Only $45.75 Million Short

Update: Right-hander Kyle Lohse agreed to a one-year, $4.25 million deal with the St. Louis Cardinals. Lohse will be expected to open the season in the rotation due to injuries to Chris Carpenter, Mark Mulder, Matt Clement, and Joel Pineiro, all of which could be on the DL to start the season.

The View: This is a good move for the Cardinals, baseball, and fantasy owners. The Cardinals, who I had ranked last when rating the NL rotations a few weeks ago, desperately needed another veteran innings-eating arm. Lohse isn’t glamorous, but he has no tentative injury concerns (a huge plus for the Cardinals), is coming off a fairly useful season, and gives them a bridge between Wainwright and the slew of converted relivers who will fill out the rotation until guys like Clement, Carpenter, and Mulder are ready to return.

It’s an even better move for baseball, after Lohse spent the offseason thinking he was going to get, and I quote, “a five-year, $50 million deal.” Thankfully, GMs realized that they could pay a fraction of the cost for a prospect to pitch as effectively and Lohse had to settle for a one-year deal in the neighborhood of $4.25 million. Lohse, who hasn’t won double-digit games since 2003, has a career ERA of 4.82, and averages well under 1 K/IP really had no business demanding that kind of money, but after last year’s offseason pitcher splurge, it wasn’t out of the realm of possibility. Baseball economics have apparently taken a turn for the better and as a result, he’ll have to prove he’s a quality pitcher again in 2008 in hopes of a multiyear deal next season.

Finally, owners benefit by getting one more filler veteran arm as a potential fantasy option. Obviously, no one is going into the draft targeting Lohse, but with all the injuries that are striking pitchers, it’s always good to have extra back-up veteran starters available. In NL-only leagues, he might be in consideration for a final starting spot, but right now he’s just going to bolster the waiver wire depth. He could be a short-term filler, but who knows what his role will be if and when everyone is healthy in the rotation.

The Catcher Primer

I don’t plan on devoting a primer to every position, but upon breaking down the fantasy options at catcher this year, I felt inspired to produce some sort of article on the way the position has evolved. The catcher position has always been fantasy baseball’s black hole, usually forcing half of the owners in standard-sized leagues to sift through waiver-wire material in the latter half of a draft just to find someone to plug into the spot. In the late 90’s, you either got Mike Piazza or Ivan Rodriguez, or you waited until the end of the draft to find a catcher. These days, while the position might still be the thinnest in fantasy baseball, there’s a lot more depth than there was before.

Last year, I went through the position and found twelve guys who I all thought were worthy of undisputed fantasy starter status at catcher. A few of those guys dropped off or lost their eligibility, and while I don’t think the talent pool is as good as it was a year ago, there is still a very good mix of front-line producers, established veteran hitters, and up-and-coming prospects. Upon breaking down the position on a team-by-team basis, there are a lot of potential platoons in the making, but there are enough undisputed starters that, in standard-sized leagues, everyone will be able to find at least a mediocre hitter who will play 4-5 times a week.

I found it most beneficial to break the position down in varying levels of fantasy value and I think these tiers and the separation they create is pretty rigid, which will play a big role in catcher draft strategy this year. There’s a clear divide between the elite and the second-tier and it’s pretty clear where the line can be drawn between undisputed starters that will need to be targeted by the middle rounds and the debatable starters, who you won’t have to feel compelled to draft right away. Here’s what I came up with for the catcher position in 2008:

Note: This is a class-by-class ranking system for this year’s catchers. I’ve come up with three flexible divisions: starters, borderline starters, and fantasy non-options. Within the class of starters (top ten), there are two subdivisions: first and second tier starters. Within the borderline starters, there are four sub-categories: up-and-comers, third-tier veterans, pure power hitters, and potential platooners. Finally, in the “non-options” division, there is one subdivision for full-time starters who offer minimal fantasy upside (defensive specialists) and the top ten tentative back-ups.

The Starters

The First-Tier Fantasy Starters:

1. Victor Martinez, Cleveland Indians
2007: .301, 25 HR, 114 RBI, 78 R, 0 SB

Arguably the best power-hitting catcher in baseball, Martinez was the only catcher last season to top 20 HRs and the only catcher to top 100 RBIs. He has no injury concerns and is a lifetime .301 hitter. If he’s not the best fantasy option this year, then he’s in the top two.