Updated Consensus Ranks: First Base

You can read all the books and blogs you want, but once you start the (wonderful, frightening) process of being a parent, most of it goes out the window. It’s immediately triage: HOW DO I GET THIS BABY TO STOP CRYING.

You can read all the books and blogs you want, but once you start the (wonderful, frightening) process of being a fantasy manger, most of it goes out the window. It’s immediately triage: HOW DO I FIELD A COMPETENT LINEUP WITH ALL THESE DUDES ON THE DL.

So it’s been a month of triage. Let’s look at the first base consensus rankings and see what happened. Then we’ll head down the line and update all the positions.

Amazingly, the top of our first base rankings did not change. That isn’t to say that they’ve all been playing wonderfully. It’s to say that they will be better later, we still have confidence in them, and as a group they’ve either done exactly what they were supposed to or fallen short of our expectations. No time to sell on those guys, unless you get full value and don’t think they’re worth that anymore. Going forward, though, their rest-of-season projections haven’t budged too much.

A couple injuries paved the way for a few modest rises in the mid-tier guys. Well, a few injuries and Ike Davis. Fittingly, the Mets guy is the hardest on his own dude. I’ll just say that I never loved that hitch in his swing, and that the swinging strike numbers are worrisome. The batting average may look pretty putrid this year. Amazingly, his fellow Met Lucas Duda is still lining up behind him — that’s something I don’t agree with. Perhaps my Dudaffection has gone too far, but I like what I see in his peripherals better. Somehow Duda didn’t budge in our rankings. Very strange.

Expect articles about that red tier ahead of Carlos Pena. That’s a minefield. I’ll just say that as a guy that’s older than you think, Gaby Sanchez has a lower ceiling than the guys in his mini-tier of destruction. On the other hand, given the playing time issues that can plague the guys he’s fighting, he probably also has the highest floor.

There I am, still plucking that Brandon Belt chicken.

Remember, in this game of triage, any of these guys might fit the right puzzle. Whatever works. But hopefully these rankings will help you get a sense of the rest-of-season value at the position. Expect the rest this week.

FanGraphs Consensus Rankings:
First Base
New Last Player Name Eno Sarris Mike Podhorzer Jeff Zimmerman Zach Sanders
1 2 Miguel Cabrera 1 2 2 1
2 1 Albert Pujols 2 1 1 2
3 3 Joey Votto 3 3 3 4
4 4 Adrian Gonzalez 4 4 4 3
5 6 Mark Teixeira 5 6 6 5
6 5 Prince Fielder 6 5 5 6
7 7 Eric Hosmer 8 7 8 8
8 9 Paul Konerko 7 10 9 7
9 11 Billy Butler 9 8 14 10
10 13 Michael Young 12 11 11 12
11 14 Freddie Freeman 10 14 12 11
12 12 Lance Berkman 11 12 10 14
13 8 Pablo Sandoval 15 16 7 9
14 16 Michael Cuddyer 13 9 17 15
15 23 Carlos Lee 19 19 18 17
16 35 Howie Kendrick 20 18 15 21
17 30 Edwin Encarnacion 16 13 30 16
18 10 Michael Morse 14 29 13 24
19 17 Kevin Youkilis 17 20 20 26
20 43 Nick Swisher 22 21 21 19
21 15 Ike Davis 23 15 22 23
22 22 Lucas Duda 18 28 28 20
23 20 Gaby Sanchez 24 23 24 27
24 18 Mark Reynolds 28 26 16 29
25 21 Adam Lind 21 27 23 30
26 24 Mark Trumbo 27 41 26 13
27 26 Kendrys Morales 25 24 31 28
28 19 Paul Goldschmidt 30 25 19 35
29 32 Carlos Pena 32 34 29 18
30 NA Bryan LaHair 29 22 35 34
31 25 James Loney 31 30 25 38
32 37 Adam Dunn 37 17 40 37
33 38 Daniel Murphy 26 32 27 47
34 31 Justin Morneau 34 33 34 33
35 27 Ryan Howard 35 31 37 39
36 40 Todd Helton 42 39 42 25
37 29 Brandon Belt 33 40 33 43
38 34 Mitch Moreland 36 37 36 40
39 39 Luke Scott 38 43 39 32
40 33 Mike Carp 43 36 38 36
41 41 Garrett Jones 39 42 32 41
42 36 Adam LaRoche 40 38 45 31
43 28 Justin Smoak 47 46 44 22
44 47 Chris Davis 45 35 43 44
45 NA Ty Wigginton 41 47 47 42
46 42 Aubrey Huff 46 44 41 48
47 NA Casey Kotchman 50 45 46 45
48 45 Brandon Allen 48 49 48 46
49 46 Anthony Rizzo 44 50 49 49
50 NA Juan Rivera 49 48 50 50





With a phone full of pictures of pitchers' fingers, strange beers, and his two toddler sons, Eno Sarris can be found at the ballpark or a brewery most days. Read him here, writing about the A's or Giants at The Athletic, or about beer at October. Follow him on Twitter @enosarris if you can handle the sandwiches and inanity.

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Gavin
11 years ago

I understand that LaHair is striking out a lot, but his patience isn’t exactly terrible. Given his minor league record and his hot start, how is he 5 spots behind Goldschmidt, who hasn’t done much in the majors?

Snarf
11 years ago
Reply to  Eno Sarris

LaHair would be much higher in a league that counted extra base hits and OPS, no?