Rotographs Midseason Rankings – First Base
We’re back at it again today with our midseason rankings. After covering Catchers yesterday, we jump to First Base today. I put my rankings in last and added some names that were forgotten on my initial list and the guys haven’t been able to update theirs to include these guys just yet. I’m sure you can expect some dissent on Frazier, but for now I left him in that two spot despite having just my ranking. I think of Frazier more as a 3B, but the incredible depth at the position means you could realistically have two of the superstuds over there at third, pushing Frazier to your 1B where he definitely still holds up.
For this update, you will have the rankings from me, Zach Sanders, Jeff Zimmerman, and Dan Schwartz. Mike Podhorzer is currently on vacation, but his will be added upon return (from China, I believe!).
| Rank | Player | Team | League | Paul | Zach | Jeff | Dan | AVG | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Paul Goldschmidt | Diamondbacks | NL | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1.0 | |
| 2 | Anthony Rizzo | Cubs | NL | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2.3 | |
| 3 | Jose Abreu | White Sox | AL | 6 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3.8 | |
| 4 | Todd Frazier | Reds | NL | 2 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3.8 | |
| 5 | Prince Fielder | Rangers | AL | 4 | 6 | 9 | 7 | 6.5 | |
| 6 | Adrian Gonzalez | Dodgers | NL | 8 | 8 | 7 | 5 | 7.0 | |
| 7 | Albert Pujols | Angels | AL | 9 | 7 | 5 | 8 | 7.3 | |
| 8 | Edwin Encarnacion | Blue Jays | AL | 7 | 10 | 6 | 6 | 7.3 | |
| 9 | Joey Votto | Reds | NL | 5 | 4 | 13 | 9 | 7.8 | |
| 10 | Freddie Freeman | Braves | NL | 12 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10.3 | |
| 11 | Chris Davis | Orioles | AL | 11 | 13 | 8 | 11 | 10.8 | |
| 12 | Eric Hosmer | Royals | AL | 23 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 14.3 | |
| 13 | David Ortiz | Red Sox | AL | 19 | 17 | 12 | 13 | 15.3 | |
| 14 | Brandon Belt | Giants | NL | 13 | 18 | 17 | 16 | 16.0 | |
| 15 | Mitch Moreland | Rangers | AL | 14 | 14 | 25 | 14 | 16.8 | |
| 16 | Adam Lind | Brewers | NL | 15 | 12 | 21 | 21 | 17.3 | |
| 17 | Victor Martinez | Tigers | AL | 10 | 16 | 14 | 29 | 17.3 | |
| 18 | Mark Teixeira | Yankees | AL | 20 | 15 | 16 | 19 | 17.5 | |
| 19 | Kendrys Morales | Royals | AL | 16 | 20 | 20 | 15 | 17.8 | |
| 20 | Lucas Duda | Mets | NL | 18 | 19 | 15 | 20 | 18.0 | |
| 21 | Miguel Cabrera | Tigers | AL | 17 | 24 | 27 | 17 | 21.3 | |
| 22 | Chris Carter | Astros | AL | 26 | 21 | 22 | 18 | 21.8 | |
| 23 | Carlos Santana | Indians | AL | 21 | 25 | 26 | 22 | 23.5 | |
| 24 | Pedro Alvarez | Pirates | NL | 25 | 28 | 18 | 23 | 23.5 | |
| 25 | Brandon Moss | Indians | AL | 22 | 22 | 28 | 25 | 24.3 | |
| 26 | Adam LaRoche | White Sox | AL | 27 | 26 | 19 | 26 | 24.5 | |
| 27 | Joe Mauer | Twins | AL | 30 | 27 | 23 | 24 | 26.0 | |
| 28 | Billy Butler | Athletics | AL | 34 | 23 | 29 | 27 | 28.3 | |
| 29 | Logan Morrison | Mariners | AL | 29 | 32 | 24 | 34 | 29.8 | |
| 30 | Chris Colabello | Blue Jays | AL | 24 | 35 | 35 | 31 | 31.3 | |
| 31 | Mike Napoli | Red Sox | AL | 36 | 38 | 30 | 30 | 33.5 | |
| 32 | Justin Smoak | Blue Jays | AL | 32 | 29 | 42 | 32 | 33.8 | |
| 33 | Ryan Howard | Phillies | NL | 39 | 30 | 31 | 35 | 33.8 | |
| 34 | Mark Canha | Athletics | AL | 31 | 31 | 42 | 33 | 34.3 | |
| 35 | Ryan Zimmerman | Nationals | NL | 35 | 41 | 33 | 28 | 34.3 | |
| 36 | Justin Bour | Marlins | NL | 28 | 33 | 42 | 40 | 35.8 | |
| 37 | Yonder Alonso | Padres | NL | 38 | 34 | 39 | 36 | 36.8 | |
| 38 | Steve Pearce | Orioles | AL | 46 | 37 | 37 | 37 | 39.3 | |
| 39 | Wilin Rosario | Rockies | NL | 33 | 42 | 42 | 40 | 39.3 | |
