2K15: Joe Mauer

[revo]

It's hard to believe that in just a few short years, Joe Mauer has gone from the game's top fantasy catcher to perhaps its worst everyday first baseman. This is the first season he doesn't have catcher eligibility, so he now has to stand with the big boys. Unfortunately, his power hasn't followed suit, and now even with a solid season, you may only be looking at James Loney II.

But is a solid season even a reach? His 2014 was a disaster of epic proportions, especially for those who thought the move to 1B would keep him healthy and possibly improve his power: .277/4/55 in 120 games before his season mercifully ended.

The 2009 MVP Mauer is long gone, that 28 HRs more than double his next highest seasonal output. Startlingly, his K% has crept up to a point now where it's double what it was just five years ago.

From a fantasy perspective, you almost need to demand a .310+ BA, because without any power and few RBIs, he's barely startable at 1B in deeper leagues. A full season of .270ish with 5-10 HRs and 70 RBIs is barely rosterable.

[virgonomic]

It's hard to believe that in just a few short years, Joe Mauer has gone from the game's top fantasy catcher to perhaps its worst everyday first baseman. This is the first season he doesn't have catcher eligibility, so he now has to stand with the big boys. Unfortunately, his power hasn't followed suit, and now even with a solid season, you may only be looking at James Loney II.

But is a solid season even a reach? His 2014 was a disaster of epic proportions, especially for those who thought the move to 1B would keep him healthy and possibly improve his power: .277/4/55 in 120 games before his season mercifully ended.

The 2009 MVP Mauer is long gone, that 28 HRs more than double his next highest seasonal output. Startlingly, his K% has crept up to a point now where it's double what it was just five years ago.

From a fantasy perspective, you almost need to demand a .310+ BA, because without any power and few RBIs, he's barely startable at 1B in deeper leagues. A full season of .270ish with 5-10 HRs and 70 RBIs is barely rosterable.

Good point. I imagine he'll be valued in single digits but someone asleep at the wheel may splurge on name recognition. In an AL auction league he could be a late 2nd tier nomination.

[Hornsby]

Yeah, I think that the glory days of Joe are pretty well done at this point...which is a shame, since he was just about the best hitter I've watched in person other than Carew.

I think that he's capable of giving you that .310 BA, but the other stats are simply not going to be good enough with no catcher eligibility. I can see up to a dozen homers and maybe 80 RBI, but that makes him an (extremely) poor mans Freddie Freeman. I think that his value is single digits at this point, I know that I wouldn't go past 6-7 bucks for him.