Inside MLB - Projecting Top 20 Catchers in 2020

Baseball is a tough sport to predict on a day-in and day-out basis, and it becomes exponentially more difficult to predict looking years into the future. But that's exactly what we're going to be doing here.

The following is the first installment in an upcoming series that we've dubbed, "Inside MLB's MLB 20 for '20." In this series, we'll attempt to project the top 20 players at each position five years down the road in 2020.

We'll kick things off behind the plate with the catcher position, with backstops graded out according to this 100-point scale:

• Offense (55 points): While defense is certainly important behind the plate, offensive ability is generally the difference between an everyday catcher and a backup catcher. A total of 55 points were awarded for offensive skill set. Contact rate, batting average, approach, on-base skills and overall power were all taken into account.

• Defense/Speed (40 points): Defense is as important for backstops as it is for any position on the diamond, so 40 points were given for defensive skills. Throwing arm and accuracy, as well as receiving skills, pitch-framing and receiving ERA were all taken into account. Overall athleticism was also factored into this section, as was speed on the offensive side of things..