2019 Fantasy Baseball Draft Prep: Catcher Tiers, Version 3.0

Catcher is as weak as ever, but there are a couple points where it's worth the investment, according to Scott White.

By Scott White

Mar 22, 2019 at 11:21 pm ET • 1 min read

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Tiers 3.0: C | 1B | 2B | 3B | SS | OF | SP | RP

Tiers, for the uninformed, are an alternate form of rankings that groups players by expected level of production. While it's true every player is expected to produce less than the player ranked ahead of him, there are points in the rankings where the drop-off in expected production is more significant. And at those points, a new tier begins.

The goal is to give you a clear depiction of the distribution of talent at each position so that in the heat of a draft, you can determine at a glance which position is the ideal one to target. Naturally, the one closest to dropping into the next tier is the one you'll regret having passed up a round later.

Below are the catcher tiers for 2019. They depict a weak position that dwindles down to nothing fewer than a dozen names in.

The Elite: J.T. Realmuto
The Near-Elite: Gary Sanchez
The Next-Best Things: Yasmani Grandal, Willson Contreras, Wilson Ramos, Yadier Molina, Buster Posey
The Fallback Options: Danny Jansen, Francisco Mejia
The Last Resorts: Francisco Cervelli, Robinson Chirinos, Welington Castillo, Omar Narvaez, Austin Barnes†, Mike Zunino^, Jorge Alfaro^
The Deep-Leaguers: Yan Gomes, Carson Kelly, Tucker Barnhart, Brian McCann
The Leftovers: Jonathan Lucroy, Kurt Suzuki, Willians Astudillo, John Hicks, Elias Diaz, Mitch Garver, Austin Hedges, Chance Sisco, Tyler Flowers, Russell Martin, Kevin Plawecki, Isiah Kiner-Falefa