First Base, 2015

[Edgy MD]

Hopefully, unless a lot of things move around, there won't a lot to be looking for in the marketplace, save for a possible right-handed caddy, and some fringer to share 1B and DH in AAA with Allan Dykstra and Brandon Allen.

Two things jump out when looking at this list.

1) Was there or wasn't there advocates last year for the team to bring in Kendrys Morales and/or Carlos Pe�a? I know there was supposedly some team interest in Corey Hart.
2) Was Victor Martinez really that good? Look at those walks and strikeouts. That's raking.

When trying to guess which free agents had good years, it's always a good bet to pick the Tiger over the Mariner, but man, that has to be one of the great walk-year performances on record.

The Incumbents

Dude	Age	Level	G (G@1B)	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	Rtot/YR
Duda	28.72	MLB	153 (146)	596	514	74	130	27	0	30	92	69	135	3	2	.253	.349	.481	.830	-2
Campbell	27.54	MLB	85 (18)	211	190	16	50	9	0	3	16	17	55	3	0	.263	.322	.358	.680	-6
		AAA	33 (17)	163	141	39	50	15	0	3	24	20	20	3	1	.355	.442	.525	.967
Satin	29.83	MLB	25 (8)	43	35	2	3	2	0	0	3	6	14	0	0	.086	.256	.143	.399	12
		AAA	100 (25)	440	374	50	108	27	1	9	49	61	79	1	3	.189	.386	.439	.825
Murphy	29.56	MLB	143 (1)	642	596	79	172	37	2	9	57	39	86	13	5	.289	.332	.403	.734	0

The Comers

Dude	Age	Level	G (G@1B)	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
Dykstra	27.43	AAA	117 (61)	439	343	62	96	23	3	16	74	84	97	0	0	.280	.426	.504	.930
Allen	28.69	AAA	98 (59)	375	320	64	85	11	2	13	52	51	67	2	1	.266	.368	.434	.802
		A+	5 (3)	25	17	3	8	3	0	0	5	7	2	0	0	.471	.640	.647	1.287
Teagarden	30.84	AAA	55 (7)	211	178	32	54	7	0	14	39	30	59	0	0	.303	.403	.579	.981
		A+	2 (0)	6	6	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	.333	.333	.333	.667
		Rk	4 (0)	12	10	0	2	0	0	0	0	1	6	0	0	.200	.333	.400	.733
Brown	30.03	AAA	103 (4)	446	385	65	109	26	1	21	69	52	87	2	0	.283	.372	.519	.892
Flores	23.21	AAA	55 (2)	241	220	43	71	11	2	13	57	16	39	0	2	.323	.367	.568	.935
Plawecki	23.66	AAA	43 (1)	170	152	25	43	6	0	5	21	14	21	0.421	0	.283	.345	.421	.766
		AA	58 (0)	249	225	33	73	18	0	6	43	16	27	0.421	0	.326	.378	.487	.864
Boyd	23.81	AA	119 (73)	477	413	60	121	22	2	8	59	52	67	2	1	.293	.382	.414	.796
Burgamy	33.32	AA	121 (32)	527	450	80	124	32	1	23	76	71	101	6	2	.276	.376	.504	.880
Lawley	25.53	AA	120	487	447	61	105	29	1	10	69	35	134	4	3	.235	.292	.438	.730

The Foreigners

Dude	Age	Level	G (G@1B)	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	Rtot/YR
Billy Butler *	28.51	MLB	151 (37)	603	549	57	149	32	0	9	66	41	96	0	0	.271	.323	.379	.702	2
Adam Dunn	34.95	MLB	25 (0)	76	66	6	14	1	0	2	10	6	27	0	0	.212	.316	.318	.634	0
Michael Cuddyer	35.59	MLB	49 (14)	205	190	32	63	15	1	10	31	14	30	3	0	.332	.376	.579	.955	-35
		AAA	1 (1)	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	.000	.500	.000	.500
		AA	3 (1)	13	11	2	2	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	.182	.308	.182	.490
		RK	5 (2)	22	19	5	11	6	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	.579	.591	.895	1.486
Corey Hart	32.58	MLB	68 (2)	255	232	17	47	9	0	6	21	16	59	2	0	.203	.271	.319	.590	0
		AAA	19 (0)	77	70	8	20	4	2	4	9	7	13	0	0	.286	.351	.571	.922
Adam LaRoche *	34.96	MLB	140 (136)	586	494	73	128	19	0	26	92	82	108	3	0	.259	.362	.455	.817	2
		AA	1	4	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000
		A+	1	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.333	.500	.333	.833
Victor Martinez	35.83	MLB	151 (35)	641	561	87	188	33	0	32	103	70	42	3	2	.335	.409	.565	.974	-36
Kendrys Morales	31.34	MLB	98 (27)	401	367	28	80	20	0	8	42	27	68	0	0	.218	.274	.338	.612	0
Mike Morse	32.59	MLB	131 (43)	482	438	48	122	32	3	16	61	31	121	0	0	.279	.336	.475	.811	-3
Carlos Pena	36.44	MLB	18 (13)	63	59	4	8	3	0	1	2	4	11	1	0	.136	.190	.237	.428	-10
		AAA	20	80	74	12	22	3	0	4	8	5	15	0	0	.297	.350	.500	.850

