Now that Mike Piazza is officially retired from baseball, we can celebrate the man that was easily the best fantasy catcher ever. It ain't close. We're talking about a man that put up outfielder type numbers at catcher. In case you have forgotten, check out the triple crown stats Piazza put up in his prime, starting with his rookie season: .318-35-112
.319-24-92 (in only 107 games)
.346-32-93 (in only 112 games)
.336-36-105
.362-40-124
.328-32-111
.303-40-124
.324-38-113
.300-36-94
.280-33-98
This was in the most shallow fantasy position there is, and those power categories get especially valuable when you realize it's rare for a catcher to be a base-stealer (even if there are a few, you don't count on steals from a catcher). He was a bonafide first-rounder simply because of the huge leg up you got at the position with him.
In the last few years with Piazza in a decline, Joe Mauer and Victor Martinez have come to the forefront in the new crop of catchers that fantasy owners draft in the early rounds. The problem here is that the separation between the those two is not near as much as it was with Piazza and his peers.
Will there be another Piazza in fantasy?
