Top 9 First Basemen of the Decade

[Jeffy25]

9. Thome
8. Tex
7. Morneau
6. Fielder
5. Howard
4. Delgado
3. Giambi
2. Helton
1. Pujols

As in the other threads, do you agree with the order, and which one's are hall of famers/future hall of famers in your opinions?

Any debates?

[FloydtheBarber]

Howard is too high

[HoustonGM]

By OPS+, min. 3000 PA, 50% of games at 1B:

1. Albert Pujols 172
2. Jason Giambi 151
3. Jim Thome 147
4. Todd Helton 145
5. Carlos Delgado 143
6. Ryan Howard 142
7. Mark Teixeira 136
8. Jeff Bagwell 133
9. Derrek Lee 130

[Jeffy25]

Howard is too high

RoY, an MVP, a hell of a lot of dingers


But I actually somewhat agree.

[Jeffy25]

By OPS+, min. 3000 PA, 50% of games at 1B:

1. Albert Pujols 172
2. Jason Giambi 151
3. Jim Thome 147
4. Todd Helton 145
5. Carlos Delgado 143
6. Ryan Howard 142
7. Mark Teixeira 136
8. Jeff Bagwell 133
9. Derrek Lee 130

The question that remains, does defense mean anything for a first basemen?

[HoustonGM]

The question that remains, does defense mean anything for a first basemen?

Yes.

[metsguy234]

Where in the world is Lance Berkman?

[Jeffy25]

As in the other threads, do you agree with the order, and which one's are hall of famers/future hall of famers in your opinions?

[Jeffy25]

Where in the world is Lance Berkman?

outfielder

[HoustonGM]

Where in the world is Lance Berkman?

He spent more time in the outfield than at first during the decade.

[kenny1234]

By WAR (on Fangraphs), Teixeira moves ahead of Howard, and Lee is ahead of Teixeira even if you don't count his 2000 and 2001 seasons.

Given that, I would say:
1. Pujols
2. Giambi
2. Thome
2. Delgado
2. Helton
6. Lee
7. Teixeira
8. Howard
9. A bunch of people before Bagwell

I'd need to think more before ranking Giambi, Thome, Delgado and Helton.

[HoustonGM]

The WAR of the players mentioned so far:

1. Albert Pujols, 76.5
2. Todd Helton, 52.9
3. Jason Giambi, 41.2
4. Jim Thome, 38.6
5. Carlos Delgado, 35.2
6. Mark Teixeira, 32.3
7. Derrek Lee, 29
8. Jeff Bagwell, 20.3
9. Ryan Howard, 18.8
10. Justin Morneau, 15.7
11. Prince Fielder, 12

[Jeffy25]

I would be flipping 6-9 of the original list to say Thome 6, Tex 7, Morneau 8 and Fielder 9, if we only did those nine players.


They said the reason Thome wasn't higher on the list is because he hasn't been really active since 05, yet they have Fielder higher who didn't debut until like 07

[reflections]

Giambi is interesting. He has been more of a part time firstbasemen since leaving Oakland. Only one year with over 100 games at first.

[kenny1234]

The WAR of the players mentioned so far:

1. Albert Pujols, 76.5
2. Todd Helton, 52.9
3. Jason Giambi, 41.2
4. Jim Thome, 38.6
5. Carlos Delgado, 35.2
6. Mark Teixeira, 32.3
7. Derrek Lee, 29
8. Jeff Bagwell, 20.3
9. Ryan Howard, 18.8
10. Justin Morneau, 15.7
11. Prince Fielder, 12

On FanGraphs - Teixeira is worth 29.8 WAR, and Lee is worth 31.2 even without 2000 or 2001. With a minimum of 3 wins in each of those years and he is up to 37.

But I think that it is fairly clear that Pujols is first, and that there is a fairly large drop after the top 7. Bagwell, Howard, Morneau, Fielder, etc. just didn't play enough. Berkman was as valuable even if you only count the last 4 years.