| 40 | C.J. Cron | Angels | AL | 40 | 40 | 38 | 40 | 39.5 | |
| 41 | James Loney | Rays | AL | 42 | 36 | 41 | 40 | 39.8 | |
| 42 | Justin Morneau | Rockies | NL | 48 | 39 | 34 | 39 | 40.0 | |
| 43 | Mark Trumbo | Mariners | AL | 37 | 42 | 42 | 40 | 40.3 | |
| 44 | Chris Parmelee | Orioles | AL | 45 | 42 | 36 | 40 | 40.8 | |
| 45 | Matt Adams | Cardinals | NL | 52 | 42 | 32 | 38 | 41.0 | |
| 46 | Ben Paulsen | Rockies | NL | 41 | 42 | 42 | 40 | 41.3 | |
| 47 | Ike Davis | Athletics | AL | 44 | 42 | 40 | 40 | 41.5 | |
| 48 | Jon Singleton | Astros | AL | 43 | 42 | 42 | 40 | 41.8 | |
| 49 | Garrett Jones | Yankees | AL | 47 | 42 | 42 | 40 | 42.8 | |
| 50 | Kyle Blanks | Rangers | AL | 49 | 42 | 42 | 40 | 43.3 | |
| 51 | Max Muncy | Athletics | AL | 50 | 42 | 42 | 40 | 43.5 | |
| 52 | Clint Robinson | Nationals | NL | 51 | 42 | 42 | 40 | 43.8 |
Brandon moss?
:posts ranks, breathes sigh of relief:
:sees first comment email come in:
“Dammit, who’d I forget?”
Eh, I figure this is hard enough considering multi-position eligibility.
Posey??
I guess I’m still stuck on not ranking Cs who qualify as 1Bs as I never see reason to play them there. I realize Posey regularly puts up top 10 1B level seasons, but that’s why he’s so good as a C because he can actually hang as a 1B. I didn’t necessarily forget Posey and the other 1B-eligible Cs so much as I didn’t include them.
Perhaps I need to get over that bias, but I haven’t heard a compelling reason to run out more Cs than necessary given how their PT is already stunted and they’re an extreme injury risk at all times.
Paul – I agree with you. I was going to post something snarky about “I want to be in the league where you play Posey as a 1B” – but you summarized my thoughts much better.
The only reason I could think of why you’d want a Posey as 1B rating is you were doing that Z-score exercise of 1B1 vs 1B2, C1 vs C2 and trying to calculate overall value. In that case, you’re probably not relying on Rotographs to create your season values…
Thanks for the update, but quick note – can the table not be sorted in ascending order? I’m in Chrome and can only sort in descending order, which is not the best.
I just noticed the same issue. Lemme see if I can get that remedied!
Why don’t you guys just choose a fantasy platform–Yahoo or ESPN–and sort according to their positions. Announce that that’s the platform you’re using to determine eligibility. This way you won’t miss anybody, and if someone complains that you forgot someone you can simply say “the platform we use doesn’t include this player at that position”
Or, you could just look at the last two years of stats and anyone who accumulated 10 PAs at a position should be ranked….doubt they want the ranks to be useless for people who use one platform or another…
That’s too inclusive then because I’m sure there are guys w/10 PA at a position w/in the last two years who don’t actually fantasy qualify there. I can’t imagine ranks being *useless* to anyone because of the exclusion of one or three guys.
I’ve moved toward the more inclusive so that the Yahoo! qualifiers are in because they definitely should be. I was wrong to ever not include those guys even though they may not qualify there at the other major outlets. But I’m just not keen on the Cs as 1Bs being ranked.
Paul – What were your reasons for being the low man on Jose Abreu? Over/Under on end-of-season 30 HRs and .300 average?
More a numbers game than anything else. I have no qualms about Abreu. I’ll take the under on .300-30, but he’s going to be good.
I love Abreu but he has to do something about that 1.8 GB/FB rate if he wants to get back to elite slugger level.
I agree with Kid (although I mistakenly voted ‘thumbs down’ instead of clicking reply to your post…sorry dude).