*Has option for 2015, likely to be declined.

[Centerfield]

Lucas Duda will be 29 years old next year. It will be interesting to see if his name is floated around in any trade rumors.

I wonder if we have seen a breakout year or a career year.

[Edgy MD]

I'd be very surprised if they seriously considered trading him. Starting over at first would be really hard at this point.

I do think they'd seriously do well to find a big league outfielder who doubles as a first baseman, so they have another right-handed alternative to Campbell. Cuddyer fits that costume to me, but I have little idea where he's gonna fall, salary-wise.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Tigers are prepared to "spend what it takes" to retain Victor Martinez, since they are already counting Scherzer as a goner. Apparently the seriously, I just used a racist word when I really meant "Guardians" also see him a key a to the AL Central race so I think he's gonna make a pile of $$; not a spot for the Mets to invest unless they're also trading Doodoo, but that wouldn't make a lot of sense.

Cuddyer makes a lot of sense: Can play RF and 1B

Clubs historically don't like moving infielders around like this but you could also use Flores as a platoon first baseman vs. lefties and as a regular SS other days. My suspicion is they use him at 2B everyday, however.

[Edgy MD]

They also could have some Gary Carter fun at first, and play d'Arnaud there once a month, giving Duda a day off against lefties and keeping d' in the lineup without crouching.

[Guest 86-Dreamer]

Edgy MD wrote: Two things jump out when looking at this list. 1) Was there or wasn't there advocates last year for the team to bring in Kendrys Morales and/or Carlos Pe�a? I know there was supposedly some team interest in Corey Hart. 2) Was Victor Martinez really that good? Look at those walks and strikeouts. That's raking. I admit it - I advocated for both Morales and Drew

Edgy MD Oct 27 2014 02:08 PM Re: First Base, 2015

But you're innocent of the sin of Amor de Pe�a. That's got to be worth something.

Edgy MD Oct 27 2014 02:18 PM Re: First Base, 2015

How did your 2014 first base plans work out?

smg58 Oct 27 2014 02:35 PM Re: First Base, 2015

Well I somehow missed that whole thread, so I'll get in on this one reasonably early. Campbell wound up with a sub-.700 OPS, and his good first impression was boosted by an unsustainable BABIP. Sell high, if possible. Cuddyer would be awesome as a platoon 1B/interleague DH/bat off bench, but I'd be shocked if nobody offers him more than that. His outfield defense is bad enough that I wouldn't recommend a major investment. I do consider a good righty bat a need, but I'm not sure what our other options are. I got the impression last season that Corey Hart might reward the second team to take a flier on him, so maybe him if the price is cheap.

[Edgy MD]

But you're innocent of the sin of Amor de Pe�a. That's got to be worth something.

[Edgy MD]

How did your 2014 first base plans work out?

[smg58]

Well I somehow missed that whole thread, so I'll get in on this one reasonably early.

Campbell wound up with a sub-.700 OPS, and his good first impression was boosted by an unsustainable BABIP. Sell high, if possible.

Cuddyer would be awesome as a platoon 1B/interleague DH/bat off bench, but I'd be shocked if nobody offers him more than that. His outfield defense is bad enough that I wouldn't recommend a major investment.

I do consider a good righty bat a need, but I'm not sure what our other options are. I got the impression last season that Corey Hart might reward the second team to take a flier on him, so maybe him if the price is cheap.