The Star-Ledger-USA TODAY Sports
Thanks to longtime New York Yankees C Jorge Posada, fantasy baseball owners have become accustomed to owning the Yanks’ backstop year after year.
This season that honor has been bestowed upon Francisco Cervelli. The young catcher has become a popular fantasy option in the early part of the season, but is it deserved?
Cervelli crushed a solo home run in the team’s 6-2 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks last week. The catcher instantly became one of the top free agent catchers and many owners thought he was a steal.
Cervelli is currently hitting .301 with five extra base hits (three doubles and two home runs) on the year. He has also scored 11 runs and on the surface seems to be a reliable fantasy option.
However, Cervelli simply doesn’t have a strangle hold on the everyday catching job in the Bronx. The team also has Chris Stewart on the roster and the two will be splitting duties behind the plate all year long. Additionally, the team has superstar prospect, Gary Sanchez, just waiting to get to the show. A couple poor performances and Cervelli could become completely irrelevant in the fantasy world.
New York has too many options to give one catcher a heavy dose of the action, so expect a catcher-by-committee for the remainder of the year. Cervelli may serve as a valuable starter here and there, but he is in no way a long-term solution.
If you are looking for a reliable fantasy backstop this season it would be better to simply avoid the New York Yankees.
Adam McGill is the Senior Fantasy Sports Writer at Rant Sports. Follow him on Twitter @adammcgill83, like him on Facebook, or add him to you networks on Google here or here.
