The calendar has turned, the baseball equinox has passed, and the Dynasty Gurus have emerged from their caves to present you with our annual positional rankings. Fortunately for all of us, the caves have internet access so we’ve been able to research, analyze, and debate these players to develop a set of composite rankings that will help you win your dynasty leagues one player at a time.

This year a team of gurus each submitted our rankings and we are proud to publish the composite results here and in our Discord channel. Over the next several weeks we’ll be publishing these lists by position, with separate prospect lists as well, broken down in easily digestible bites with summaries for each group of ten.  If you’d like to see the full rankings list, including the TOP 500 for OBP and top 100 FYPD all in one place, consider making a donation for access to the lists and to our Discord site.  And finally, be sure to listen to the weekly review of each position’s rankings on the Join the Ranks Podcast.

As a reminder, we rank for On Base Percentage (OBP) leagues and we are projecting the three-year impact each player will have on your dynasty roster.

This week we bring you the first basemen, starting with #31 – #50.

#31 – #40

The first base position in dynasty baseball feels more wide open than ever before. This fourth section will take you on a journey through cinematic plotlines you never knew were possible. You get to be uplifted by a comeback story, watch young heartthrobs down on their luck and fight to get back to the top, independent films trying to get their lead recognized, the new “it” men ready to knock out everyone on their path to glory, and of course, the hero riding off into the sunset.

Rhys Hoskins is the comeback some never thought was possible. He tore his ACL just prior to the start of the 2023 season and would ultimately not make it into a game that year. 2024 would be his first season back but with a new team. Being north of 30 years old, it was unknown how well he would look when he did step back on the field. He had his ups and downs and looked better than expected for someone 6’4” and 240 pounds trying to adjust to his surgically repaired knee. His slash line left a lot to be desired, .214/.303/.419, while he did show the power was still there by adding 26 home runs. His barrel rate actually increased by more than a percent from his 2022 season, up to 12.7%. Unfortunately, his average exit velocity (EV) and max EV both dropped down to 88.7 mph and 109.6 mph respectively. With a more routine offseason, he could regain those losses and even improve on his contact rate, completing the comeback story and regaining his pedestal among the higher-tier first baseman. Then again, this could be one of those downer movies where the main character loses it all and the movie just ends.

Andrew Vaughn and Spencer Torkelson were the big-time stars coming out of college, both starred for a season or so, now they are trying to kick and crawl back to the top. Vaughn has been consistent in his power production, averaging 18 home runs and 28 doubles over his 4 seasons in Chicago. It’s just not to the level White Sox fans had hoped for. His bat has also not lived up to the hype, never hitting above .275 in a season at the major league level. He’s super consistent but doesn’t provide the upside for dynasty baseball, causing his fall this far down the rankings. In 2025, we could see the real Vaughn, as the White Sox have a new group of coaches to try and unlock his potential. Torkelson plummeted even further than Vaughn and was demoted to Triple-A Toledo in 2024 after hitting 31 home runs and having a slash line of .233/.313/.446 in 2023. He has all the talent to regain his 2023 glory, but the Detroit Tigers are poised to move on from him, with Colt Keith taking over at first base and Torkelson possibly back at Triple-A. He needs to make better contact and increase his career lows in average EV and max EV (89 mph and 109 mph respectively).

Next up on our journey are the independent film leads trying to make a name for themselves. Spoiler, I don’t think they will succeed. Here we have Spencer Horwitz and Ryan Mountcastle. Both are young and have at-bats locked down, but are they worth the watch? Horwitz had a respectable season with a slash line of .265/.357/.433 and added 12 home runs. He’s not flashy, but should provide a streaming option in shallower leagues and be a solid starter in those deep 30 team leagues. Just don’t count on any big numbers, he has very poor bat speed with an average of 69.5 mph (17th percentile), poor hard hit rates 36.6% (28th percentile), and an average EV of 88.2 mph (29th percentile). Mountcastle is the one of these two that may have a shot at stardom, or at least recurring roles, he just has to shake his biggest flaws. In 2024, he had a slash line of .271/.308/.425 with only 13 home runs and 63 RBI. He provides more value across the board, but has the potential to produce more home runs than he has in the past. His swing speed, hard hit rates, and average EV are all very good (74th percentile or better). He just can’t seem to stop chasing pitches out of the zone. In his five seasons in the majors, he has had chase rates north of 37.5%, which are extremely poor. There is skill in his bat, maybe one more lead role at first base this season will get him to reach his ceiling.

