Thread: AL Central Position Rankings - Catchers

I thought I'd start a new series here and see how it plays out. I thought it would be fun for Twins Daily readers to vote on the preseason All AL Central team. The question with each of these rankings will be "Which player do you think will have the best season in 2012?" In other words, it has nothing to do with what happened in 2011 or earlier, and it isn't asking which you would build a team with. It is, which player will be the best in 2012.

Let's start with the Catcher candidates:

Minnesota Twins - Joe Mauer - (2011 numbers - .287/.360/.368 (.729) with 15-2B, 3-HR, 30 RBI)

Cleveland Indians - Carlos Santana - (2011 numbers - .239/.351/.457 (.808) with 35-2B, 2-3B, 27-HR, 79 RBI)

Detroit Tigers - Alex Avila - (2011 numbers - .295/.389/.506 (.895) with 37-2B, 4-3B, 19-HR, 82 RBI)

Chicago White Sox - AJ Pierzynski - (2011 numbers - .287/.323/.405 (.728) with 29-2B, 1-3B, 8-HR, 48 RBI)

Kansas City Royals - Salvador Perez - (2011 MLB numbers - .331/.361/.473 (.834) with 8-2B, 2-3B, 3-HR, 21 RBI)
Kansas City Royals - Salvador Perez - (2011 Min Lg numbers - .290/.331/.437 (.769) with 19-2B, 10-HR, 53 RBI)

SUMMARY

2011 was a forgettable season for Joe Mauer. He had knee surgery in the offseason, tried to come back too quick from that, was hurt by a bad Bi-Lateral Leg Weakness disagnosis, struggled, and his season ended early with mild pneumonia. Mauer will turn 29 years old on April 19 and is just two years removed from being the league's MVP.

The Twins will likely move Joe Mauer around a little bit, letting him DH and get some starts at 1B. Cleveland has been doing that for years with Victor Martinez and now with the powerful, patient Carlos Santana. Although the batting average was low, he has a good on-base percentage and a ton of power. Santana will turn 26 years old on April 8.

Alex Avila was a big surprise for the Tigers in 2011. He got his playing time behind the plate and managed to stay healthy all year. He did a nice job behind the plate, but he really took off with the bat, hitting for average and good extra base hit power. Avila recently turned 25 years old.

AJ Pierzynski has been a solid big league catcher for a long time, and his durability has been impressive. With Pierzynski now 35, the White Sox may give Tyler Flowers more and more at bats.

The Royals made news a couple of weeks ago when the inked Salvador Perez to a long-term deal. He played in just 39 big league games with the Royals last year as a 21 year old and hit very well, continuing a season that started with 79 games in AA before 12 games in AAA. He will turn 22 years old in early May and with Brayan Pena around, the Royals can be smart in allowing his development.

Two years ago, the argument could be made that Joe Mauer was the best player, much less the best catcher in baseball. Now, an argument could be made that he is the third best catcher in the AL Central. But that's coming off of a bad 2011 season. What will 2012 bring? Who is your choice for AL Central Preseason Catcher for 2012? Please feel free to vote in the poll.

(in case you're wondering, my choice is...)

Carlos Santana.jpg

Mauer
Santana
Avila
Perez
Pierzynski

Santana
Mauer
Avila
Perez
Pierzynski

Santana, because I think he'll play more games at catcher, and hit a lot more HRs, but I could see Mauer being AWESOME again...

Mauer
Santana
Perez
Avila
Pierzynski

AviliaSantanaMauerPerezAJ

Drew Butera.

Mauer! He will show this year why he got that contract! Santana would be next followed by Avila, Perez and A.J.!

I'm going with Mauer, but Santana will be great. My gut is telling me that Mauer is going to have a monster year. I also fee like Avila might slow down a bit. Mauer, Santana, Avila, AJ, Perez.

that seems like a really strong batch of catchers from a relatively weak divison. I wonder how they compare to the rest of the majors.

Originally Posted by jeffk

that seems like a really strong batch of catchers from a relatively weak divison. I wonder how they compare to the rest of the majors.

Yankees - Russell Martin
Red Sox - Jarrod Saltalamacchia
Orioles - Matt Weiters
Rays - Jose Molina
Blue Jays - JP Arencibia

Rangers - Mike Napoli
Angels - Chris Iannetta
A's - Kurt Suzuki
Mariners - Jesus Montero

I would say that the AL Central has at least 3 of the top 5 catchers in the AL.

Originally Posted by Seth Stohs

I would say that the AL Central has at least 3 of the top 5 catchers in the AL.

and if you add the NL to the equation, it will be more like 3 out of the top 8-10. By far AL Central is the strongest division as far as catchers are concerned

Mauer needs to play less than 100 games at catcher to stay healthy!!! Therefore I voted for Santana.

Santana
the rest

Salvador Perez just tore his meniscus. He will have surgery but not sure if he is going to be back this season. Blow for the Royals.