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Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Top Ten First Basemen

1. Albert Pujols- There's no other option here. Not only is he the best 1B but he's far and away the best player in baseball. He hits way above a .300 average, 35 plus home runs, and he'll steal you a dozen or so bases. Also he's a two time gold glove winner. He's the complete package.


2. Joey Votto- He's your reigning NL MVP for a reason folks. He had a higher OPS, AVG, and SLG Pct than Pujols with just 5 fewer homeruns and the same amount of steals. He's only 27 and could be a stud in this league for years to come.


3. Miguel Cabrera- So maybe he has a tiny problem with alcohol. Nothing a little rehab won't fix. Anyways he's another 1B who's going to hit for power and average. He's almost 35 and .300 in the bank. If he stays off of grandpa's cough medicine then we could be looking at another monster year from Miggy.


4. Mark Teixeira- Another guy who has huge power at the 1B position. He's had 30 home runs and 100 rbis for seven seasons in a row. If he comes back healthy then you can expect that number to increase to 8.


5. Prince Fielder- His numbers in 2010 were down from his incredible 2009 season, but I expect that Fielder will bounce back. Sure, it may have something to do with it being a contract year because let's face it, money talks. You can look for another 40 home run season from the Prince.


6. Adrian Gonzalez- I'm starting to notice that there's a trend at 1B. Here's your 6th guy in a row who has, or has the ability, to hit for 35 homeruns and a .300 average. If you aren't familiar with baseball then you have no clue how deadly of a combination that is. The fact that Adrian moved to a much better lineup in Boston means that his production should only keep going up.


7. Ryan Howard- The former MVP used to be the clear cut number two on this list, but his production took a big drop in 2010. He still hit 31 homers last year, which isn't a bad number at all, until you consider he hit 45 the year before, and 58 back in 2006. Hopefully Howard can bounce back after last year's disappointment.


8. Justin Morneau- I'm listing Justin at 8 with lots of optimism that he recovers from his injury. Morneau missed significant amounts of time last season with a concussion and post-concussion syndrome, but if he comes back healthy, then he has the potential to be a top 5 1B in the league.


9. Kendy Morales- Another guy who is extremely productive when healthy. I expect him to stay healthy and perform at a high level all year. As long as he doesn't go to crazy after a grand slam again...


10. Billy Butler- The local kid from here in Jacksonville, FL is only 24 and has all the potential to be a great star. He has incredible plate discipline and will almost guarantee you a high batting average. He hit 45 and 51 doubles the past two years. Imagine if half of those doubles start going over the fence next season.

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