FTW

Mauer’s Injury Induced Free-Fall

Joe Mauer’s a stud, and probably the most balanced catcher in the league.  Mauer brings everything you’d want from a catcher to the table, and that’s why he sits squarely in the heart of of the Minnesota Twins batting order.

While Mauer realistically has only 15-17 HR pop in his bat, his batting average and on-base percentage more than make up for it.

Only Brian McCann can rival Mauer for OPS at the catcher position.  Geovany Soto’s ability to post another .500 SLG season is at least somewhat questionable, in my humble opinion.

Mauer had surgery over the off-season, almost 3 full months ago now, to eliminate a kidney obstruction.

Unfortunately, Mauer’s still got a sore back and his status for opening day is in major question. Mauer will be underoing an MR anthrogram in the next couple days, reports MLB.com.

I originally ranked Mauer as the top available catcher, assuming full health.  As the top-tier of catchers is so tightly packed, it’s time for a Mauer Free-Fall.

Brian McCann takes over the number one catcher spot, even if the Braves line-up is a snooze.  Russell Martin maintains solid value despite a projected decline in steals. Having Ramirez entrenched in that Dodgers line-up will help Martin’s counting stats substantially. Soto and Mauer now sit as 3A and 3B on my list.

Mauer’s game relies on his extroidinary hand-eye coordination which leads to an amazing batting average.  Power and speed are relatively easy to turn on, but hitting for average takes time.

A bad back for a catcher is bad news. Whether or not Mauer brings value will depend largely on the knowledge of your league.