With fantasy football in the books, it’s time to turn our attention to the impending fantasy baseball season. First thing’s first. First base. Below you’ll find the official early pre-season XN Sports fantasy baseball first base rankings. The final pre-season rankings will be released in early March.
You’ll find that first base is as stacked as ever once again this season, and this doesn’t even include Miguel Cabrera, who is expected to move to first for the Tigers this year. Certainly, once he’s eligible, he’ll be the top ranked first bagger.
Otherwise, it’s hard to go wrong at first, especially if you’re willing to swallow a mediocre batting average for an extra dose of home runs. Home runs are at a premium this year, just as they’ve been in the last two or three seasons, so I’m willing to live with whatever batting average Mark Trumbo or Matt Adams give me just as long as I can get those much needed power numbers.
The one thing I have to note before we get to the rankings is that these don’t necessarily account for injury risk. Certainly someone like Albert Pujols, Allen Craig, Mark Teixeira, or Ryan Howard presents an inherent risk. One that I think is worth taking, so long as you don’t reach for them in the draft. Also, position eligibility may not be the same across every site. On Thursday, we’ll have the full first baseman projections so be sure to check back then.
| Tier | Rank | Player |
| 1 | 1 | Paul Goldschmidt (ARI) |
| 2 | Chris Davis (BAL) | |
| 3 | Joey Votto (CIN) | |
| 4 | Edwin Encarnacion (TOR) | |
| 5 | David Ortiz (BOS) | |
| 6 | Freddie Freeman (ATL) | |
| 2 | 7 | Prince Fielder (TEX) |
| 8 | Albert Pujols (LAA) | |
| 9 | Adrian Gonzalez (LAD) | |
| 10 | Mark Trumbo (ARI) | |
| 11 | Allen Craig (STL) | |
| 12 | Mark Teixeira (NYY) | |
| 13 | Jose Abreu (CHW) | |
| 3 | 14 | Eric Hosmer (KC) |
| 15 | Matt Adams (STL) | |
| 16 | Michael Cuddyer (COL) | |
| 17 | Billy Butler (KC) | |
| 18 | Mike Napoli (BOS) | |
| 19 | Anthony Rizzo (CHC) | |
| 20 | Daniel Murphy (NYM) | |
| 21 | Carlos Santana (CLE) | |
| 22 | Joe Mauer (MIN) | |
| 23 | Buster Posey (SF) | |
| 4 | 24 | Nick Swisher (CLE) |
| 25 | Chris Carter (HOU) | |
| 26 | Brandon Moss (OAK) | |
| 27 | Kendrys Morales (FA) | |
| 28 | Corey Hart (SEA) | |
| 29 | Victor Martinez (DET) | |
| 30 | Adam Dunn (CHW) | |
| 31 | Brandon Belt (SF) | |
| 32 | Ryan Howard (PHI) | |
| 33 | Adam Lind (TOR) | |
| 34 | Jonathan Lucroy (MIL) | |
| 35 | Justin Morneau (COL) |
