The 2013 season is barely over, but work on the 2014 season is well under way. Last season, I rolled out Total Run Index (TRI) for the first time on this site. Now, I am in full offseason mode where I am working on compiling the data for 2014. Some of that data is done and I’ll give fans a sneak peek for the coming season. Mind you, I won’t give away the whole farm because we still have the 2014 Fantasy Baseball Preview to release.

The whole idea here is to take a look back at the season that was and give you some idea of how TRI works. The best part of TRI is to come, but simply looking back at 2013 can give us some idea of which players are overvalued and which players are undervalued.

Total run index has actually been several years in the making. It began as a way to help teams get an idea of a player’s true value, but evolved into a fantasy tool for this site. It combines hitting and baserunning numbers from three different sites into one workable number for each player. We compare each player with the league average so that they either finish above zero or below zero. The beauty is that since every player is compared with the average, you can compare players from various positions fairly easily.[am4show have=’p3;p4;p7;p9;’ guest_error=’Front Office’ user_error=’Front Office’ ]

1. Carlos Santana— Cleveland Indians

Hitting: +29.2

Running: -2.1

TRI: +27.1

We’ve been waiting for Santana to put it together for some time now and he finally has developed into the sort of fantasy force we thought he would be. Mind you, it was a down year for catchers offensively, so it isn’t as if Santana took a giant leap forward. Now, that he is in his fourth season we can say this is probably where he’s going to settle in.

2. Joe Mauer— Minnesota Twins

Hitting: +25.2

Running: -0.7

TRI: +24.5

The Twins have one of those dilemmas that could effect their near and distant future. Joe Mauer suffered a concussion late in the season and while he has fully recovered, they are concerned about his health long-term. With Justin Morneau gone, they could move him to first base. While that would prolong his career, it also would limit his value in relationship with the rest of the players at his position. If he continues at catcher he may have only two or three prime years left.

3. Buster Posey— San Francisco Giants

Hitting: +23.4

Running: -3.5

TRI: +19.9

It was a down year for Posey and there really is no getting around that. However, it wasn’t a terrible season for him. When you consider the home park he has to play in and the fact that his teammates also seemed to struggle, you can kind of understand it. Normally, he would be the top catcher on the board.

4. Jason Castro— Houston Astros

Hitting: +17.5

Running: +1.3

TRI: +18.8

At first glance, it would appear that the Astros signed the wrong young player to a long-term contract (Jose Altuve was their recipient). That being said, he missed the last three weeks of the season to injury leaving him without a full season to his name yet. That being said, he was quietly very effective last season and should be in the future.

5. Yadier Molina— St. Louis Cardinals

Hitting: +20.4

Running: -3.1

TRI: +17.3

This has been three consecutive productive seasons for a player that used to be the epitome of all field, no hit. Now, he might just be the best all-around catcher in the game when fielding is taken into account. Fantasy players don’t consider that and you have to wonder how much longer the high batting averages will continue.

6. Mike Napoli— Boston Red Sox

Hitting: +17.6

Running: -0.6

TRI: +17.0

Napoli has become what the Twins are considering with Joe Mauer. He’s a decent enough first baseman, but he really only has value as long as he continues to be eligible at catcher. Without playing there last season, it remains to be seen how long he will be eligible there. If he does not remain eligible there he will become marginal as a fantasy player.

7. Jarrod Saltalamacchia— Boston Red Sox

Hitting: +9.2

Running: +0.6

TRI: +9.8

One of the things TRI is good for is that it highlights when we have sizable gaps in performance at certain positions. He is an impending free agent, but the odds are good he will return to Boston. This is about as good as we can expect from him and his step forward is one of the reasons why Boston got to the World Series.

8. Brian McCann— Atlanta Braves

Hitting: +9.2

Running: -2.6

TRI: +6.6

Brian McCann and Jarrod Saltalamacchia will both be free agents this winter. Odds are good that the Braves will let him walk, so it will be interesting to see what kind of market McCann will find. Overall, Saltalamacchia was a better player in 2013, but McCann has a better track record. So, who will win out? The player who was better last year or the player with the better track record over time?

9. John Jaso— Oakland Athletics

Hitting: +6.4

Running: -0.3

TRI: +6.1

John Jaso presents a unique decision that usually only happens at the catcher position. In terms of quality he is probably actually closer to the top five overall, but he loses some value because The A’s love to platoon players. So, do you want very good value for 300-400 plate appearances or do you want solid value for 500 plate appearances? It’s a tough call at catcher.

10. Jonathan Lucroy— Milwaukee Brewers

Hitting: +8.9

Running: -5.0

TRI: +3.9

Lucroy got off to a slow start, but he finished the season at about the same spot as he did in 2012. Unfortunately, the Brewers didn’t have enough performers to make it last season, but with the development of Scooter Gennett, Jean Segura, and Carlos Gomez up the middle they could be a force to be reckoned in 2014.

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