Fantasy Baseball Today - Early 2027 Catcher Rankings! Hunter Goodman or Drake Baldwin? (10/21 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: October 21, 2026

Hunter Goodman or Drake Baldwin up at the top? Dillon Dingler and Ivan Herrera had interesting seasons. The sky is the limit for Samuel Basallo. Cal Raleigh and Will Smith should bounce back while Leo Bernal is a popular breakout candidate.Subscribe to our YouTube channel: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠youtube.com/FantasyBaseballToday⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sign up for the newsletter at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.cbssports.com/newsletters

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Up next on Fantasy Baseball Today Express. Welcome to FBT Express on Wednesday, October 21st. I am Briggs'ample joined by, Scott White, and we are talking way too early catcher rankings for next season. If you're watching us here on YouTube, we're going to pull that up. Got a nice little graphic with Scott's face on it and his rankings. So we will go in trios here, and the first three, you have Hunter Goodman, Drake Baldwin, and Shay Langalear, Scott.

Should point out that these rankings are for Roto Category Leagues, so Goodman does move down in a points league. But in a Category's league, Scott, it feels like Goodman versus. versus Baldwin is a toss-up, just determine, like, what you prefer. Do you want more powered and you go with Goodman? If you want more batting average, then maybe you would lean with Baldwin. Yeah, I think the totals are going to be better for Goodman. Well, definitely the home runs will be.

Like you said, definitely the home runs will be. He got to 41 a year after getting to 31. We have not seen Baldwin get to even 30 yet. there is that advantage. That is the biggest and probably clearest advantage that Goodman has over Baldwin. I think Baldwin

might have a slight playing time advantage. He I believe he started every game that he was healthy for this year, shifting between Catcher and DH. I also think Baldwin is the best pure hitter at catcher. And with that comes a high batting average. It was 284.

This year, 274 as a rookie. but I do think there's the possibility he takes a step forward even in year three. He left a little bit on the table. Part of that is because when he came back from the time you missed with an oblique injury, basically his month of June, the 12 games he played there fresh off the IEL.

He went 3 for 48 with 22 home runs and 50 plate appearances. Like clearly it wasn't himself. 22 strikeouts. 22 strikeouts, yeah, I said home runs. Sorry. Yeah. Again, 3 for 48 with 22.

strikeouts in 50 plate appearances. Clearly wasn't himself. It was great all year otherwise. And as hard as he hits the ball, as much contact as he makes. I think the best is still to come for Baldwin. 4, 5, and 6 in your catcher rankings for next year. You have William Contreras, Dylan Dingler, and Yvonne Herrera. Contreras, I think one of the safest players at the position,

as safe as you can be as a catcher. But he's just done it for so long, very high floor player. Dingler versus Herrera, I think is pretty interesting. Dingler, huge breakout season, and then he was unusable for the final two months of the year. He did suffer a thumb injury in July, so perhaps that affected his really poor finish here. And then Yvonne Herrera,

his skills actually took a step back this year, but he got there through pure volume. He played 161 games. He had over 700 plate appearances. I'm not so sure we can bank on him doing that again. So I think two interesting players for catcher rankings next year, in particular, are Dingler and Yvonne Herrera?

Yeah. I actually am more concerned about Herrera than Dingler, because I think there is, I think it's more understandable Dingler's drop off. He was catching so much because he adds so much defensive value there.

And that also gives him a lot of job security. Herrera is on the other end of the spectrum as far as that goes. He played a lot of, Catatant 2, played 161 games, I believe 108 of them, were at DH. So he was mostly a true DH with some occasional catcher time. Should he have worn down that much? I don't know. I mean, who's to say, really?

But because he doesn't bring much defensive value, because the Cardinals introduced Leo Bernal late in the year, who looks like their franchise catcher for the time being, he brings a lot of defensive value and look good at the play. Like, Herrera's got a hit, I think, to remain in the Cardinals lineup. He's got to hit much better than he did. He managed a high finish because he played so many games, but his batting average was only 241.

He slugged 382. That's not going to cut it to DH. My gut tells me that's not really him. You know, we saw him in more of a part-time role in previous years, Yvonne Herrera, and the numbers were great. The data was great. I think that's more true to who he is. and that's why I rank him as high as sixth.

But there is a disaster scenario for Herrera that I don't think exists for Dingler. Dingler, for what it's worth, you know, looked like a good hitter in 2025, too. I had 96th percent I'll expect a batting average that year. So it wasn't just, oh, he was a stud for four months, but it came out of nowhere. No, dinglers looked like a good hitter for a while, too.