I feel there is a general conception that he can be a .300 hitter with loads of power. I watch all his at bats because I am (unfortunately) a White Sox fan. During the second half of last year, when he batted .350, he really became mostly a line drive hitter. The numbers bear this out. He hit only 27% FB in the second half and this has carried into the first half of 2015. However, in 2015 he is hitting way more ground balls and infield flyballs. He needs to correct that to become a consensus top 4 first baseman.
It is possible the White Sox just need to get some real protection behind him. Laroche and Garcia have a 96 and 93 wRC+, respectively batting behind him. That is just some bad hitting.
I agree with Kid (although I mistakenly voted ‘thumbs down’ instead of clicking reply to your post…sorry dude).
I feel there is a general conception that he can be a .300 hitter with loads of power. I watch all his at bats because I am (unfortunately) a White Sox fan. During the second half of last year, when he batted .350, he really became mostly a line drive hitter. The numbers bear this out. He hit only 27% FB in the second half and this has carried into the first half of 2015. However, in 2015 he is hitting way more ground balls and infield flyballs. He needs to correct that to become a consensus top 4 first baseman.
It is possible the White Sox just need to get some real protection behind him. Laroche and Garcia have a 96 and 93 wRC+, respectively batting behind him. That is just some bad hitting.
Paul, are there any specific reasons why you are so bullish on Brandon Belt? I own him in a handful of leagues, and I desperately want to believe.
I think we could see a nice power surge. He’s obliterating the ball and if he can rediscover that ’14 flyball rate, it could be great. I’m a Belt guy for sure.
Thanks for responding/posting these updates!
Paul – you are way lower on Hosmer than the others… would you please elaborate (in the comments or on the pod)… Thanks!
Sure, though I’d much rather hear from the others about what’s so good about Hosmer because maybe I’m missing something. He had, by all accounts, a solid 1H and yet that netted him the 15th spot at the position. It’s just too deep for him to be a standout barring a major skills change.
I’ll give him 13th by lifting Posey & Vogt so I’m consistent w/Cs-as-1Bs thing, but even still, this was a good half and still only reached 13th. He’ll need to show improvement in the 2H to be a top-10 guy. I just think a lot of guys can pass him and send him the other way because of his power output – or lack thereof as it were.
Where would Jose Bautista fit in? He’s 1B eligible in Yahoo
He’s top 10 for me for sure. I had literally no clue he had 12 1B games last year. That’s just one of those things I didn’t realize.
Laughing really hard at Colabello–who the Twins waived in the offseason–being ahead of Mauer. That’s Joe Mauer, who hit over .320 five times. What happened to you, Joe?
I was such a Mauer guy in his heyday. Hell, even this year I found him to be criminally undervalued in OBP leagues, but his .336 is hardly special even at CI.
So Adams gets ranked despite being out for most if not all of the remaining season, while his replacement Reynolds doesn’t get ranked?
For duck’s sake, just post the rankings of anyone who might have eligibility at a position in any reasonable format and then let us sort it out based on the needs of our leagues.
Yes, this includes Posey and Fraizer.
In Yahoo leagues (I’m not sure about others), Chris Davis has gained positional eligibility for OF. I’d love to see him in that ranking, too.
Why is Santana not ranked?
I get that hes not eligible at C in all leagues, but he is on Yahoo, the most popular fantasy platform.
Not only that, but as a user, it is a lot easier to look at a list and mentally omit guys who are not eligible in your own specific league, than it is to guess at where a guy would slot in who was not ranked at all.
I think these lists would be much more useful if the looser eligibility qualifications were used.
Wow so im an idiot and this was obviously supposed to be posted in the Catcher thread. Apologies.
Cabrera at 21, Ortiz at 13. How are the players ranked? Offense? Cabrera wins, hands down. Defense? Again, Cabrera wins, hands down.
I believe you accidentally stumbled into a fantasy baseball sight. The rankings are based on the numbers they project to produce the rest of the season. Cabrera is on the shelf for the next six weeks.
all the projections have mitch moreland with a .750 – .770 OPS rest of season with 7-10 bombs. This doesn’t seem like it would put him ahead of V-mart, Miggy (even with a shortened stint), Duda, or maybe even some of the all-or-nothing types further down the list.
Are you taking the over on that projected line? if so, how far over?
With today’s news Freeman might not even make it back early August, about how many spots does he drop? I’m concerned even when he comes back he’ll be limited. Freeman or Adam Lind ROS?
I’m guessing Miggy’s place is injury based? Otherwise top five for sure or am I being a Homer???