Minnesota Twins catcher Joe Mauer had surgery Friday to remove an obstruction in his kidney, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reported. The procedure was minor, and Mauer is expected to be fully ready for Spring Training, general manager Bill Smith told the Star-Tribune.

Mauer is widely regarded as the best young catcher in baseball. In addition to winning two American League batting titles, he is also respected by the Twins’ pitching staff and commended for his leadership on the field. Just what you want in a catcher, and at just 25 years of age.

All that said, Mauer’s real-life impact dwarfs what he does on the fantasy baseball diamond. The batting average is great, and unique for his position, but the light-hitting, low-speed, average-run producing combination isn’t worth the price to pay for his name.

He’s still a top-4 catcher — behind Brian McCann, Geovany Soto and Russell Martin, in our opinion — but he’s just slightly above average for the position.

Of course, outside of McCann and Soto, who generated power, RBIs and quality batting averages last season, picking a catcher comes down to preference. Mauer can be used to make up ground in batting average, just like Martin can be used to make up ground in steals.

Choosing between those two or waiting for a lesser catcher in later rounds comes down to how your team is composed. If there are several low-average, corner-infield types on the roster, Mauer’s average is valuable. If your team speed is good, not great, then perhaps Martin’s 12-15 steals will mean a leap in the standings.

If you get to the range where Martin and Mauer are going off the board — likely anytime after the 8th round of 10-team drafts — and can fill another, more pressing need, then bypass them and wait. Anyone from Ryan Doumit and Matt Wieters to veterans Ramon Hernandez or Bengie Molina will be available later.

Catcher simply is the least important position in fantasy, nearly to the same degree that a kicker is irrelevant in fantasy football. Sure, there are proven producers, but there are constantly unexpected stars emerging. With the number of available options, don’t overvalue any one catcher, especially Mauer, just for name recognition.