With the end of the season upon us, here are the top 5×5 roto performances from catchers this year, according to Yahoo!:

  1. Jorge Posada, NYY. Had a career year at age 36, and is not likely to play catcher for the Yankees next year. Won’t rank #1 next season.
  2. Victor Martinez, CLE. Had a great season, and is even improving defensively. With 25 HR and 111 RBI, he should be your #1 next year.
  3. Russell Martin, LAD. Great breakout season for a lesser known catcher. The real surprise was all the steals!
  4. Brian McCann, ATL. Despite some early struggles, McCann is still a very good hitting catcher.
  5. Bengie Molina, SF. I didn’t see Molina having 89 RBI on a terrible Giants team. I don’t see him repeating it in 2008, either.
  6. Kenji Johjima, SEA. Another solid season, but nothing to write home about.
  7. Joe Mauer, MIN. His injuries limited him this year, but he’ll probably bounce back some next year.
  8. Jason Varitek, BOS. I knew he wasn’t as bad as he looked last year. But his swing is slowing down, not a good thing.
  9. Ivan Rodriguez, DET. The incredible shrinking man has lost all his pop.
  10. Ronny Paulino, PIT. A strong second half has him edging out some better known names.

I hope that those of you who wasted a high pick on a catcher this year have learned your lesson. Only the top 3 players were really worth having this year; you could just pick up any catcher who’s hot and do okay otherwise. Catcher is one of those black holes in your lineup; if you can get something here, it’s a bonus, really.My early rankings for 2008: 

  1. Victor Martinez. Consistently gets his at bats, and hits in the heart of a pretty good lineup.
  2. Russell Martin. He’s still very young and could repeat this year’s performance. Maybe a slight regression off those numbers.
  3. Mike Piazza. Will be DHing and playing backup C for some AL team next year. Give him a full year, and he’ll be valuable.
  4. Brian McCann. Hopefully can shake off a subpar first half.
  5. Joe Mauer. Injuries are always a concern, but he has the potential to top this list.
  6. Jorge Posada. May not be hitting in that great Yankee lineup next season.
  7. Kenji Johjima. Consistently a good pick, but not a great pick.
  8. Jarrod Saltalamacchia. Given a full year, will get to show off his stick in Texas.
  9. Ivan Rodriguez. Still a good contact hitter in a good lineup.
  10. Jason Varitek. Usually bats 6th or 7th on a potent Red Sox team.