Justin Mason’s Top 50 First Basemen for 2020

December 17, 2019

It is that time of year again! With the new year upon us, I am releasing my first set of ranks during this week and next for those doing early drafts or prep over the holidays. All ADP and position eligibility are based on NFBC Draft Champions leagues.

Rank	Player	Team	Position(s)	ADP	Comments
1	Cody Bellinger	LAD	1B, OF	5.59	Second half wasn’t as good as the first, but how could it be?
2	Freddie Freeman	ATL	1B	17.5	Elbow is a bit scary, but early reports are good.
3	Pete Alonso	NYM	1B	28.23	Probably too high in the overall ADP.
4	Anthony Rizzo	CHC	1B	61.27	About as consistent as they come.
5	Paul Goldschmidt	STL	1B	68.64	Name value is still keeping him in the top five. Probably shouldn’t though.
6	Matt Olson	OAK	1B	68.86	Love Olson! May move him above Rizzo and Goldy. Hit 36 HRs in 541 PAs after returning from broken hamate.
7	Max Muncy	LAD	2B, 1B, 3B	77.86	Repeated the 2018 breakout. No reason to think he can’t continue the success.
8	DJ LeMahieu	NYY	1B, 3B, 2B	62.5	First year in the Bronx was insane. Has multi-positional eligibility. Why do I not trust him?
9	Josh Bell	PIT	1B	91.82	Second half drop off was scary, but I believe in the talent.
10	Jose Abreu	CWS	1B	80.14	Looks like 2018 was an anomaly. Team should be better in 2020 as well.
11	Rhys Hoskins	PHI	1B	118.64	Average drop for the second straight year is concerning, but has a nice discount and a great team around him.
12	Trey Mancini	BAL	OF, 1B	107.32	One of the most underrated players in fantasy. Will the Orioles trade him though?
13	Yuli Gurriel	HOU	1B, 3B	106.09	Without the trash cans in centerfield, how bad will the regression be?
14	Yasmani Grandal	CWS	1B, C	103.55	Are you really ever going to play him at 1B?
15	Luke Voit	NYY	1B	196.27	Things could change if the Yankees bring in more hitters.
16	Carlos Santana	CLE	1B	145.64	Career year at 33? Regression, likely being traded makes him difficult to rank.
17	Joc Pederson	LAD	1B, OF	197.82	Quietly put together a career year. I have always believed, but do the Dodgers?
18	Danny Santana	TEX	1B, OF	120.77	Not completely buying the breakout yet.
19	Joey Votto	CIN	1B	288.86	Is this the end for Votto?
20	Michael Chavis	BOS	1B, 2B	223.5	If healthy and starting, he could hit 30.
21	Yandy Diaz	TB	1B, 3B	213.05	Will he ever raise the launch angle consistently enough to make use of those pythons?
22	Renato Nunez	BAL	1B	263.05	Cheap power source
23	Edwin Encarnacion	FA	1B	214.77	Where does he sign?
24	Eric Hosmer	SD	1B	216.05	How many more years is that deal?
25	Garrett Cooper	MIA	1B, OF	320.91	Cooper is in great shape coming into 2020, but the addition of Aguilar casts doubt on his role.
26	Daniel Murphy	COL	1B	224.45	I worry the injuries have taken too much of a toll.
27	Christian Walker	ARZ	1B	205.95	Days are numbered with Cron and Beer in the minors.
28	Nate Lowe	TB	1B	239.5	Why do the Rays hate him?
29	Rowdy Tellez	TOR	1B	367.32	Love him, but I don’t think the Blue Jays do.
30	C.J. Cron	MIN	1B	274.73	Underrated by most including me.
31	Miguel Cabrera	DET	1B	394.05	This ranking made me sad.
32	Jesus Aguilar	MIA	1B	497.91	Love the move to Miami. Probably need to move him up a bunch.
33	Brandon Belt	SF	1B	447.27	Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me 23 times, I hate you Belt.
34	Evan White	SEA	1B	437.55	Contract means he should be up soon. Worth stashing.
35	Jake Bauers	CLE	1B, OF	466.14	His dad Jack had way more pop.
36	Jake Lamb	ARZ	1B, 3B	490.59	I want to believe we will see the guy we thought he’d turn into, but at this point it is hard to believe that will ever come.
37	Travis d’Arnaud	ATL	1B, C	264.09	He is a catcher.
38	Howie Kendrick	WAS	1B, 2B	332.5	Playoff hero not worth rostering.
39	Marwin Gonzalez	MIN	1B, 3B, OF	348.27	Underrated considering the eligibility.
40	Jeimer Candelario	DET	1B, 3B	518.91	Going way too low, but I get why.
41	Ji-Man Choi	TB	1B	421.36	Rays love him, but role is still uncertain.
42	Dominic Smith	NYM	OF, 1B	364.09	Where does he play?
43	Ryan Mountcastle	BAL	1B	395.59	This should be the year we finally see him. Bat should play well in Camden.
44	Eric Thames	FA	1B	425.59	What is his role going to be?
45	Seth Beer	AZ	1B	666.32	Bat is MLB ready, but he is ROUGH defensively.
46	Justin Smoak	FA	1B	527.05	Does he get a starting gig?
47	Ryan O’Hearn	KC	1B	641.91	Whiffed on him last year. Not going to fall for it twice.
48	Daniel Vogelbach	SEA	1B	406.09	Fun story, but White should be up soon and there are others that will steal time as well.
49	Albert Pujols	LAA	1B	462.14	The end is near, if you are not talking about his contract.
50	Ryan Zimmerman	WAS	1B	594	Should end up back in DC, which would move him up 5-6 spots at least.

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RobertMember since 2017

5 years ago

Thanks for the list Justin. Miggy and Aguilar are both #31. Do you feel very strongly about ranking them the same or is this really a top 51 first baseman? Is there some SEO reason that makes top 40 a better search term than 50, hence the title?

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Justin MasonFanGraphs Staff

Reply to Robert

Fixed