Sportsline NL Results: First Base

$30+:

Surprisingly, only one first baseman cracked the $40 barrier. I only had one (Pujols) at $40 on my sheet, and I wound up getting him for $38 as my first player. The next two first basemen off the board were Howard at $39 and Fielder at $41 ($7 and $9 over my sheet); this made me feel very good about Pujols. Then Texeira went off the board at $37. Finally, Berkman went off the board at $30, only $2 off my sheet price.

The $20s:

Lee: $29; Gonzalez: $27; Loney $22. I could not even bid on Lee after making him our first pick in the draft in the past and having him break a wrist. Each of these players went about $5 over my sheet and I steered clear. Loney was my target, but in a room full of "pundits," it is difficult to grab a guy like Loney at a reasonable price. Even at that price, however, there is room for upside for him.

The $10s:

Helton: $18; Delgado: $19; LaRoche: $15; Votto: $11. I like all of the prices here except for Delgado; I actually ticked him down from $17 to $15. Helton is a very nice price. While 1B is deep, watching Helton go away for $18 when I had locked myself up at corner with Garciaparra at $3 was painful.

The rest:

C. Jackson: $7; Jacobs: $9; Nick Johnson $1; Dmitri Young $3

Well, given the prices above, you knew some bargains would fall out, and fall they did. The uncertainty of the Nationals first base job allowed the two candidates to fall in for a combined $4. Johnson actually snuck in between a couple of high priced players, and everyone froze. I had Conor Jackson targeted for $14, but had no spots for him when he went at $7. That is one of the better non-outfield bargains of the auction.

Analysis: Just looking at the first basemen, this appears to be a relatively Stage 1 draft. While Pujols snuck in for $38, the top 6-7 1B all went well over value, leaving a few bargains in the end. I will get back to this in the 3B discussion, but I really wish I had not locked myself out of Votto or Jackson - I like both very much for this year and beyond.

Next time: the middle infield.