With the fresh fantasy baseball season approaching, it’s time to get you some tiered rankings from my Shuffle Up series. Use these for salary cap drafts, snake drafts, keeper decisions or merely a view of how the position ebbs and flows. We’ll kick off the series with catcher.
The numbers are unscientific in nature and meant to reflect where talent clusters and drops off. Assume a 5x5 scoring system, as usual.
Additional positions will follow regularly for the next two weeks.
The Big Tickets
$31 Cal Raleigh, Mariners
$24 William Contreras, Brewers
$21 Shea Langeliers, Athletics
$20 Hunter Goodman, Rockies
Raleigh’s expected regression season will likely bring him down to something like a .235 average with 40 homers. The Mariners will use him every day, giving him DH time when he needs a defensive rest. Last year was more fun on the road, away from the Marine layer: .267/.380/.619, with 32 of the home runs. The depth of the catcher position keeps me from taking Raleigh in Round 2, while still respecting him as a rankings outlier.
Last year was the weakest in four seasons for Milwaukee’s Contreras and he still checked in as the C4, buoyed by his run production and on-base skills. He’s resourceful enough to steal the occasional base and last year’s .260 average is probably his floor. Stepping into an age-28 season, I could consider Contreras at his current Yahoo ADP in the low 60s.
Goodman’s batting average crashed by 59 points on the road, but he also conked 18 road homers and had similar slugging percentages in both columns. The Rockies prioritize him in the lineup, giving him 39 starts at DH. Although the Colorado lineup lacks the depth of past seasons, Goodman at least will be in the top half of the order, where the production is. He’s still a decent value in the mid-80s for Yahoo ADP.
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Legitimate Building Blocks
$17 Ben Rice
$16 Agustín Ramírez
$15 Salvador Perez
$15 Will Smith
$14 Drake Baldwin
$14 Iván Herrera
$13 Yainer Diaz
Ramírez’s Yahoo ADP continues to lag about 50 picks behind his global ADP, and although some of that is noise from two-catcher versus one-catcher formats, it still reflects an opportunity. Ramírez already has plus power, shows the willingness to run, and can at least approach a neutral average as his plate discipline matures.
Although the best hitting backstops will routinely see DH time when they’re not available to catch, Smith doesn’t have that luxury in L.A. with Shohei Ohtani locking up the DH slot. It means Smith will probably have top-five rate stats at the position, but his counting numbers — despite being in a loaded lineup — will be mildly disappointing.
I had to take Rice’s salary down a buck when Paul Goldschmidt re-signed in New York, likely setting up a platoon situation at first base. Rice still gets the heavier side, of course, and you like his career trajectory as he prepares for his age-27 season. You can’t blame the Yanks for giving Rice a partner after he slashed .208/.271/.481 against southpaws, though there’s also the idea of letting him play all the time and see if growth happens. The Yankees rank first and third in runs scored over the last two years, so we like to invest here.
Diaz lost a chunk of his average last year, but bad luck was at play — his BABIP fell by 61 points and his expected stats (.268 average, .465 slugging) validate his bat. You’d like a few more walks, but 18-20 homers are in play, and he’s still holding a career .279 average. Houston’s lineup is no longer a playland — the Astros were 21st in runs last season.
Talk Them Up, Talk Them Down
$12 Alejandro Kirk, Blue Jays
$10 Adley Rutschman, Orioles
$10 Gabriel Moreno, Diamondbacks
$9 Samuel Basallo, Orioles
$9 Kyle Teel, White Sox
$9 Francisco Alvarez, Mets
$9 Dillon Dingler, Tigers
$6 J.T. Realmuto, Phillies
$6 Carter Jensen, Royals
$5 Austin Wells, Yankees
$5 Logan O'Hoppe, Angels
Rutschman was a god as a rookie, very good his second year, tailed off in Year 3 and collapsed last season. Okay, oblique injuries were part of the story, but what especially concerns me is that Rutschman’s career arc closely tracks to Matt Wieters; same team, same position. Wieters had his best WAR seasons at age 25 and 26 but was hurt and/or ineffective the rest of his career. I’ll allow my heart to root for a Rutschman turnaround, but I can’t spend fantasy capital on him.
Realmuto still bats for a credible average, but the power continues to fade — he slugged just .384 last year. He also had a 91 OPS+ in 2025, the first time in a decade he’s been a below-average offensive player. Stepping into his age-35 season, it’s a good time to eschew Realmuto, even with an inexpensive ADP. Player development is not always linear, but player decline almost always is.
I'll target Alvarez with the Mets, looking for an inexpensive way to tap into what's likely a top-five offense. Alvarez is still only 24 and just needs a reasonable health runout to push into the top 10 at the position. He's already given us a 25-homer season, and his walk rate continues to creep forward.
Bargain Bin
$4 Ryan Jeffers, Twins
$4 Tyler Stephenson, Reds
$4 Carlos Narváez, Red Sox
$3 Bo Naylor, Guardians
$3 Sean Murphy, Braves
$2 Moises Ballesteros, Cubs
$2 Keibert Ruiz, Nationals
$2 Freddy Fermin, Padres
$1 Carson Kelly, Cubs
$1 Edgar Quero, White Sox
$1 Joey Bart, Pirates
$0 Patrick Bailey, Giants
$0 Miguel Amaya, Cubs