. But in a market where both the
endgame and free agent cupboards are bare, you do want to make sure to get some
productivity behind the dish.
1 comment:
Love this stuff. My favorite part of the site is the retrospective analysis.
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