I think we can classify these next players as “it” men of the prospect world, well maybe soon-to-be “it” men. Deyvison De Los Santos just finished one of the greatest seasons in minor league history. He hit .294/.343/.571 across Double-A and Triple-A. He would end the season hitting 40 home runs and knocking in 120 runs. The big slash line did drop off after being traded from Arizona to Miami and leaving the friendly confines of the Pacific Coast League. However, his power remained front and center, in a shining star role. You really are not going to find someone with this big of a home run potential this far down in the rankings, so he might be worth the risk. Tre’ Morgan was blazing through leagues faster than sunflower seeds during a baseball game. He did nothing but hit while playing at Low-A, High-A, and Double-A in 2024. His slash line was .324/.408/.483, as he added 10 home runs and 20 stolen bases. The age-to-level could have been better, but 2025 will really test him and his skills. Ralphy Velazquez is the new kid in town and had his ups and downs in 2024. He struggled with the bat hitting .231/.347/.385, adding 11 home runs, and 23 doubles. He showed a lot of promise at Single-A Lynchburg, before being promoted late in the season to High-A Lake County. 2025 might be a big breakout for him if he can improve his bat-to-ball skills this off-season.

Now for the swan song of one of the greats, Paul Goldschmidt. He’s ranked this low, mostly because he will be retiring soon and won’t get stats for the three year window used as the dominant criteria for our rankings. For the short term, he could be a beast for the New York Yankees and dynasty managerss alike. He won’t be relied upon to provide protection in the batting order, he will be just another bat. This could lead to him seeing much better pitches and improving on his 2024 slash line of .245/.302/.414. His home run, doubles, and even stolen bases should tick up as well. Grab some popcorn and watch this film intently as it may be leaving theatres soon.

(Brian Labude)

#41 – #50

What stands out here is that this tier has some natural pairings and groupings. First of all, Thayron Liranzo and Josue Briceño are the future of first base and catcher for the Tigers. Most likely that will be Liranzo at first and Briceño at catcher, but that could change. By the end of last season it appeared that Liranzo had the better power stroke and Briceño the better hit tool, then Briceño went out and hit ten home runs to lead the Arizona Fall League. Keeping in mind that AFL success doesn’t always translate to MLB success (see Mervis, Matt) if Briceño can add power to his game, he’ll project to be the better prospect of the two. Both are highly regarded and fantasy managers can’t go wrong with either, or even both.

The second natural pairing is Ryan Clifford and Tyler Black, for, as Chris Knock pointed out to me, if you could put them together you’d have a heck of a fantasy ballplayer. Clifford brings the power, with decent OBP in spite of a near 30% K-rate, and Black provides stolen base production that you don’t often get from a corner position. Even though stolen bases are valuable in the game we play, we need power from the corners and I’ll take the Ryan Clifford half of the Robo-player they’d create.

Jeimer Candelario, Josh Bell, and Ryan O’Hearn have all been around a while and fantasy managers know what they’re getting here. O’Hearn is the bargain in this group, he has outfield eligibility and over the past couple of years has provided consistent power. He’s overlooked and may be forced out by the Orioles’ youth brigade, but the power stroke is there and this low that makes him a bargain. Similarly, Josh Bell is another possible source of power here. If you play in head-to-head leagues, Bell will drive you crazy because he may be the streakiest hitter in the league. In roto, if you can set and forget, you’ll get close to 20 home runs by the end of the year but you’ll need help elsewhere for your ratio categories. Finally, as long as Candelario is playing in Cincinnati, he’ll provide some home runs but that’s all, and his playing time there is not guaranteed.

C.J. Kayfus is a young talent worth keeping an eye on in a deep Cleveland system. His production dipped and his swinging strike rate went up after his promotion to Double-A Akron last year. Luke Raley will be the strong side of a platoon in what should be a potent lineup in Seattle. His K% has come down slightly each of the past four years and if he can continue that trend and improve his .189 batting average against lefties, he would move up these rankings.

Quick note to my fellow rankers, Ben Rice hit 31 home runs last year. He did not excel in his 50 game debut in the majors last year, in fact, he didn’t do well at all aside from the three home run game against Boston, but I’m holding on to the full body of work. Austin Wells appears to have locked down the catcher position, and the Yankees brought in Paul Goldschmidt to play first, so we won’t be seeing Rice in Yankee Stadium any time soon, but I advise you to stash him now.

(Drew Klein)