Fantasy Finds: Top 3 Underrated First Basemen

Some of these names will have a little more value in your draft than others, but the focus is finding value at their draft spots! First Base is a great position to find quality players for your utility positions due to the depth of quality players.

1. Justin Morneau – Currently ranked #60 by Yahoo Fantasy Baseball

Last Season’s Statistics:

Runs	HR	RBI	SB	Avg
53	18	56	0	.345

 

 

Nothing too impressive until you realize he only played in 81 games! Extrapolate that over an entire season and you get the following:

Runs	HR	RBI	SB	Avg
106	36	112	0	.345

Those of you that are quick are already noting that his BABIP was about .090 over his career average, but there’s no doubt he was on pace for an MVP caliber season when he was injured. Not too dissimilar to the following stats:

Runs	HR	RBI	SB	Avg
115	42	118	14	.312

And those got Mr. Jose “Albert” Pujols ranked #1. If you can get him in the 40’s or 50’s, do it and laugh all the way to the championship.

2. Paul Konerko – Currently ranked #97 by Yahoo Fantasy Baseball

Last Season’s Statistics:

Runs	HR	RBI	SB	Avg
89	39	111	0	.312

With Konerko he has a few strikes against him going into this season, he’s going to be 35, his BABIP last year was .041 over his career average last year and it’s not a contract year. So we should expect some regression this season for a team that selects him. With that said, would you be upset if you got 30 HR’s, 100 RBI and a .280 Average out of an 8^th-10^th round draft choice??

3. Gaby Sanchez – Currently ranked #232 by Yahoo Fantasy Baseball

Last Season’s Statistics:

Runs	HR	RBI	SB	Avg
72	19	85	5	.273

While Sanchez has not lit the world on fire, he did have a productive first full season in the major leagues. At only 27 and since he was a career .302 hitter in 5 minor league seasons, I would say he has decent upside for someone that will most likely go undrafted in several leagues. Think of him as Butler-lite, similar stats but at a much cheaper price!