2011 First Base Rankings: August
New month, new rankings. The trade deadline had some fantasy impact on the first base position, but nothing too crazy. Here are last month’s rankings, which link back even further into the season.
Tier One
Adrian Gonzalez
Joey Votto 
Prince Fielder
Miguel Cabrera
Albert Pujols
So ranking Votto and Pujols in tier two last month was pretty stupid, no? These five remain the best of the best, but it is kinda weird to see Pujols with a lower wOBA than Alex Gordon and Jhonny Peralta in early-August.
Tier Two
Paul Konerko 
Lance Berkman
Mark Teixeira
Ryan Howard
Kevin Youkilis
ZiPS really likes Konerko for the rest of the season but doesn’t love him, which is why he’s a notch below the super-elite guys. Berkman has cooled off but is still immensely productive, as are Tex and Howard. You’re better off using Youk at third base, but you knew that already.
Tier Three
Freddie Freeman
Gaby Sanchez
Mike Morse
Billy Butler
Michael Cuddyer
Michael Young
Eric Hosmer
Todd Helton
Freeman man, that dude’s been on a mission since mid-May and hasn’t stopped hitting. Hosmer’s tear hasn’t lasted quite that long, but he’s been producing at a high level for more than a month. Morse has been mashing for close to 700 PA now, so we’re beyond the point of him possibly being a fluke. All three lack track records though, which relegates them to tier three.
Tier Four
Carlos Pena
Adam Lind
Mark Trumbo
Daniel Murphy
Casey Kotchman
Mitch Moreland
Matt LaPorta
There was a short period of time, maybe three or four weeks earlier in the season, during which Lind was actually outhitting teammate Jose Bautista, but that’s over with and Lind has fallen into a deep and prolonged slump. Moreland’s production has declined as well, though Murphy and Trumbo continue to climb the rankings. Trumbo will kill you in an OBP league and Murphy doesn’t hit the ball over the fence very often, their primary negatives
Tier Five
Carlos Lee
Lucas Duda
Derrek Lee
Aubrey Huff
Justin Smoak
Ty Wigginton
Garrett Jones
James Loney
Chris Davis
Yonder Alonso
Russell Branyan
Eric Hinske
Adam Kennedy
Adam Dunn
Brandon Belt
Kyle Blanks
Duda, Davis, Alonso, and Blanks are all new to the rankings. The first three got their jobs with some help from the trade deadline, the latter with a return from injury. Smoak hasn’t hit much of anything for close to two months now, and Belt is still (still!) stuck behind Huff’s reanimated corpse.
Off The Radar
Anthony Rizzo
Juan Miranda
Brett Wallace
Lyle Overbay
Ike Davis
Justin Morneau
Luke Scott
Daric Barton
Brad Hawpe
Adam LaRoche
Kila Ka’aihue
Brandon Allen
Dan Johnson
Kendrys Morales
Chris Carter
Jorge Cantu
Xavier Nady
Rizzo, Wallace, and Davis will definitely be back at some point in the future (not necessary this year), but everyone else is kinda on the fence for whatever reason.
Mike writes about the Yankees at River Ave. Blues and baseball in general at CBS Sports.
I know wOBA doesn’t translate to fantasy value evenly, but by wOBA Morse should be at the top of tier 2. What do you suppose his ADP is next year?
Where is Jesus Guzman? The dude hits every night and is mashing home runs in PETCO Park! He destroys lefties too , as a righty.
Victor Martinez?
Catcher eligible, same with Napoli and pre-injury Posey. So much more valuable behind the plate, it’s not even worth the time to rank them with the 1B.
time to drop dunn?
Yeah I think so. He looks completely hopeless at the plate.
No Paul Goldschmidt?
Billy Butler: 6 HRs in the last 8 games!!!
Sweet Jesus and/or Jobu! Guzman is going ape #@$! since being called
This week: .438 avg, 1.062 OPS, 4 R, 4 RBI, 4 SB… FOUR STOLEN BASES?! I had to go back 7.5 weeks to find the last time Bourn stole 4 or more bases for me over a given week.
I know that Rizzo will eventually displace him in SD, but damn it, that guy should get a shot as the every day 1B for a season with the way he’s been playing. It’s kind of a shame that he wasn’t ranked here though.
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