Best of the Best - First Base

Man, this was tough. Getting down to the best first baseman in the game was actually pretty easy but getting this list down to five finalists was BRUTAL. There are so many good first basemen in the game today that I had a really tough time getting from 10 down to a list of 5.

So, in the build up to the Best First Baseman in the Game I'm gonna list two categories, the "honorable mention" group and the "finalists."

Honorable Mention: Prince Fielder (MIL), Adrian Gonzalez (SD), Justin Morneau (MIN), Carlos Pena (TB) and Mark Teixeira (NYY)

Gonzalez and Teixeira are the best in that group, though Morneau is awfully good as well. Fielder and Pena were clearly 9th and 10th to me.

None, however, were good enough for my Top 5.

Finalists: Lance Berkman (HOU), Miguel Cabrera (DET), Ryan Howard (PHI), Albert Pujols (STL) and Kevin Youkilis (BOS)

Man, that's a really good group. It wasn't easy making cuts here.

First to go was Youkilis because he lacks the big-time home run power of the other guys here. He's an excellent glove man, big-time run producer and one of the most patient hitters in the game but the lack of big-time HR power keeps him just below the others.

Next off the list was Ryan Howard. Great home run hitter and RBI man but the rest of his game is lacking compared to every one else. Actually, the best pure "home run hitter" in the game today but that's not enough to be the best all-around at your position.

Cabera was next to go. He's an amazing hitter, a younger Pujols/Manny type, but his defense isn't great over there given his lack of experience and that keeps him from making the top two.

The final cut was Berkman. He's a hell of an all-around player. Great bat, excellent power, great glove and good on the bases as well. He's just not Albert.

Pujols is easily the best first baseman on the planet. He does it all and he does it all exceptionally well. As difficult as it was to get the list down to the five finalists it was just that easy to come to the conclusion that Pujols was #1 on the list.

Honestly, I don't see anyone disagreeing with this selection.

Thoughts?

KW