Fantasy Baseball Today - Top Catcher Prospects to Target in 2023! (Fantasy Baseball Today in 5 Podcast)

Episode Date: October 22, 2022

Download and follow Fantasy Baseball Today in 5! You can find FBT in 5 on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever else podcasts are found. Will Francisco Alvarez be on the Mets Opening Day roster in 2023? When might we see Austin Wells with the Yankees? Is Logan O'Hoppe up from day one? What's the deal with Henry Davis and Gabriel Moreno? 'Fantasy Baseball Today in 5' is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Castbox and wherever else you listen to podcasts.  Get 20% off Fantasy Baseball Today merch: https://store.cbssports.com/collections/fantasy-baseball-today?utm_source=podcast-apple-com&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=buy-our-merch&utm_content=fantasy-baseball-collection Follow our FBT team on Twitter: @FBTPod, @CTowersCBS, @CBSScottWhite, @Roto_Frank Join our Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/fantasybaseballtoday Sign up for the FBT Newsletter at https://www.cbssports.com/newsletters/fantasy-baseball-today/ For more fantasy baseball coverage from CBS Sports, visit https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/baseball/ To hear more from the CBS Sports Podcast Network, visit https://www.cbssports.com/podcasts/ You can listen to Fantasy Baseball Today in 5 on your smart speakers! Simply say "Alexa, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Baseball Today in 5 podcast" or "Hey Google, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Baseball Today in 5 podcast." To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Catcher Renaissance is here. Let's talk top prospects for 2023 next on Fantasy Baseball today in five. Welcome into FBT and 5. Today is Saturday, October 22. I am Frank Stamphill joined by The Welsh. Make sure you follow them on Twitter at Is It the Welsh? You bet your sweet willy it is. Let's start off with the catcher prospects to know for next season.

These are the catcher prospects that are closest to contributing at the Major League level. And we'll start off with Francisco Alvarez of the Mets, who did just have offseason ankle surgery should be good to start next season whilst do you think that he will be with the Mets at the start of next season? I do. I think the idea of him being a D.H. is firmly in their mind.

So we will reap the benefits of him being a catcher. I think he will probably primarily play more D.H. Because they want that bat to be in the lineup once he recovers from all the injury. End up hitting 27 homers last year, hitting 260, a 374 batting average. something that this team can use in their lineup. Plus, there's some extra pick compensation that's involved in it.

So I think he makes all the sense in the world. You can be a second or even a third tier catcher for this team. He could be an occasional catcher while deaching. That has value with pick compensation. I think you can bank on Alvarez breaking camp. All right. Let's move from the Mets over to the Yankees. And Austin Wells is coming off a great minor league season where he hit 277 with 20 homers

and 16 steals. he's kind of Dalton Varshoy in that way that he does have some pop, he does have some speed as well. For the Yankees, Kyle Higashioca is arbitration eligible through 2024. Jose Trevino is arbitration eligible

through 2025. However, I don't think either guy will block Wells. Once they think he's ready to go, I think they're just going to call him up. They'll figure out what to do with that other catchers that they don't need at that point.

But do you think that will happen at some point next season? Yeah, I do. And I will acknowledge that I think the next guy probably sits a little bit more in the real number two, if we're talking about guys we're going to come right out of drafts with. But the reason that we're talking about Wells here is because the talent and the fantasy

upside that he provides is kind of unlike any of the rest of these guys. He's still 16 bases in under 350 at Bats this past year, hit 20 homers, a high OBP guy. This is a guy that is relatively ready. And he spent a lot of the time at AA. So I think at least by mid-year, you're probably looking at him being up. I don't know if he breaks camp. So that's why again, maybe he's more of a true number two here.

But if you want to play the high upside game, getting stolen bases, getting stolen bases out of a position. I mean, how often do we get that? We get a little bit more now with Ramuto and a guy like Dalton Varsho. Austin Wells could be one of those guys. And you never know what they do in the offseason. We don't know how injuries are going to play out. You talked about both arbitration catchers that maybe something changes.

Austin Wells is one of the guys that's built for the future. Maybe not the primary everyday catcher, but he's someone that can fill that role while that bat is in play. So that's what we need to consider him. All right, that name that you alluded to is Logan O'Hoppy. He's number three on this list with the Angels. Last season in the minors, he hit 283 with a 416 on base percentage, 26 homers, a 960 OPS at AA.

Max Stassee still signed with the team through 2024. But we talked about this on the full-lane podcast, Welsh. I think that Logan O'Hoppe is probably better defensively already than Max Stasi and he could be better offensively. So I think he gets a shot right from right out of the gate with the Angels. Yeah, and I highly suggest everyone go listen to it because you brought out some great stats about Max and as far as like what his defensive metrics are and they are concerning.

And you know, the team has to be looking at it where you look at a guy, Logan O'Hoppy who came from the Phillies and midseason trade, ended up having a huge power output, 26 homers, steals a couple bases, already a better defensive catcher. Bat, like you said, probably already better. There just might be questions because it was a very small sample size at the majors and it was only at AA that maybe they don't bring them up. But again, it's a different world.

If a guy came up in September, we need to consider them to break the roster because of the extra pick compensation. And what better for a team to just get their catcher going in his first year, play for the pit compensation. He's already probably better than the option that you have on both sides. but you don't have to throw him into the fire right off the bat. Logan O'Hoppy might not have the upside of Francisco Alvarez or even Austin Wells if given the opportunity straight up, but I think he will be given the opportunity.

And that's why we need to consider him here. All right. Talk to me about these last two names on the list. Henry Davis with the Pirates, the first overall pick back in 2021. I say that back in like it wasn't just last year. Gabriel Moreno with the Blue Jays, specifically for next season. Do you think we can see Henry Davis up at some point? and Gabriel Moreno, what happens here?

Because he's not hitting for power. And the Blue Jays have two other catchers that look pretty good in Alejandro Kirk and Danny Jansen. Yeah, starting with Henry Davis. Henry Davis is out here in the Arizona Fall League, the finishing school, if you will, working on a whole lot. We're talking about pick compensation that I think, you know, we talk about the big teams doing this. The little teams should be doing this more than anything. Teams like the pirates should be pushing up their prospects more and more

so they can potentially get more picks in these rebuilds. This is what these teams have to do. They can't compete and spin with other teams. So this should be an incentive for those teams to push those guys up more to get more assets. And Henry Davis is showing off. And there's a reason that he's here. He's close. He is a speed guy.

He can actually run. He's got a good arm. The bat's in question right now. I'm a little concerned about it here, but there's raw power for days. And Gabriel Moreno, I'm kind of banking on a trade. I will also relent that Bo Nailer might be the name here. Yonir Diaz. Those are two players that two guys, I think Bo Nailers put on the taxi squad roster and Diaz got a little bit of time.

Both guys might be better options right off the bat. But Gabriel Moreno, if traded, might be a really great option. High, high, OBP batting average guy. I think there's power to be had and maybe a new team can unlock it. But it's kind of wishy-washy in that bottom five area if you're looking for these young catchers for the 2020 season. All right. For more extensive fantasy baseball coverage, listen to the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast on on Spotify, Apple Podcast, Stitcher, your smart speakers,

or anywhere else podcasts are found. And thanks for listening to Fantasy Baseball today in five. We'll be back again on Tuesday morning. Bye bye.