[Lefty Noob]

Anyone know anything about this guy? I wound up with him after my league's auto-draft, and I've never heard of him. Zaun, Leiberthal, LaRue, Matheny, Y. Molina are some of the names still available. Is this guy worth keeping? Should I pick up one of these other catchers for insurance?

[EmpireWF]

You should keep him since he'll start most of the year for Seattle. Nobody knows what to expect from him here. You should definitely pick up a 2nd Catcher if you don't already have one.

Out of the guys listed, I would go after Molina.

[bahoena]

I would 2nd that, going after Molina. He's projected to be the best of the Molina's, and it doesn't hurt being on a very good team. He'll be surrounded by talented hitters.

[Lefty Noob]

Thanks, guys! On my way to go pick him up... hope he's still there!

[Mid-depth_Reporter]

My favorite baseball team is the Seattle Mariners so I know a little bit about Kenji Johjima. He was a high average hitter in Japan, who showed some power and RBI ability.

Here are his stats from the last few years for the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks of Japan.

Year GMS AB Runs Hits 2B 3B HR RBI AVG
2002 115 416 60 122 18 0 25 74 .293
2003 140 551 101 182 39 2 34 119 .330
2004 116 426 91 144 25 1 36 91 .338
2005 116 411 70 127 22 4 24 57 .309

Like EmpireWF said, he'll be the Mariners main catcher this year. Seattle lost Dan Wilson to free agency and Miguel Olivo (Seattle's former catching prospect) now plays for the Florida Marlins.

However, if you're looking for a catcher, you might take a shot at Joe Mauer if he's still available. He plays for the Minnesota Twins. This kid is good, but he's still adjusting to the MLB. He's shown the ability to adjust to pitching during a game.

Here are his stats from last year.

GMS AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB AVG
131 489 61 144 26 2 9 55 13 .294

On a side note: During his high school career, he only struck out one time.

[EmpireWF]

Mauer is definitley going to be a great hitter in the future (as everyone expects) but it won't be overnight.

I was able to draft Varitek and then Johjima as my back-up. I'm confident that once Varitek slows down and stops producing at some point (which is bound to happen), Johjima will pick me up some.