September 1B and DH Rankings

I don’t do them every year, but I decided it was worth doing September rankings this time around. Obviously, as it’s Aug. 31, we still don’t know exactly who is coming up and when (some prospects won’t be recalled until after the minor league season, including the postseason, is finished). Some fine prospects (Yoan Moncada and J.P. Crawford included) probably aren’t coming up at all. By and large, these lists will look similar to the August rankings. Still, there are some newcomers and some pitchers dropping because of innings limits and looming shutdowns.

Up this week are the September rest-of-season position rankings and overall top 300. Remember that players are listed where they’re most valuable, so if you don’t see someone you’re looking for, check another position.

Click to see other September rankings:

Top 300 | SP | RP | OF | 1B | 2B | SS | 3B | C | DH

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First Baseman and Designated Hitter Rankings

Sept	First Base	Team	2016	Aug
1	Paul Goldschmidt	Diamondbacks	1	1
2	Anthony Rizzo	Cubs	5	2
3	Miguel Cabrera	Tigers	4	3
4	Edwin Encarnacion	Blue Jays	3	4
1 DH	David Ortiz	Red Sox	3 DH	1 DH
5	Joey Votto	Reds	8	8
6	Chris Davis	Orioles	6	5
7	Jose Abreu	White Sox	2	6
8	Eric Hosmer	Royals	7	7
9	Freddie Freeman	Braves	10	11
10	Albert Pujols	Angels	9	9
11	Victor Martinez	Tigers	7 DH	10
12	Adrian Gonzalez	Dodgers	11	13
13	Brandon Belt	Giants	16	12
14	Mike Napoli	Indians	27	15
15	Carlos Santana	Indians	15	14
16	Chris Carter	Brewers	25	16
17	C.J. Cron	Angels	18	25
18	Josh Bell	Pirates	60	30
19	Joe Mauer	Twins	23	22
20	Ryan Zimmerman	Nationals	17	19
21	Mitch Moreland	Rangers	21	23
22	Justin Morneau	White Sox	41	27
23	Mark Teixeira	Yankees	19	20
24	A.J. Reed	Astros	22	21
25	Tommy Joseph	Phillies	NR	24
26	Justin Bour	Marlins	20	17
27	Kennys Vargas	Twins	10 DH	18
28	Adam Lind	Mariners	26	29
29	Matt Adams	Cardinals	32	26
30	Logan Morrison	Rays	24	31
31	Yonder Alonso	Athletics	33	32
32	Dae-Ho Lee	Mariners	36	28
33	James Loney	Mets	39	33
34	Justin Smoak	Blue Jays	29	35
35	Ryan Howard	Phillies	31	40
36	Xavier Scruggs	Marlins	78	NR
37	Matt Olson	Athletics	77	NR
38	Billy Butler	Athletics	8 DH	34
39	Clint Robinson	Nationals	47	NR
40	Dan Vogelbach	Mariners	76	38
41	Jimmy Paredes	Phillies	9 DH	NR
42	Ji-Man Choi	Angels	73	43
43	Lucas Duda	Mets	12	37
44	Ben Paulsen	Rockies	28	41

Dropping off: Byung-ho Park (36th), Chris Colabello (42nd), Alex Rodriguez (2nd DH)

• Ideally, Trevor Plouffe will be elsewhere on Sept. 1, allowing Kennys Vargas to get fairly regular playing time for the Twins. If that happens, Vargas would jump back up to 18th in the rankings.

• The whole Danny Valencia-Billy Butler brouhaha might have helped Matt Olson, who is expected to be one of Oakland’s callups despite a mediocre showing in Triple-A (.229/.330/.416, 16 HR in 449 AB for Nashville). The A’s might be looking to curtail the playing time of both veterans down the stretch (plus, they just traded Coco Crisp) and Olson could be asked to pick up a lot of the slack. I don’t think he’d be any good at all, but the same goes for most of the alternatives.