We all were worried about Mauer’s back ailment that sidelined him for all of April.  He quickly put to rest fears when he returned to promptly hit 11 HRs with a .414 AVE in May.  He’s always been a threat in the batting average category, but where did all that power come from? He averaged just over 4 HRs per month for the rest of the season, which may be more indicative of where his power stroke has landed.  Look for the same stellar average and keep expectations in check – 15 to 20 HRs would be great.

V-Mart will be behind the dish most often, but he’ll get his fair share of time at first base (and maybe even DH) throughout the year.  What’s the point? – his bat is too valuable to have out of the lineup, but Boston has to be careful not to burn him out.  A full season in Fenway Park with a tremendously better lineup around him should produce some awfully lofty numbers for the pending free agent.

McCann experienced “blurry vision” which caused him to miss most of April.  He came back on a tear batting .318 over the next 3 months – apparently, the doctor outfitted him with Superman’s glasses.  He had laser eye surgery during the off season so we’re confident the issues are behind him.  He’s certainly the top NL catcher and is easily the number 3 backstop off the board after Mauer and Martinez.

Sometimes hyped fantasy prospects don’t quite live up to their billing, but that’s not the case with Wieters.  He was up and down in the average category during his last 4 months of service,  .257, .323, .250, .362,  but he still managed to land at a .288 season mark.  Baltimore plans on exposing him to about 140 games, so he’s not quite ready for full time duty yet.  That doesn’t mean his production won’t come in handy for the upcoming season.

He's old. He's injury prone. But, he's still a player with pop and catcher eligibility.  He sports a career ratio of 1 HR per 22 ABs, which isn’t too shabby for a catcher.  But, there's no way Posada will get away with a full season unscathed, so you'll certainly be trolling the waiver wire at some point if you draft him. Nevertheless, a small ballpark, a history of power, and a strong lineup dictate fantasy respect.

Suzuki more than doubled his HR and RBI production with only 40 more at-bats.  Although his OBP dropped from .346 to .313, it was certainly a successful season for the A’s backstop.  A .270 average and low double-digit homerun totals are reasonable.  However, playing Oakland Coliseum will hinder his ability to improve on the 15 HR-88 RBI line he posted last year.

Chris Snyder's injury woes certainly helped, but the Diamondbacks simply couldn't ignore his production.  He blossomed, finishing at a .294-16-59 line and he enters 2010 as the unquestioned starter.  We like the ballpark, we like the lineup, we think he’ll finish at .275-15-70.

Bengie Molina’s return to the San Francisco Giants was one of the biggest free agent surprises.  After a 20-HR season and with Buster Posey on the verge of cracking the roster, it was almost a foregone conclusion that Molina would land a lucrative free agent contract elsewhere.  The market was soft and the Giants were more than willing to bring him back.  Molina will likely be slotted in the 6th slot instead of batting cleanup and Posey isn't going away, so you'll likely see a decline in production.  But, we think he can be a low-end option in mixed leagues for at least part of the season.

Unfortunately, “real” managers like Mike Scioscia have very little pity on us fantasy-types.  Although, Napoli has produced consistent offensive results, Scioscia values a platoon with the more defensively competent Jeff Mathis.  Napoli’s splits are decent, amassing a .253 AVE with 14 HRs vs. lefties and a .330 AVE with 6 HRs vs. righties, so he might see a little time at DH, but there’s no indication that he will receive more playing time in 2010.

Doumit is a bit of Posada-Light.  He certainly has the potential to post outstanding numbers when healthy – but he’s rarely ever 100%.  Doumit will likely be someone’s starting mixed league catcher, just make sure to have a list of free agent catchers handy.