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We updated the catcher rankings at the end of last week, and now it’s time to roll through the more exciting positions to see what has changed. As with catcher, I’m including our original consensus rankings from late January. Then it’s myself, Mark Abell, and Jonathan Butler adding in the refreshing part of the ranks.
First Base New Ranks
PLAYER | TEAM | Jan Rank | JB Rank | Heath Rank | Mark Rank | New Avg |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
PLAYER | TEAM | Jan Rank | JB Rank | Heath Rank | Mark Rank | New Avg |
Cody Bellinger | LAD | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Freddie Freeman | ATL | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
Pete Alonso | NYM | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3.25 |
Anthony Rizzo | CHC | 4 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 4.75 |
Matt Olson | OAK | 5 | 5 | 4 | 8 | 5.5 |
Josh Bell | PIT | 6 | 8 | 7 | 4 | 6.25 |
Jose Abreu | CWS | 7 | 6 | 6 | 9 | 7 |
Max Muncy | LAD | 9 | 9 | 8 | 5 | 7.75 |
D.J. LeMahieu | NYY | 10 | 10 | 9 | 6 | 8.75 |
Paul Goldschmidt | STL | 8 | 7 | 10 | 10 | 8.75 |
Carlos Santana | CLE | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 |
Edwin Encarnacion | CWS | 13 | 11 | 14 | 11 | 12.25 |
Rhys Hoskins | PHI | 14 | 14 | 11 | 13 | 13 |
Luke Voit | NYY | 15 | 13 | 13 | 14 | 13.75 |
Christian Walker | ARI | 16 | 15 | 18 | 15 | 16 |
Danny Santana | TEX | 18 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16.5 |
Yuli Gurriel | HOU | 17 | 20 | 15 | 18 | 17.5 |
C.J. Cron | DET | 20 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 17.75 |
Joc Pederson | LAD | 22 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 19.75 |
Eric Hosmer | SD | 21 | 22 | 20 | 19 | 20.5 |
Michael Chavis | BOS | 19 | 21 | 22 | 22 | 21 |
Evan White | SEA | 30 | 19 | 21 | 24 | 23.5 |
Daniel Murphy | COL | 23 | 26 | 26 | 21 | 24 |
Renato Nunez | BAL | 27 | 23 | 23 | 25 | 24.5 |
Yandy Diaz | TB | 24 | 25 | 25 | 26 | 25 |
Joey Votto | CIN | 28 | 27 | 28 | 23 | 26.5 |
Justin Smoak | MIL | 26 | 24 | 29 | 29 | 27 |
Miguel Cabrera | DET | 39 | 30 | 27 | 25 | 30.25 |
Howie Kendrick | WAS | 31 | 28 | 31 | 31 | 30.25 |
Jesus Aguilar | MIA | 33 | 29 | 30 | 30 | 30.5 |
There’s a lot going on there, so I worked out a simple table with each man’s original ranking, his current ranking, and his plus/minus.
First Base Changes
PLAYER | TEAM | New Rank | Old Rank | Change |
---|---|---|---|---|
PLAYER | TEAM | New Rank | Old Rank | Change |
Cody Bellinger | LAD | 1 | 1 | - |
Freddie Freeman | ATL | 2 | 2 | - |
Pete Alonso | NYM | 3 | 3 | - |
Anthony Rizzo | CHC | 4 | 4 | - |
Matt Olson | OAK | 5 | 5 | - |
Josh Bell | PIT | 6 | 6 | - |
Jose Abreu | CWS | 7 | 7 | - |
Max Muncy | LAD | 8 | 9 | 1+ |
D.J. LeMahieu | NYY | 9 | 10 | 1+ |
Paul Goldschmidt | STL | 10 | 8 | -2 |
Carlos Santana | CLE | 11 | 12 | 1+ |
Edwin Encarnacion | CWS | 12 | 13 | 1+ |
Rhys Hoskins | PHI | 13 | 14 | 1+ |
Luke Voit | NYY | 14 | 15 | 1+ |
Christian Walker | ARI | 15 | 16 | 1+ |
Danny Santana | TEX | 16 | 18 | 2+ |
Yuli Gurriel | HOU | 17 | 17 | - |
C.J. Cron | DET | 18 | 20 | 2+ |
Joc Pederson | LAD | 19 | 22 | 3+ |
Eric Hosmer | SD | 20 | 21 | 1+ |
Michael Chavis | BOS | 21 | 19 | -2 |
Evan White | SEA | 22 | 30 | 8+ |
Daniel Murphy | COL | 23 | 23 | - |
Renato Nunez | BAL | 24 | 27 | 3+ |
Yandy Diaz | TB | 25 | 24 | -1 |
Joey Votto | CIN | 26 | 28 | 2+ |
Justin Smoak | MIL | 27 | 26 | -1 |
Miguel Cabrera | DET | 28 | 39 | 11+ |
Howie Kendrick | WAS | 29 | 31 | 2+ |
Jesus Aguilar | MIA | 30 | 33 | 3+ |
So the big change inside the top 10 is the pouring of some cold water onto Paul Goldschmidt, which I certainly feel is warranted given that I was the most bearish on his chances from the get-go. I’m glad we finally have a correction that was overdue, which is ranking Max Muncy and D.J. LeMahieu ahead of Goldy.
Carlos Santana gets a boost due to the removal of Trey Mancini, it should be noted.
Evan White (+8) and Miguel Cabrera (+11) were significant departures from January rankings. As for what has changed...I couldn’t tell ya? Maybe we were just slow to come around on White, who should start for Seattle and offers some hope at power and speed. As for Miggy, he reported to Spring Training in great shape...hopefully the layoff hasn’t done him any harm.
Aside from Goldy, we’ve got Michael Chavis falling a couple of spots. I’d say the presence of Jose Peraza has to be of some concern, especially in a short season.
And he didn’t make the top 30, but Kevin Cron bears mentioning with the possibility of a universal DH rule being put into place. Cron’s was originally ranked like the backup he was in late January, our 45th first baseman off the board. He checked in at No. 37 once we refreshed, which may not sound epic but is still a noteworthy move given his power potential and the chance that he might see enough at-bats to matter in 2020.
Who are you guys moving up in the crazy time in which we are living?