It’s tough to be a bust when pretty much no one values the catcher position in fantasy baseball.
But I’ll try my best at finding the worst value among the unheralded position. Let’s face it, you’re not going to get much out of this position anyway, but if you waste a pick on a complete dud, that could set you back a bit in your fantasy baseball campaign.
Here’s three catchers with bust potential entering the 2018 fantasy baseball season draft.
Gary Sanchez, C, New York Yankees
He’s the best available, but is that price tag too high for this position?
He currently sits at 23rd overall in average draft position, putting him toward the end of the second round in standard 12-team leagues. That’s higher than many expert rankings, putting him at 30th.
To risk a second-round pick on Sanchez, you better believe he’s going to be dynamic. And while he’s the best among catchers, I’m not sure he’s able to compete with some of the other top-tier players in other positions.
His stat-line is much better than his cohorts, but he still hasn’t put together a full season. He feels a little like Rob Gronkowski in fantasy football. Gronkowski is better than other tight ends, but I’m not sure his value is as high as many perceive.
The same goes with Sanchez. He’s not going to deliver those same numbers as a top-line outfielder or infielder. If you get him in the later portion of the third round or even the fourth round, that creates more value.
But a second-round grade is too high and he won’t be able to match those expectations.
Evan Gattis, C/DH, Houston Astros
He’s the seventh-ranked catcher in ADP, but I’d put him a little lower on the list.
We have enough evidence to generate a pretty strong opinion on Gattis. He’s pure power, with very little upside in batting average, RBI or runs. The power numbers are nice to look at, but he’s going to be a detriment on your team in terms of batting average and runs.
And while he hits for power, his RBI numbers actually aren’t that great. I’d value him a little lower among catchers, so when the time comes, I’d rather have some potential than Gattis, who’s basically just going to deliver homers.
There’s more to fantasy baseball than just the long ball, so I’d fade him this season.
Salvador Perez, C, Kansas City Royals
He had a breakout year last year, which was a nice surprise considering his age of 27 and that being his seventh year in MLB.
If I believed those homers would stay at the same level and he would have similar RBI and batting average numbers, I would jump on Perez.
But his career tells me otherwise. And his second-half numbers tell me that he’ll revert back to the mean.
He faded in batting average, homers, RBI and runs in the second half of last season.
He’s just not the power-hitting catcher we saw in the first part of the season in 2017. That will continue this season, so his ranking of fourth among catchers is too high entering the 2018 fantasy baseball season.
