Fantasy Baseball: Is Buster Posey A Top 5 Catcher In 2011?

I was trading emails with a fellow UBA owner last night discussing Buster Posey and his recent power surge. I opined that I think Posey could be the top catcher in NL-only leagues in 2011, breaking Brian McCann's stranglehold at that spot over the last few years.

Here are their 2010 stats:

McCann-10 HRs, 37 RBIs, .267-.382-.453 in 247 ABs

Posey-7 HRs, 23 RBIs, .351-.386-.560 in 134 ABs

Of course, we all know Posey won't hit .350 all year, but he could hit .300, and he is on pace to hit 15 HRs and and drive in close to 50. Posey will be the Giants starting catcher for the rest of the season, and he hit cleanup last night, so he should plenty more RBI opportunities the rest of the year with Andres Torres and Freddy Sanchez getting on base in front of him. (Has anyone else noticed that Pablo Sandoval has been hitting 7th lately??).

I own Posey in one of my NL-only keeper leagues and am very happy to have him at $5 next season. We recently ranked all catchers for the rest of the season here, and Posey was ranked 9th overall, but these rankings were completed before Posey's recent hot streak.

Victor Martinez and Joe Mauer are obvious choices to be picked ahead of Posey next season, and possibly Indians catcher Carlos Santana, but I am not sure any other catcher will be an obvious pick ahead of Posey in 2011.