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I'm in kind of a dillema because I just traded for Mauer but Inge is starting to catch on fire. Who should I start, and who'll have a better season overall?

Mauer is clearly the better option in my book.

I love them both. If you must have both on your roster then look at the week ahead and see who has the more favorable mathchups. If I were you, I'd trade one of them and fill another need. Target a team in your league with a weak catcher. Anybody would love to have either of these guys.

Inge isn't starting to catch on fire, he's been on fire since his opening day first at bat homer.

With Mauer's inexperience and gimpy knee, I would prefer inge over mauer. Inge is/will be huge this year.

I agree with that. If it's a single season league, I would count on Inge to hold up far better in terms of injuries and not wear down over the second half. Remember that Mauer has never had anything close to a full season and can be expected to taper off considerably in the second half even if he stays healthy.

Beyond this, while I do see Inge as a bit of a BA risk, he will have better run production playing every day and willl bring a handful of SBs, which Mauer will not.

I'd take Mauer by a LOT. His upside is considerably more (he actually has close to the most upside of anybody in the majors). Inge, on the other hand, looks pretty flukish in my opinion. He never did anything close to what he did last year (the improvement was substantial enough to be eyepopping) and his minor league stats were horrible, too.

warrick95 wrote:I'd take Mauer by a LOT. His upside is considerably more (he actually has close to the most upside of anybody in the majors). Inge, on the other hand, looks pretty flukish in my opinion. He never did anything close to what he did last year (the improvement was substantial enough to be eyepopping) and his minor league stats were horrible, too.

The difference in Inge is that he is no longer a catcher. He is a different player at the plate when he is not catching, which he was a college shortstop and a pretty good one at that before he got moved to catcher in the minors and struggled at the plate ever since. Same thing happened last season. If it wasn't for the significant position change, then he very well might be a fluke, but I don't see him as a fluke at all.

I think they both have benefits for this season if you're not talking a keeper league. Mauer has superstar potential but as a catcher won't play everyday and has past knee issues.

Inge is hitting leadoff and will play pretty much everyday, will score quite a few runs.

If the differences were less significant, perhaps, but look at these numbers:

1999 (A): .244-.324-.403-9 HR-46 RBI (100 G)
2000 (AA): .258-.323-.409-6 HR-53 RBI (78 G)
2000 (AAA): .221-.284-.379-5 HR-20 RBI (55 G)
2001 (AAA): .289-.345-2 HR-15 RBI (27 G)
2001 (DET): .180-.215-0 HR-15 RBI (79 G 189 AB)
2002 (DET): .202-.266-.333-7 HR-24 RBI (321 AB)
2003 (DET): .203-.265-.339-8 HR-30 RBI (330 AB)
2004 (DET): .287-.340-.453-13 HR-64 RBI (408 AB)

Note that he did play some AAA in 2002 and 2003, too.

Anyway, which year stands out...clearly 2004. It's quite a bit off his career norms, which scares me. I agree that mentally, he'd feel like a load was taken off his shoulders with the position change, but I do not think that that will result in that large a difference to turn him into a decent player. This guy never did much in the minors...I barely understand why he was even promoted. He certainly didn't conquer all of the levels (it's actually questionable if he conquered any). I think he'll give you decent pop (around 15 homers, a handful of SBs that are rare for a "catcher," and runs, as you said at the top of a potent lineup). However, I don't think he's going to be nearly as much of an asset to the Detroit Tigers as a team. I think his average is going to creep closer to his career numbers...I doubt he'll hit higher than the .260s at best.

One thing I have to point out...is that he may help a team fantasywise, but for the Tigers...

what about inge and ramon hernandez?

For this year give me Inge. How many games can we realistically expect from Mauer? 130? I predict Inge gets 100ish more AB than Mauer this year.