Pierzynski to lose PT in 2012?: The Sports Xchange reports White Sox C A.J. Pierzynski is again spending the offseason preparing to be the everyday starter. What will be interesting for new manager Robin Ventura will be whether he continues to lean on Pierzynski or if he starts giving more time to Tyler Flowers? (Updated 01/04/2012)
Injury Report
No information available at this time (Updated 2/12/12).
Fantasy Analysis
Pierzynski will be in the final year of his contract, and he will likely not be back in 2013 with the Sox seemingly going with youth. Ventura will likely play Pierzynski heavily early, but if the season begins to get away from the team, then Flowers could see increased action. Several pitchers, including RHP Jake Peavy, felt just as comfortable with Flowers behind the plate as Pierzynski, but it is definitely something to keep an eye on. Pierzynski has also hit below .300 and less than 10 homers the last two seasons, so he is not the same offensive player he used to be. Consider Pierzynski more of an AL-only and No. 2 Fantasy catcher in mixed leagues on Draft Day. (Updated 01/04/2012).
02/02/2012 12:21 2012 Draft Prep: Our 12-team, mixed Rotisserie draft
It's time for owners to start looking ahead to Draft Day. We get you off and running with our 12-team Rotisserie mock draft. Check out the results!
For better or worse, A.J. Pierzynski is still the White Sox's starting catcher. On the one hand, that means he'll remain a reasonable fallback option for the Fantasy owner who waits until the last round (or two) to draft his starting catcher (or catchers), ranking 12th at the position in Rotisserie leagues last year and 13th in Head-to-Head. On the other hand, that means he's blocking the up-and-coming Tyler Flowers, who is coming off a bounce-back season at Triple-A and an encouraging major-league showing in which he hit five homers in only 110 at-bats. Though the presence of Pierzynski in the late rounds is comforting, Fantasy owners would benefit more from a transition to Flowers, which could still be in order given Pierzynski's declining numbers. Yes, he may have hit .287 last year, but at age 35, he's not quite the player he used to be. He no longer offers much in the way of power, and he was never considered much of a defender. Even if he's the technical "starter," a gradual surrender of at-bats to Flowers would curtail Pierzynski's productivity enough to make him perhaps not such a good fallback option after all. If you're looking for a second catcher, you might want to target someone younger. (Updated 1/11/12)