Chad Young’s 2025 Tiered Ottoneu Rankings: First Base (and Util)
I was looking forward to this list and it turned out to be pretty uninspiring. Even while merging in the utility-only bats like Shohei Ohtani and Marcell Ozuna, this group isn’t as exciting as 1B used to be. For years it felt like a necessity to have two 1B to fill 1B and Util, because those were the biggest boppers. It doesn’t feel as true today.
Of the top 30 bats with 300+ PA, sorted by P/G, in 2024, there were five 1B/Util bats and that is being a little generous, because Vlad Guerrero, Jr. qualifies at 3B now. The other four – Ohtani, Ozuna, Bryce Harper and Freddie Freeman – were really the only elite (if elite means top 30) 1B/U bats.
In 2014, that same list included eight 1B and three more who were in their last year before becoming 1B- or U-only.
The game has changed and 1B is both harder to fill (you can’t just take the 12th best 1B and still have a very strong bat) and less crucial (you can get away with one 1B and a util from another position.
Chad Young’s Tiered Ottoneu 1B (and U) Rankings
| Rank | Name | Ottoneu Positions | Tier | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shohei Ohtani | Util | $66-$77 | I think this tier is maybe okay for Shohei the util, but when you add in his value as a SP, he blows this tier away. |
| 2 | Bryce Harper | 1B | $36-$44 | I am pretty surprised that Harper is my top 1B, but I can’t really make a case for moving him down. |
| 3 | Freddie Freeman | 1B | $36-$44 | He had a down year, but it was driven by decreasing contact quality and he is 35, so I wouldn’t expect a big bonceback (but he doesn’t need one). |
| 4 | Matt Olson | 1B | $28-$35 | I feel much more confident in a rebound from Olson and while I would still prefer Freeman, I would take a $30 Olson over a $40 Freeman. |
| 5 | Pete Alonso | 1B | $21-$27 | He’ll get signed somewhere and probably do more or less what he did the last two years again. |
| 6 | Christian Walker | 1B | $15-$20 | I had him in the $15-$20 tier, and then in the $21-$27 tier, and then back, and…well, I really like him in Houston but I guess I can’t get over the $20 mark. |
| 7 | Triston Casas | 1B | $15-$20 | I am torn on Casas because as much as I like the upside, I feel like people are baking in too much of the upside and he’s still fairly unproven. |
| 8 | Vinnie Pasquantino | 1B | $15-$20 | His projections justify this but they also look pretty optimistic. |
| 9 | Josh Naylor | 1B | $10-$14 | Another guy right on the edge of two tiers, but I am not sure his new park will do him a ton of favors. |
| 10 | Yandy Diaz | 1B | $10-$14 | He’s had significant home/road splits 3 of the last 4 years and I am not sure the new park will help him. |
| 11 | Marcell Ozuna | Util | $10-$14 | I don’t love having Util only players on my roster because they impact bench-building, and this represents a discount on his production as a result. |
| 12 | Paul Goldschmidt | 1B | $6-$9 | In the early Ottoneu mock drafts, only one 1B had an average salary under $14 and over $5, making this tier and the one above it something of a dead spot. |
| 13 | Joc Pederson | Util | $6-$9 | He was productive two of the last three years playing in two of the three worst parks for lefty power; now he will be in the 7th best. |
| 14 | Ryan Mountcastle | 1B | $6-$9 | The wall isn’t coming all the way in, but I wonder if the psychological impact will be meaningful. |
| 15 | Kyle Manzardo | 1B | $6-$9 | I know I am going to get beat up for putting him over CES, but look how good he was when he came back up late in 2024. |
| 16 | Christian Encarnacion-Strand | 1B | $6-$9 | His statcast metrics went way down, but I think a lot of that was his chase rate – he lost a lot less HH%, Barrel%, and EV if you only look at pitches in the zone. |
| 17 | Nathaniel Lowe | 1B | $6-$9 | He’s boring but he gets the job done (and he was the one 1B over $5 and under $14 in the mocks). |
| 18 | Nolan Schanuel | 1B | $3-$5 | I want to believe he can find power, but there is nothing in his batted ball or bat speed metrics to suggest pop is coming. |
