After looking at the interesting and fairly loaded catcher position yesterday, we move to the grassless pastures of first base. Once past the big league roster, which is bare enough, most of the future first basemen in the organization are likely to be moved from other positions. Most of the current first basemen in the minors are not really prospects for one reason or another.
The Breakdown
It’s too much to say the position begins and ends with Justin Smoak, but he is still the primary hope for 1B production. We could write posts for days about Smoak. I’m a big supporter, or have been in the past, but time is clearly running out. There are plenty of big time prospects that take a long time to find themselves in the majors, so there’s still hope. The question is how long the Mariners can wait for him to become that player. Given the current state of the team and the lack of better options, they can keep waiting for a while, but Smoak needs to show some consistency before this season ends. Continue reading