May First Baseman Rankings
Tuesday, May 03, 2011
Welcome to the May rankings. Players are ranked based on how much value I believe they'll provide in 5x5 leagues over the rest of the season. Along with the position rankings, you'll find a fully updated top 250 list.
Click to see other May rankings:
Top 250 | SP | RP | OF | 1B | 2B | SS | 3B | C | DHFirst BasemenFalling off: Carlos Delgado (No. 38),
Chris Davis (No. 39)
Very little movement at the top here. I did slide Votto ahead of Gonzalez and into the top 10 overall. Teixeira, Fielder and Howard are all moving up in the top 250 as well.
After that, there were a lot of tough calls. I figured Morales would be back right about now, but after his setback last week, it looks like he's at least four weeks away. As for the slow starting first basemen in the 11-20 range, I'm a lot more concerned LaRoche and Pena than Lee and Huff. LaRoche has the shoulder issue that may require surgery, and Pena has looked flat-out horrible. I expected the subpar April from Lee coming off surgery, though I was hoping he'd be better than this.
After that, there were a lot of tough calls. I figured Morales would be back right about now, but after his setback last week, it looks like he's at least four weeks away. As for the slow starting first basemen in the 11-20 range, I'm a lot more concerned LaRoche and Pena than Lee and Huff. LaRoche has the shoulder issue that may require surgery, and Pena has looked flat-out horrible. I expected the subpar April from Lee coming off surgery, though I was hoping he'd be better than this.
Berkman has outproduced every first baseman in the game to date, but I think he remains a huge injury risk while playing in the outfield. Even if it doesn't result in a DL stint anytime soon, I think he'll start getting dinged up and that it will cut into his effectiveness.
I didn't even give Cooper a projection after he hit .257/.327/.442 in Double-A last year, but now he's up with the Jays and getting an opportunity to win a starting job against right-handers. The power isn't there to make him a major asset, and my guess is that he'll be a fringe player in AL-only leagues for now. I doubt he's in the majors for good.
Welcome to the May rankings. Players are ranked based on how much value I believe they'll provide in 5x5 leagues over the rest of the season. Along with the position rankings, you'll find a fully updated top 250 list.
Click to see other May rankings:
Top 250 | SP | RP | OF | 1B | 2B | SS | 3B | C | DHFirst BasemenFalling off: Carlos Delgado (No. 38),
Chris Davis (No. 39)
Very little movement at the top here. I did slide Votto ahead of Gonzalez and into the top 10 overall. Teixeira, Fielder and Howard are all moving up in the top 250 as well.
After that, there were a lot of tough calls. I figured Morales would be back right about now, but after his setback last week, it looks like he's at least four weeks away. As for the slow starting first basemen in the 11-20 range, I'm a lot more concerned LaRoche and Pena than Lee and Huff. LaRoche has the shoulder issue that may require surgery, and Pena has looked flat-out horrible. I expected the subpar April from Lee coming off surgery, though I was hoping he'd be better than this.
After that, there were a lot of tough calls. I figured Morales would be back right about now, but after his setback last week, it looks like he's at least four weeks away. As for the slow starting first basemen in the 11-20 range, I'm a lot more concerned LaRoche and Pena than Lee and Huff. LaRoche has the shoulder issue that may require surgery, and Pena has looked flat-out horrible. I expected the subpar April from Lee coming off surgery, though I was hoping he'd be better than this.
Berkman has outproduced every first baseman in the game to date, but I think he remains a huge injury risk while playing in the outfield. Even if it doesn't result in a DL stint anytime soon, I think he'll start getting dinged up and that it will cut into his effectiveness.
I didn't even give Cooper a projection after he hit .257/.327/.442 in Double-A last year, but now he's up with the Jays and getting an opportunity to win a starting job against right-handers. The power isn't there to make him a major asset, and my guess is that he'll be a fringe player in AL-only leagues for now. I doubt he's in the majors for good.
Matthew Pouliot is the Executive Editor of RotoWorld.com and has been doing the site's baseball projections for the last 10 years. Follow him on Twitter at
matthewpouliot.
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Matthew Pouliot