In fantasy baseball drafts, you have to have plans A, B, and C ready to go for each time you pick. Without fail, someone else in your league will select a player you were planning to draft. To avoid those issues, here are early, mid, and late-round targets at first base to help you avoid a panic pick. I am using NFBC ADP from the last week for reference.
Early Round Target
Pete Alonso – NYM
Fantasy managers may think of Pete Alonso’s 2023 season when they consider drafting him. That year, he posted a .217 AVG – a career low by far – but also 46 home runs. That year he had a career-worst .205 BABIP, which fantasy managers should ignore in drafting him this season.
Alonso has a high-power, okay-AVG floor, which makes him a valuable early-round target at first base. His .240 AVG last season was essentially league average for first basemen, but no qualified batter at the position hit more home runs. He also ranked second in runs and eighth in RBI for qualified first basemen last season.
Alonso consistently ranks among the hardest hitters in the league. He posted a 13% barrel rate and a 46% HardHit rate last year. Alonso also had the second-best contact rate of his career last year.
The best thing going for Alonso this season, though, is that Juan Soto is in his lineup. This means Alonso could be in line for a major bump in runs and/or RBI depending on where he hits.
If you miss out on Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in round one, consider Alonso as another early-round target.
Mid Round Target
Spencer Steer – CIN
Despite Spencer Steer’s injury concerns, reports are that there is no major injury after an exam at the end of February. Even though he may not play in the field, the team could deploy Steer as a designated hitter to get his valuable bat in the lineup.
After a 20-homer, 15-steal season in 2023, where he also batted .271, Steer went 20/20 with a .225 AVG in 2024. Steer’s issue last season was not discipline. He put up nearly identical walk, strikeout, and chase rates, while also improving his contact rate overall. He also posted a modest 18% line drive rate, along with a 44% pull rate. Those numbers should have resulted in a better AVG for Steer, who saw a 50-point drop in BABIP from 2023.
Where does he land this season? Probably somewhere in between, around a .250 AVG which most projection systems have shown. The shoulder issues may impact his power and steals some, but he has positional flexibility and a solid floor at the position. Of the 19 players who had a 20/20 season last year, Steer was the only player to do it who was 1B eligible.
Even if some of his power is sapped, Steer plays in one of the most hitter-friendly ballparks in the league. He makes for an excellent mid-round target at first base.
Late Round Target
Carlos Santana – Guardians
Carlos Santana should not be your primary first baseman by any means in fantasy. But he does make for a solid corner infielder in deep leagues and an excellent bench piece in most leagues. And as a late-round target, he could return great value, without fantasy managers having to incur much risk.
In 15 seasons, Santana has played in fewer than 150 games five times, including the 2020 season, and fewer than 130 games twice. He is extremely durable, even for a 39-year-old, which has allowed him to continue to produce. Since 2016 (not including 2020), Santana has hit fewer than 20 home runs in two seasons. During that span, he has also only failed to reach 70 runs three times, and 70 RBI twice.
Another skill Santana boasts is his plate discipline, resulting in a career .354 OBP. Santana has never finished a season with a sub-10% walk rate, and has posted a strikeout rate over 19% just once. This sort of floor results in great value as a late-round target this season. Even with Kyle Manzardo in the lineup, the Guardians will find ways to get Santana’s bat in there too.
For more of the great fantasy baseball rankings and analysis you’ve come to expect from FantraxHQ, check out our full 2025 Fantasy Baseball Draft Kit! We’re here for you all the way up until Opening Day and then on into your championship run.
