How Deep is Your Love (for First Basemen)?

I finished my NFBC Main Event this past Saturday.  No two drafts are alike, and nothing is like the 15 Team NFBC with sharks sprinkled throughout each league.  In addition to the sharks, there are indeed some fish and others who do things that, well, you and I wouldn’t likely do. As a good portion of the entry fee goes to the overall prize, the NFBC isn’t about just winning your individual league, but putting together a team that competes against the teams in all the other leagues.  So, while drafting the top three shortstops (if you could) might be an effective way of helping you win an individual league as it damages your opponents, it doesn’t do anything for you in the overall competition.

Drafting five first basemen in the first eleven rounds similarly won’t necessarily help you in the overall.  Someone should have told team 15 that.

It seems that every year there are dozens of quality first basemen.  If you miss out on the first tier, there are players in a solid second, third and fourth tier just waiting to be picked.  Or so I thought.

This year, my top tier has five:

• Paul Goldschmidt
• Joey Votto
• Anthony Rizzo
• Freddie Freeman
• Cody Bellinger

My next tier six four:

• Rhys Hoskins
• Jose Abreu
• Edwin Encarnacion
• Eric Hosmer
• Buster Posey
• Wil Myers

With eleven first basemen accounted for, my next tier twelve more:

• Miguel Cabrera
• Carlos Santana
• Ian Desmond
• Trey Mancini
• Joey Gallo
• Josh Bell
• Greg Bird
• Ryan Zimmerman
• Matt Carpenter
• Matt Olson
• Justin Smoak
• Marwin Gonzalez

My final serviceable tier has two:

• Justin Bour
• Eric Thames

That accounts for 25 first basemen.  As there are only fifteen teams (fourteen not including my team), one would think that 25 first basemen would be enough to fill those teams.  Certainly, some first basemen will go into a team’s corner infielder spot, and others will go to the utility spot, but generally not in the first fourteen rounds.  Or so I thought.

I didn’t get one of the top 25 first basemen in the NFBC Main event this past Saturday Some teams doubled up, but that was to be expected.  Part of the problem was also the versatility of these players, as eight qualify for more than one position (Bellinger – OF; Hoskins – OF; Posey – C; Desmond – OF; Mancini – OF; Gallo – OF; Olson – 3B; Gonzales – 2B, SS, OF; Thames – OF).

Suddenly, 25 first basemen are really only 17 first basemen.  In our league, Team 15 took five of these 25 in the first 11 rounds.  One round after the first break, this team had Abreu (3^rd round), Hoskins (4^th round), Mancini (9^th round), Santana (10^th round) and Bell (11^th round).  Hoskins and Mancini will be part of his outfield, with the remaining three playing first, corner, and utility.

23 of the 25 were gone by the time I picked in the 11^th round.  It was impossible to stomach taking  Zimmerman (ADP 167) or Carpenter (ADP 194) this early.  Both ultimately went to the same team in the 13^th and 14^th rounds.  This left me with an unenviable choice of taking one of the following:

• Eric Thames (not sure how much he will play). Went in the 16^th round;
• Ryon Healy (health, new team, playing time). Went in the 15^th round;
• Jose Martinez (no real prior track record). Went in the 16^th round;
• Yuli Gurriel (health, playing time). Went in the 18^th round;
• Yonder Alonso (ability, he can’t possibly repeat). Went in the 19^th round;
• C.J. Cron (ability, run driving in possibilities limited). Went in the 19^th round;
• Ryan McMahon (job, minor bound); Went in the 19^th round;
• Logan Morrison (not likely to repeat); Went in the 20^th round;
• Chris Davis (batting average drain); Went in the 21^st round; and
• Brandon Belt (concussion history, plus he’s not any good); Went in the 22^nd

How would you like to pony up $1,600.00 and have one of these guys at first base?  I’ll tell you, it doesn’t feel good.  It’s even worse when one of these is your first baseman, and another is your corner infielder, but that’s what I’ll be dealing with this year.

Welcome, Chris Davis and Brandon Belt to Creativesports Buster.  We’re excited to have both of you!  Ok, not that excited.

We hear all the time about position scarcity and the middle infield.  I’m here to remind you that unless you wish to go into fantasy battle with Eric Thames, Ryon Healy, Brandon Belt or Chris Davis at first, you may want to jump a bit earlier at first base than you might normally do so.

Best of luck,

Buster