It’s time; the moment all fantasy baseball gear-heads (like me) have been waiting for, the draft. Even though most drafts won’t start for a few weeks, it’s never too early to start researching and building queues to at least establish some sort of a game plan against your foes (friends).
On the offensive end, there is no more important of a position to fill than the first base slot due to the fact that most players who take up that spot are power hitters who rarely miss any games thanks in part to it being one of the less strenuous positions on the field.
But while huge bats like Miguel Cabrera, Prince Fielder and even Freddie Freeman will be selected in the earlier rounds, there are plenty of quality “off the radar” first base bats who will certainly produce in 2014 that you can pick up later in the draft, like Chris Davis in 2013.
After all, even the most cunning of fantasy baseball veterans know that their teams live and die by their diamonds in the rough; the sleepers if you prefer. Here are six guys to keep high on the watch list beyond round nine.
6. Mitch Moreland, Texas Rangers
Even though he won’t be playing much at first base after the Rangers acquired Fielder during the offseason, Moreland will still be listed as a first baseman due to the amount of games he played at the position in 2013.
Moreland had a slightly rough year last season, but only in regard to his average (.232). In four seasons in the Majors Moreland is hitting .253 for his career, with a career-low last season but a career-high .275 in 2012. In his other two seasons he hadn’t hit below .255.
The positives you can take away from Moreland, and why he’s such an underrated value, is that his power numbers have gone up significantly since his first season in 2010. In 2013 Moreland tied his career-high in runs scored (60) and he set career-highs in doubles (24), home runs (23), RBI (60) and walks (45).
The Rangers would be foolish to not have a player of his caliber in the lineup as it’s more than likely that his average will go up now that there is a bit more protection with the addition of Fielder and Shin-Soo Choo.
5. Corey Hart, Seattle Mariners
The Mariners might be a bit heavy on first baseman this season with Justin Smoak and Logan Morrison in the mix, which means that Hart may be playing more outfield this seasons, especially with the recent loss of Franklin Gutierrez to injury.
But even at that, Hart will be getting a lot of at-bats in 2014 and will surely be low on anyone’s radar due to the fact that he didn’t play a single game in 2013. While not playing for a season may hider most, Hart’s numbers the last few seasons he played should help ease the skepticism: .283 with 31 home runs and 102 RBI in 2010, .285 with 26 home runs and 63 RBI in 2011 and .270 with 30 home runs and 83 RBI in 2012.
There is also the matter of the ball park that he will be playing in, Safeco Field, which has traditionally been known as a pitchers’ park. Even at that, Hart called Miller Park home for 10 years (including 2013), and the distances around the wall are pretty similar with the exception of the corners, which happen to be farther back at Miller Park. Therefore, crushing dingers and doubles shouldn’t be much of an issue for Hart.
4. Adam Lind, Toronto Blue Jays
Back in 2010 Lind was slated to be one of the next great offensive first basemen the game has seen as he hit a career-high .305, career-high 35 home runs and career-high 114 RBI in 2009, his fourth season in the Majors.
What ended up happening was pretty much the exact opposite in 2010… and 2011… and again in 2012. Even though Lind continued to display a lot of power, his average took a huge hit as he batted .237 in 2010, .251 in 2011 and .255 in 2012.
Things got so bad in 2012 that the team demoted him to their Triple-A affiliate in Las Vegas to work it out, then they waived him until eventually bringing him back, all in the same season. But in almost like a moment of clarity, things clicked for Lind from that point on. In 2013 he played his second-best season in the Majors, getting his average back up to an impressive .288 along with 23 home runs and 67 RBI.
Lind has a lot of pop in his bat and his discipline at the plate appears to be on the way up along with his walks (51), which is most he’s drawn since 58 in 2009. If he’s still on the board late (which he more than likely will), he’s a good secret weapon to have on your roster.
3. James Loney, Tampa Bay Rays
One of the less talked about stories of brilliant player performance undoubtedly came from Tampa Bay as Loney played in 158 games and managed to maintain a .299 average all season. The previous year (2012) Loney’s numbers took a huge nose dive while with the Los Angeles Dodgers (.254) to the point that he became expendable, getting dealt to the Boston Red Sox in what later turned out to be one of the most beneficial trades for both teams in Major League Baseball history.
For Loney however, his average continued to slide in Boston (.230) and he finished the season with a career-worst .249 average along with career-worsts in home runs (six) and RBI (41) in 144 games. With stats like that the Rays were able to get him on the cheap (one-year for $2 million), and in turn he took full advantage of the low pressure situation of playing at Tropicana Field.
When 2013 came around the rest, as they say, is history. Besides finishing just shy of hitting .300, Loney ties his second-best in home runs with 13 and finished with his third-best total of RBI with 75. It should be noted that he led the Rays in average and knocked-in the second-most runs en route to helping the team make the playoffs as a Wild Card contender. A guy like this is incredibly beneficial to have in the lineup.
2. Brandon Belt, San Francisco Giants
The only National League player on this list, Belt doesn’t really fit within the realm of the traditional NL first basemen like Joey Votto, Paul Goldschmidt or even Anthony Rizzo; however, Belt can still make magic happen at the plate.
To clarify things a little bit more, Belt does not bring in a lot of runs (67) nor does he draw a lot of walks (52), but he can certainly hit. In 2013 Belt finished the season with a .289 average, the sixth-best among NL first basemen; however, he finished with the second-most doubles (39) and tied with Morrison for the most triples (four) for their position.
As far as “bang for your buck” is concerned, Belt is on the radar because of his name and the team he plays for, but because he’s not at that next echelon of players is the reason why he’ll fall so low in the draft. He’s really a low-risk pickup who will hit close to 20 home runs in 2014 (17 in 2013), but will help your average out significantly.
1. Brandon Moss Oakland Athletics
This may seem like a bit of a homer pick (I’m an Athletics fan), but based on Moss’ last two seasons you’d be foolish to disagree with me. In 84 games in 2012, the most he had seen since his 133 games with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2009, Moss established all of his career-highs with a .291 average, 48 runs, 21 home runs and 52 RBI.
For an encore Moss played in 145 games in 2013, saw a little bit of a dip in his average (.256), but set the bar in every other category: 23 doubles, three triples, 73 runs, 114 hits, 30 home runs and 87 RBI.
As a reminder, he did all of this with the Athletics, a team that has had only one other player hit 30 or more home runs since 2008 (Josh Reddick in 2012) and hasn’t had a player hit triple figures in RBI since Frank Thomas in 2006 (114). But even with all of these numbers there are two things which truly need to be considered when it comes to Moss: the Coliseum is not an easy place to hit home runs in and the doubt for Moss from a lot of critics is so great that he’ll be an easy 30 home run guy to scoop up after every other key position is filled.