Chad Moeller

Moeller's bat was impotent enough to warrant avoidance treatment to begin with, but now he's essentially a third catcher, with an emphasis on defensive contributions, with the Reds.

Moeller continues to prove that he's anything but a major league catcher. He hit .206 in a reserve role in 2005 and will probably reprise it in 2006.

Moeller was handed the starting catcher spot in spring training of last year and had a dismal season. After showing some promise at the plate in Arizon in 2003, he hit only .208 with five HR for Milwaukee and posted a terrible .568 OPS. This prompted the Brewers to sign Damian Miller in the offseason and drop Moeller to a backup role.

After the trade to Milwaukee, Moeller now shapes up as the Brewers' probable No. 1 catcher, and while he's no Piazza or Pudge, a .265 average with a homer every 10 games or so isn't that bad in NL-only leagues (hey, it beats having to take Brad Ausmus).

Moeller hit passably in limited action with Arizona last year (.286-2-16 in just 105 at-bats, .318 with 10 homers in 60 games at Triple-A). In addition, Moeller was officially anointed as Randy Johnson's catcher by both Johnson and Bob Brenly down the stretch last year. Since Moeller hits better than Rod Barajas and has landed an important customer account in The Big Unit, we like Moeller's chances of getting the bulk of the playing time behind the plate for Arizona in 2003. His bat makes him a decent late-round play in deep NL leagues.