A look at over/undervalued players at each position.

For those of us who have decided not to shell out the $3.99 monthly fee for Mock Draft Central, Sport Fanatics has worked out a deal with MDC to provide the average draft position for the top 250 absolutely free. Over the next week, I will take a look at their report as of Feb. 23. I’m not sure exactly what types of drafts are part of the report, but since it includes over 211 drafts from the past week, I figured it’s a good enough barometer of where players are being selected. In addition to highlighting some of the players being drafted too early or lasting too late, for several positions I’ll discuss some players who do not appear on the report who might be worth looking into. I also want to note that I’ll mainly be looking at rankings within positions, rather than overall rankings. Unfortunately not having finished my own projections and dollar values, it’s difficult to accurately assess the overall rankings.

With that said, I am going to start with Catchers.

Overvalued

Jarrod Saltalamacchia (141 overall, 7th amongst Catchers)- Manager Ron Washington continues to say that the starting catcher gig is an open competition between Salty and Gerald Laird. In addition, GM Jon Daniels has indicated that if Salty doesn’t win the starting job, he’ll likely return to Triple-A. We’ve all heard the rumors that Laird will be traded. But he hasn’t been yet, so taking Salty as the 7th catcher off the board is an enormous risk, as you might end up with a Minor Leaguer. Even if he did claim the job, I still believe him to be overvalued. His contact rate has been below 80% in the Minors, and dropped to about 75% last year in the Majors. He’s going to have a hard time posting a decent batting average. Expect around a .260 mark, with anything higher a bonus. The power is obviously very good, and he could hit 20 HRs with a full-time job. But so could Bengie Molina, who I discuss below.

Undervalued

Bengie Molina (202, 11)- Manager Bruce Bochy recently stated that he likes the idea of Molina replacing Bonds in the cleanup spot this year. Clearly, Bochy doesn’t fully understand the importance of On Base Percentage, as Molina is apparently allergic to taking a walk, having posted a disgusting .298 OBP in ‘07. But we don’t care about how stupid it would be to bat Molina 4th, all we care about is the fact that it looks like he will. Molina makes excellent contact, making him an easy bet to hit around .280, and even playing in AT&T Park with a RHB HR park factor of just 74 last year, he was able to knock 19 HRs. Hitting cleanup all year, or until Bochy grows tired of looking at that putrid OBP, his RBI total should at least match last year’s of 81, and his pathetic run total of 38 should certainly increase. There is no reason he should be going 70 picks after Salty when he has a guaranteed job, might hit cleanup, and you know almost exactly what’ll you get.

Ramon Hernandez (228, 14)- Fantasy owners have obviously forgotten about him after a disappointing, injury-plagued year with only 9 HRs in 364 ABs. To jog your memory, this is a guy who had an .812 OPS, 23 HRs, 91 RBIs, and a .275 AVG in 501 ABs in 2006. The Orioles offense is not even close to as bad as some people believe, as many simulated seasons run using both CHONE and CAIRO projections have the team scoring close to 800 runs. If Ramon is healthy, he could easily be a top-10 catcher by season end and prove to be a bargain going this late.

Unfortunately, there were no catchers that really stand out from those not in the top 250. Next up is 1st Base, so be sure to check back soon. See ya then.

Questions, comments, criticisms, praise, expert league invitations? Email me at FBGeneralsMike@gmail.com.