We’re kicking off the Shuffle Up series — my version of tiered rankings — for the new fantasy baseball draft season. The dollar values you’ll see below are unscientific in nature but reflect how I see the clusters of talent at catcher. Use these tiers however you like.
Have some disagreements? Good, that’s why we have a game. I welcome your reasoned disagreement over at X: @scott_pianowski.
Catcher Overview
If you’re playing in a one-catcher format this year, it’s probably a no-sweat, low-stress position. If your league requires more than one backstop, that’s when things get a little complicated.
This is one fantasy position where defensive skill is critical to monitor, because it will add or detract from playing time here more than any other spot.
Let’s sort through the options and set you up with a 2025 plan.
Tier 1: The Big Tickets
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$26 William Contreras
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$23 Adley Rutschman
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$21 Salvador Pérez
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$20 Yainer Diaz
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$20 Cal Raleigh
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$19 Will Smith
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$18 Willson Contreras
Contreras is a perfect answer at catcher, a high-volume player who can legitimately contribute in all five categories, depending on how real those nine stolen bases were a year ago. He’s also entering his prime (age-27 season) and works in a homer-friendly park. The Brewers are happy to DH Contreras when he needs a break from the rigors of defense, so he’ll probably be around 600 at-bats again.
Rutschman had a surprising slump in the final two months and his slash was notably down from his first two seasons. It’s likely a blip and the new dimensions in Baltimore should aid Rutschman when he’s hitting right-handed. Last year’s drop to a .272 BABIP probably explains part of Rutschman’s disappointing season. I’m still happy to bet on the pedigree here and the depth of the lineup.
What Pérez did in his age-34 season was too good to be true — he bumped his walks, cut his strikeouts and made it through 158 games, though many of them were DH assignments after Vinnie Pasquantino got hurt. The age takes a couple of bucks off the Pérez target salary, but for the most part he’s been remarkably durable through his career and the Kansas City lineup has taken a step forward. His runs scored column isn’t as robust as you might expect, but Pérez should return another positive three-category season.
Raleigh is an excellent power source and an outstanding defensive catcher, so his volume is safe and his fantasy floor is sturdy. The surprising six steals could come or go — he showed no interest in that area before…