2018 First Base - Early Fantasy Baseball Tiered Rankings

6 years ago by Pierre Camus

We continue our fantasy baseball tiered rankings analysis with the first base position. RotoBaller writers Kyle Bishop, Jeff Kahntroff, and I have come up with our initial pre-draft rankings to give you a sense of player values as early as possible.

There are plenty of free agents yet to sign, so keep in mind that these rankings are sure to change quite a bit over the coming months. We'll re-do these rankings again and again, so keep checking back on our main 2018 fantasy baseball rankings homepage for the most current values - and keep it bookmarked.

If you didn't catch Kyle's analysis on the catcher position already, check it out here check it out after taking a gander at this one. Without any more delay, let's take a peek at the 2018 first base rankings for January.

Editor's Note: Our incredible team of writers received five total writing awards and 13 award nominations by the Fantasy Sports Writers Association, tops in the industry! Congrats to all the award winners and nominees including Best MLB Series, NFL Series, NBA Writer, PGA Writer and Player Notes writer of the year. Be sure to follow their analysis, rankings and advice all year long, and win big with RotoBaller! Read More!

2018 Fantasy Baseball Tiered Rankings: First Base (January)

Ranking	Tier	Player	Position	Kyle	Pierre	Jeff
1	1	Paul Goldschmidt	1B	5	3	6
2	2	Joey Votto	1B	6	13	11
3	2	Freddie Freeman	1B/3B	16	17	10
4	2	Anthony Rizzo	1B/2B	20	21	19
5	3	Cody Bellinger	1B/OF	30	25	27
6	3	Rhys Hoskins	1B/OF	31	42	41
7	4	Edwin Encarnacion	1B	39	38	39
8	4	Jose Abreu	1B	56	32	37
9	4	Wil Myers	1B	61	61	62
10	4	Eric Hosmer	1B	95	41	54
11	4	Buster Posey	C/1B	64	78	66
12	4	Justin Smoak	1B	73	65	128
13	5	Miguel Cabrera	1B	66	112	134
14	5	Ryan Zimmerman	1B	62	144	113
15	5	Matt Carpenter	1B/2B/3B	124	96	114
16	5	Matt Olson	OF/1B	130	99	117
17	5	Justin Bour	1B	91	174	104
18	5	Ian Desmond	OF/1B	176	138	82
19	5	Carlos Santana	1B	138	76	186
20	5	Josh Bell	1B	180	92	150
20	5	Jay Bruce	OF/1B	195	140	111
21	5	Joey Gallo	3B/1B/OF	141	130	191
22	6	Marwin Gonzalez	1B/2B/3B/SS/OF	142	221	129
23	6	Greg Bird	1B	238	115	162
24	6	Eric Thames	1B/OF	177	164	235
25	6	Trey Mancini	1B/OF	252	135	#N/A
26	6	Yuli Gurriel	1B	274	186	131
27	6	Ryon Healy	3B/1B	231	146	234
28	6	Chris Davis	1B	188	147	295
29	6	Mark Reynolds	1B	#N/A	159	293
31	7	Albert Pujols	1B	207	229	255
32	7	Logan Morrison	1B	276	238	182
33	7	Hanley Ramirez	1B	262	205	233
34	7	Kendrys Morales	1B	269	212	236
35	7	Yonder Alonso	1B	#N/A	210	298
36	7	C.J. Cron	1B	#N/A	256	#N/A
37	7	Lucas Duda	1B	#N/A	269	276
38	7	Brandon Belt	1B/OF	#N/A	287	270
39	7	Jedd Gyorko	1B/3B	280	#N/A	#N/A
40	7	Victor Martinez	1B	#N/A	294	#N/A
41	7	Jose Martinez	OF/1B	318	#N/A	#N/A

Tier 1

Paul Goldschmidt is a tier unto himself. There's no disputing his five-category contributions, although his stolen base total dipped to 18 last year. For a man who finished third in MVP voting and hits in a favorable park, he is an automatic first-round pick. The only oddity is that the man who finished just ahead of him in the MVP race, Joey Votto, is not just as high. The difference, as mentioned already, is the lack of speed. If you're in a deeper points league that counts walks, Votto should be considered just as high, but in your typical 5x5 roto league, Goldy gets the nod.

Tier 2

Freddie Freeman has had back-to-back outstanding seasons, even though 2017 was interrupted by a lengthy DL stint. Somehow he gained even more value from that injury because the short-lived ascension of Matt Adams caused Freeman to play enough third base to gain eligibility there as well. His ADP doesn't shift too much because of this, since he's already a top CI option. In fact, Jeff was bullish enough to put him at #10 overall, ahead of Votto.

