Top 10 Position Battles First Basemen - Fantasy Baseball Draft Guide 2009

For baseball fans, players, and enthusiasts, the baseball season will soon be on its way. Here is the Fantasy Baseball Draft Guide 2009's Top 10 Positions Battle for 1st basemen. This is based off estimates of players' performance and also several other factors, which will be discussed within the guide.

#1 Position Battles 1st Basemen - Fantasy Baseball 2009: Player #5, St. Louis Cardinals

Albert Pujols. He plays first base for the St. Louis Cardinals! His batting average for 2008 was .357, with 37 home runs, and 116 runs batted in. He has a slugging average of .653, and an on-base percentage of .462. His 2009 statistics should be about the same, or a little better, as his health is at 100%. He could, possibly, have a personal best season in terms of batting average, though in 2003-2004 his batting average dropped from .359 to .331. With a career batting average of .334, this 7-year veteran knows his own abilities.

#2 Position Battles 1st Basemen - Fantasy Baseball 2009: Player #17, Houston Astros

Lance Berkman, of the Houston Astros, has a batting average of .312, with 29 home runs, and 106 runs batted in. He has a slugging average of .567, and an on-base percentage of .420. With his health at 99.5%, he may have to look to his 9 years of experience to improve. Though his batting average may fall somewhere between .278 and .312, look for his on-base plus slugging percentage to, once again, break 1.000.

#3 Position Battles 1st Basemen - Fantasy Baseball 2009: Player #25, New York Yankees

Mark Teixeira. With 2009 marking his first season with the New York Yankees, he already has 5 years of experience with a number of other teams. He has a batting average of .308, with 33 home runs and 121 runs batted in. He also has a slugging average of .552, and an on-base percentage of .410. His health is at 99.3%. Look for few fielding errors and an increase in his career batting average of .290.

#4 Position Battles 1st Basemen - Fantasy Baseball 2009: Player #17, Baltimore Orioles

Aubrey Huff. As a member of the Baltimore Orioles, he has a batting average of .304, with 32 home runs and 108 runs batted in. His slugging average is .552, and his on-base percentage is .360. Aubrey Huff's health is at 91.2%. At 6-4, he'll probably do well to concentrate on increasing his on-base percentage. He is the only player in the top ten first basemen to play 3 different positions.

#5 Position Battles 1st Basemen - Fantasy Baseball 2009: Player #20, Boston Red Sox

Kevin Youkilis. A player on the Boston Red Sox, Kevin Youkilis has a batting average of .312, with 29 home runs and 115 runs batted in. His slugging average is .569, and his on-base percentage is .390. He is at 100% health, so look to him to make improvements in several different areas. With only 4 years of experience, he may continue to play seasons with no fielding errors. Also, he should start more games.

#6 Position Battles 1st Basemen - Fantasy Baseball 2009: Player #24, Detroit Tigers

Miguel Cabrera. Playing for the Detroit Tigers, Miguel Cabrera, #24, has a batting average of .292. He has 37 home runs from 2008, and also has 127 runs batted in. His slugging percentage is .537, and his on-base percentage is .349. With just one season played partway as first baseman, he should stay as first baseman for an additional season or two.

#7 Position Battles 1st Basemen - Fantasy Baseball 2009: Player #6, Philadelphia Phillies

Ryan Howard. Playing as first baseman for the Philadelphia Phillies, Ryan Howard, with a batting average of .251, 48 home runs and 146 runs batted in, he also has a slugging percentage of .543, and an on-base percentage of .339. With 4 years of experience as a first baseman, he will reduce his errors while fielding. If he can maintain his games started, while also reducing fielding errors, his fielding percentage should increase.

#8 Position Battles 1st Basemen - Fantasy Baseball 2009: Player #33, Minnesota Twins

Justin Morneau. A first baseman on the Minnesota Twins, he has a batting average of .300. He also has 23 home runs and 129 runs batted in for 2008. His on-base percentage is .374 and his slugging percentage is .499. With the possibility to improve his batting average and obtain a 1.000 in his fielding percentage, Justin Morneau may continue into 2009.

#9 Position Battles 1st Basemen - Fantasy Baseball 2009: Player #23, San Diego Padres

Adrian Gonzalez. Playing as first baseman for the San Diego Padres since 2006, he has a batting average of .279, with 36 home runs, 119 runs batted in, and an on-base percentage of .361. His slugging percentage if .510. He might play better at 230 pounds. If he can continue to play this many games in 2009 with fewer fielding errors, he may possibly obtain the coveted 1.000 fielding percentage.

#10 Position Battles 1st Basemen - Fantasy Baseball 2009: Player #21, New York Mets

Carlos Delgado. Playing as first baseman for the New York Mets since 2006, Carlos Delgado has a batting average of .271, with 38 home runs for 2008. He also has 115 runs batted in, with a slugging percentage of .518 and an on-base percentage of .353. Since he first started playing, he has continually improved his batting average and may do so, again, this season. Since playing for the New York Mets, he has continued to make additional double plays each season.

Sources:

1. games.espn.go.com/flb/playerrater.