July First Baseman Rankings

Here are the July Rankings. Players are ranked for the remainder of the season based on how I believe they’ll perform in 5x5 leagues. Players are also listed at the positions where they’re most valuable, so if you don’t see that third baseman you’re looking for, he’s probably listed at second or short.

Click to see other July rankings:

Top 300 | SP | RP | OF | C | 2B | SS | 3B

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First Baseman Rankings

Dropping off: Mitch Moreland (32nd), Marc Krauss (42nd)

• A month ago, Adams was on the DL and at risk of losing his starts against left-handers when he did return. I still didn’t feel particularly good about placing him 27th, but it seemed appropriate given the lack of power he had showed while healthy. Since returning, he’s hit six homers in 16 games, two of them even coming against southpaws. At this rate, it looks like if Oscar Taveras does get another chance, it should come at Craig’s expense.

• The Mariners are about to get both Smoak and Hart back from the DL, just as Morrison has started playing well. In my mind, Morrison has the most fantasy upside in the group, but I just don’t trust him to stay healthy or trust Lloyd McClendon to play him over Smoak. It’ll be interesting to see if the Mariners go right back to the default arrangement with Smoak as a full-time first baseman. I’m guessing they will, at least initially, but they’d probably be better off with Morrison at first and Hart at DH. For what it’s worth, Smoak does have an option year left.

• With a .235 average and one homer in 51 at-bats during June, Medica hasn’t exactly seized the opportunity created by Alonso’s DL stint in San Diego. Medica does offer the greater power potential of the two, but I think Alonso is probably the better player anyway. I’m not sure how the Padres will play it after Alonso returns, but it’d make a lot more sense to commit to one for a little while than to have them share time. As bad as the entire offense is, though, there’s just not much fantasy upside to be had.

• Under the theory that he might be used in a deal, Freiman was going to have a spot at the bottom of the rankings even before he was called up as a replacement for the injured Josh Reddick on Sunday. I don’t imagine he’ll have much short-term fantasy value in Oakland, but he could be a candidate to start somewhere else during the final two months.