| 19 | Spencer Torkelson | 1B | $3-$5 | The good version of him that hit 31 HR wasn’t that good for this format, so you need to see a career year to really feel excited. |
| 20 | Giancarlo Stanton | Util | $3-$5 | It feels a little crazy to keep going back to Stanton, but did you see what he did in the postseason? |
| 21 | Masataka Yoshida | Util | $3-$5 | This is mostly a bet on him getting OF eligibility back – his bat isn’t bad but it’s not “lock up your util spot” good either. |
| 22 | Rhys Hoskins | 1B | $3-$5 | I think he gets back to what he did in 2022, and that’s a perfectly rosterable 1B option. |
| 23 | Bryce Eldridge | 1B | $3-$5 | The minimum bar to be an impact 1B in fantasy makes all 1B prospects pretty risky, but he’s as interesting as they get. |
| 24 | Nick Kurtz | Util | $1-$2 | Or maybe he is. |
| 25 | Xavier Isaac | 1B | $1-$2 | Ooooh maybe him (but probably next year). |
| 26 | Michael Busch | 1B | $1-$2 | I kind of wanted to put him in the $0-$1 tier, but he might get additional eligibility, maybe? Without it, I don’t see the appeal. |
| 27 | Tyler Black | 1B | $0-$1 | I get the intrigue, but he’s an end-of-draft-if-I-need-him-and-don’t-have-better-options type. |
| 28 | Jac Caglianone | 1B | $0-$1 | Want to see him really hit pro pitching. |
| 29 | Tyler Locklear | 1B | $0-$1 | His minor league numbers give me some hope he can be useful if he gets a real shot this year. |
| 30 | Josh Bell | 1B | $0-$1 | This tier is a lot of old bats that are probably done but he is the most interesting. |
| 31 | Andrew McCutchen | Util | $0-$1 | He wasn’t half bad last year. |
| 32 | Carlos Santana | 1B | $0-$1 | Last year he was really only useful against LHP and that could go away at any point. |
| 33 | Juan Yepez | 1B | $0-$1 | I like him as a small-side platoon bat but as a 1B-only who may not even have that role locked down, I am only watching for now. |
| 34 | Andrew Vaughn | 1B | $0-$1 | It hasn’t happened yet, not sure why we think it will happen now. |
| 35 | Eloy Jimenez | Util | $0-$1 | Anything is possible, right? |
| 36 | J.D. Martinez | Util | $0-$1 | I am sure he will get a look somewhere, but I think this is about the end of the road. |
| 37 | Ralphy Velazquez | 1B | $0-$1 | 1B prospects are never that exciting even if they are a little exciting. |
| 38 | Tre’ Morgan | 1B | $0 | With more seasoning and maybe an obvious path to OF eligibility, I could be interested. |
| 39 | Matt Mervis | 1B | $0 | Let’s see what the change of scenery can do for him. |
| 40 | Justin Turner | 1B | $0 | If he gets a job, he might be worth moving up a tier. |
| 41 | Ty France | 1B | $0 | It isn’t clear to me how he will get PA. |
| 42 | Rowdy Tellez | 1B | $0 | If he gets a job, he’s still probably not super exciting. |
| 43 | Daniel Vogelbach | Util | $0 | Didn’t I just rank this guy 42? Why is he showing up twice? |
| 44 | Andre Lipcius | 1B | $0 | I don’t think there is anything here, but Chicago may not have enough better options to stop him from getting a chance. |
| 45 | Wilmer Flores | 1B | $0 | He could hit lefties enough to justify a roster spot, but for now just a watchlist guy to see if he still has anything left. |
| 46 | Anthony Rizzo | 1B | $0 | He wasn’t useful last year and anywhere he ends up this year will be a park and lineup downgrade. |
| 47 | Joey Meneses | 1B | $0 | Age 30 breakouts aren’t reliable indicators of future performance. |
| 48 | Rodolfo Castro | Util | $0 | He wasn’t a super exciting Ottoneu player when he had MI eligibility. |
A long-time fantasy baseball veteran and one of the creators of ottoneu, Chad Young's writes for RotoGraphs and PitcherList, and can be heard on the ottobot podcast. You can follow him on Twitter @chadyoung.
Is Rooker going to be included in the OF article? Is not having Toglia ranked an oversight? What tier would these guys fall under?
Both were in the OF list last week. They’re both OF eligible and really shouldn’t be used at 1B.