Anthony Rizzo is the consensus fourth pick among first basemen, as he brings a rock solid floor. He's hit 31 or 32 homers each of the past four seasons and drove in exactly 109 runs each of the last two seasons. His newfound eligibility at second base presents a much more interesting case study, as fantasy owners might be able to grab him and another elite first baseman to put in the same starting lineup. One can only imagine a drafter going Votto/Freeman/Rizzo in the first three rounds to fill out their infield base positions.

Tier 3

What a pair to put together in the third grouping. Bellinger and Hoskins may not last this long in many drafts, as someone will drool at the prospect of a Judge-like season for Hoskins or simply a repeat of last season for Bellinger. If you believe in sophomore slumps, then you may not view either one as a late-second or early-third rounder. The fact is that if you want either one, you'll have to pull the trigger early and hope the power justifies their cost.

Tier 4

Eric Hosmer's value is nearly impossible to ascertain at the moment, since we don't know if he'll be playing in Kansas City, San Diego, or somewhere else. It's hard to envision the Padres pushing Wil Myers back to the outfield, especially with all the young talent they have there. No matter where he plays, drafting Myers will require a minor leap of faith, as he regressed negatively in a big way over the second half of 2017. He wound up with a 30/20 season and, at 27 years old, is still in his prime. He will have to improve his contact rate and cut down on a terrible 27.7% K-rate if he's going to have a serviceable batting average.

Tiers 5 and 6

Seeing the great Miguel Cabrera ranked below Justin Smoak just makes my stomach churn. The sad reality is that Miggy fell off a cliff last season; injuries alone can't account for his mediocre hitting over 130 games. It was the first time in eight years he failed to make the All Star team and his .249 average wasn't just the worst of his career, it was the first time since his rookie season, back in 2003, that he failed to hit over .292. The Tigers got a whole lot worse around him, so don't treat Cabrera as starting first baseman unless you plan to back him up later with a young player capable of stepping in to take his place, like Greg Bird or Trey Mancini.

My esteemed colleagues have much more faith than me in Ryan Zimmerman repeating his career year, but that doesn't mean I'm a hater. He's always had the skill set to do what he did in 2017. We know this because he did it back in 2009 when he won his first Silver Slugger award by slashing .292/.364/.525 with 33 HR and 106 RBI. Last season, he outdid himself by slashing .303/.358/.573 with 36 HR and 108 RBI. Many will point to the fact he hit 61 points lower in the second half, but his power numbers were nearly identical and he had far less lineup support than expected. With a full season of Adam Eaton, Trea Turner, and Bryce Harper around him, Z-Man could be a bargain in mixed leagues. The question I have is all about health. It's hard for me to put complete trust in a guy who missed 215 games over the previous three years, especially when he's a 13-year vet. I'll gladly take Zimmerman if he falls past the eighth round, but can't put him as a top-10 player at such a deep position.

If you choose to wait on first base, which is definitely feasible given the wealth of potential 20+ HR hitters here, focus on budding young stars like Josh Bell and Matt Olson. Bell was a prized prospect in the Pirates' system who showed great plate discipline, but little power in the minors. That all changed as soon as he took over the starting job in 2017, as Bell set an NL record for most home runs by a switch-hitter in his rookie season, falling one short of the MLB record of 27. Olson simply crushed the ball the last two months of the season, smacking 20 homers in his last 35 games started. Either could be a perfectly fine substitute for the Hosmer/Myers/Smoak tier and should be available far later in most drafts.

For what it's worth, I now feel as if I've ranked Joey Gallo far too generously after looking at Kyle and Jeff's numbers. I will never have Gallo on one of my teams, as I refuse to hang a big albatross across the average category just for the sake of power I can find elsewhere.

Tier 7

Rounding out the bottom of our list, you can find an All Star, a Home Run Derby participant who went deep 38 times, and a future Hall of Famer that drove in 101 runs in 2017. Each comes with warts, naturally, which is why they will turn out to be bench depth rather than fantasy stars.

Pujols, a member of the 600-homer club, knocked out 23 long balls and drove in 100+ runs for the 14th time in his illustrious career, but his regression at the plate has been coming along much farther back than Miguel Cabrera. Phat Albert only managed a .241 average, but a .672 OPS is even more telling. At the age of 38, he is a tough player to start in roto leagues, but could still be helpful as a utility player in points leagues now that the Angels have bolstered their lineup.

Logan Morrison was a revelation in the first half, even though many were very skeptical of the power surge even into June. He kept swatting big flies, but began to lose playing time down the stretch and may not figure prominently into the Rays' plans as more than a platoon bat. Don't overpay for last year's totals.

Yonder Alonso is the player I'm not ready to dismiss quite so easily. He moves to a better situation in Cleveland and seemed to have made some adjustments last year that could sustain at least 20-HR power, in addition to a decent average. You may not want him as a starter, but he could be a high-end CI taken above his current ADP that sits in the high 300s.