All right, let's take a quick break, and we'll get back into the catcher rankings right after, this. Welcome back in FBT Express, way too early casher rankings for next season. And 7, 8, and 9, Scott has Gabriel Moreno, Carter Jensen, and Samuel Bessio. Moreno, stayed healthy, the breakout came through. Carter Jensen, very strong rookie season here as a top prospect coming into the year, up over 20 home runs, good counting stats. The one name we didn't really get to talk about on our full-lane podcast, Scott, was Samuel Bessio, who was one of the top prospects entering this season,

obviously lots of hype, legit power, good batting averages in the minors as well, and he's still super young at 22 years old. I think the sky is the limit. He does come with some warts. Can he stay healthy? He was in the IL twice this year, and he actually has this like bony growth in his wrist, apparently,

which caused him to miss some time throughout the course of the season. So I still kind of worry about that. He also is really, really aggressive at the play and chases a lot of pitches outside the strike. So you have some concerns, but he's also just 22 years old. So it still feels like the upside is sky high for Samuel Bessio. Yeah, I think it's worth reminding everyone how his season started and what he dealt with along the way. You mentioned the bony growth in the wrist.

There was also a balky knee. There was also a bad shoulder. Those became an issue in June. That's where it all started to fall apart for Sam. well, Bessio health-wise, through the end of May, he was hitting 283 with an 860 OPS. And so, look, we're giving a lot of other catchers a pass for playing through injury.

A lot of players at various positions a pass for that. The little harder for Bessio's, since he doesn't have a track record and established track record of who he is, but he was a stud prospect who hit the ball extremely hard, showed huge potential offensively, and was living up to it through the end of May. So I am taking a glass half full approach here.

I think if we see a healthier season from next year, and we're likely to, because again, that was a bunch of injuries he was dealing with. We're going to get a sophomore breakout from Samuel Pesayo. Rounding out your top 12, you have Cow Raleigh, Leo Bernal, and Will Smith of the Dodgers. And I feel like we could just do a whole podcast on these three names,

in particular. Cal Raleh, obviously the huge down season, but he finished very strong. He had shoulder surgery right after the season, so we have to make sure that he's fully healthy going into next year. But again, love the fact that he finished strong. Leo Bernal, top prospect in the Cardinals' organization,

he came up in September. He played every game after he got called up, and it looks like they are prepping him for a massive role in 2027. And then Will Smith, his season was derailed by a neck injury. But if you look at his underlying numbers, his stack cast numbers in the 52 games before the neck injury, they were all really good, basically right in line

with his strong 2025 season. So I think we could get a bounceback season from both Will Smith and Cal Rale. And then Leo Bernal, I just think, he's going to be a pretty popular breakout pick here, Scott. Yeah, I like Bernal a lot. The Cardinals like him even more. He came up at the start of September

and started every single game for the Cardinals to close out the season. Not entirely a catcher. There was a few at first base, few at DH, but mostly a catcher. He adds a lot of defensive value there. His offensive profile, I'm not going to say it's Drake Baldwin's, but it's reminiscent of that to me. He's good in a lot of the same ways Baldwin is just maybe not to the same extent. And so obviously, ranking him 11th here, I'm bullish on Bernal for next year.

I may have Cowellie a little too low. I kind of thought ranking him 10th would be a statement in his favor after the year he just had, but it sounds like you and Chris have him even higher. I do consider myself an optimist for next year's final 32 games in 2026 at 256 with 10 homers and a 935 OPS. He was playing through injury, which he had shoulder surgery to correct after 2026 was over. but I think that strong finish shows mechanically he figured things out worked with Mariners director of hitting strategy

Edgar Martinez, Hall of Fame hitter of course raised his hands in a stance based on his work with Martinez and did better with elevated fastballs took off at the end of the season I think he's not going to be a 60 homer again we're not going to see that version of Cal Raleigh but the one prior to that consistent

two 30, 30 plus homers. I think we could see that again. So I may end up moving in the head of Samuel Bessaiu and Carter Jensen, but we have all offseason to figure that out. And if you want to see the rest of Scott's catcher rankings, he did rank through the top 20, and he has an article on the website.

He has a bunch of articles previewing rankings for next season at various positions. So make sure to check those out as well. And for more extensive fantasy baseball coverage, listen to our full-lane podcast, Fantasy Baseball today on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or anywhere else podcasts are found. Thanks for listening to FBT Express, and we will be back again later this week. Bye-bye.

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