Prospect Rankings: First Baseman
Projecting first baseman is such a crap shoot I was tempted not to do it at all. Quite a few first baseman start their careers at other positions and move for a variety of reasons, others move to other postions because they’re blocked by an imcumbent, only to move back later on.
Mark Teixeira and Albert Pujols were signed as third baseman, as were Jeff Bagwell and Mark McGwire. Billy Butler and Brian LaHair were outfielders, and Paul Konerko a catcher. Plus, the list of established first baseman currently in the majors is pretty impressive, there aren’t many teams out there looking to add someone at the postion, unless it’s in a backup role.
My intial list contained forty-four names, and after looking at the list of established names ahead of them at varying levels, I was able to make a quick cut down to eighteen, a number I decided would be final after one more read through.
In alphabetical order by organization;
Joe Mahoney, Orioles
Miles Head, Red Sox
Lars Anderson, Red Sox
Anthony Rizzo, Cubs
Neftali Soto, Reds
Jonathan Singleton, Astros
Telvin Nash, Astros
Clint Robinson, Royals
Chris Parmelee, Twins
Tyler Austin, Yankees
Chris Carter, Athletics
Alex Dickerson, Pirates
Matt Adams, Cardinals
Yonder Alonso, Padres
Brett Pill, Giants
Rich Poythress, Mariners
David Cooper, Blue Jays
Chris Marrero, Nationals
Hi Chuck! I think David Cooper is potentially the best professional hitter of these guys. I was sitting with Bluejay scouts at an 2011 Spring Training game and they had him rated higher than Lawrie and Thames going into that year.
I don’t think Lars Anderson is ever going to be productive in the bigs. Mahoney is having some troubles in AAA and he’s already 25. I would have Cooper and Robinson as the top 2 AL guys.
I think Miles Head is on Oakland now. He was part of the Bailey/Sweeney deal. I was disappointed to see his middle name didn’t start with an A. He’s looking good so far but the big test is when they get to AAA. If their .350 goes to .250, that usually means they can’t hit the ML breaking stuff.
Good job on the site and good luck! A prospect site is a great idea.
Thanks, Patrick
The list isn’t really meant to be a definitive ranking, just a list of some of the guys I think have a chance to be pretty good players at the next level.
I agree with you about Cooper, I saw him a couple of years ago in the AFL and scouts were high on him there, too.
Right Chuck, I noticed that my post seemed like I was disagreeing with your rankings but I knew they were alphabetical. I just worded it wrong and I tend to know AL guys better than NL because I’ve been in an AL only fantasy league for 20 years.
I did look up Tyler Austin as a result of your list and he’s mashing in the So Atl League. 13 bombs already. Same league as wonderboy Bundy!
Austin was actually drafted as a third baseman.
Not sure where he goes from here considering Tex still has four or five years ahead of him, but if his bat is legit maybe he can have some value as a bench guy, like Ty Wigginton.
You could do a lot worse than being like Ty Wigginton. The Yanks don’t seem to have too much help on the way so I hope this kid progresses well. When Jack Cust is the best hitter on your AAA, you have issues.
Ain’t that the truth.