So far Aaron and I have covered Second Base and Shortstop, and now for no good reason we move to First Basemen next. Last year, Prince Albert was the unanimous #1, but put up subprime numbers. How far will he slip this year? And what about Aaron’s irrational dislike of Prince Fielder, undoubtedly caused by some childhood trauma he cannot face? Keep reading as the EWC crew breaks down the big boppers at first….

A: This is a tough category, because Pujols is the obvious choice, but I think a lot of people felt like they got burned by Albert a little bit when he was the unanimous overall No. 1 pick, only to have him produce more like a late first-rounder. I think you’ll see a lot of drafts where people take guys like Reyes, Rollins, Ramirez, and Utley, almost as a means of avoiding pulling the trigger on Pujols. As a result you’re seeing him fall beyond No. 5, and as late as No. 8-9, which just looks strange to me. I don’t see how you can let Pujols drop past No. 5.

Beyond him, I think around the No. 10 pick, you have Ryan Howard and David Ortiz, if he’s playing at first in your league. I’ve never been a Prince Fielder believer, perhaps to the detriment of my own teams. But I thought Milwaukee was a little fluky during 2008 and I don’t expect Prince or the Brewers to be as good this year.

It’s likely that due to Pujols dropping you’ll see all the other first-basemen drop a few pegs as well. This means a guy like Lance Berkman might be sitting there at the Top or middle of the 3rd round. I like that. Imagine getting one of the big three shortstops in the first, and coming back with Berkman in the 3rd. I say this despite the fact that I think the Astros might be the worst team in baseball this year.

J: It’ll be hard to be worse than the Orioles. But we digress. Let’s just hypothetically assume that in a universe alterior to this one maybe that there may have been other- worldly reasons for a spike in offensive power and production in Pujols’ game for a minute, what did that do to inflate his overall production? That means an A+ grade hitter becomes an A or A- minus grade hitter. Still great, but no longer the Pujols the invincible. I’d say split the difference between his megaton bomb offensive production years and last year, and you won’t be disappointed. I can see why owners are a bit skittish about taking him 1-5, especially with the speed/power combos available before him and a glut of good production from that position available later.

And what’s the the Brew Crew hating, A-Shin?! I’m not buying it. I like Milwaukee this year and in that division it doesn’t take the 1982 Cardinals to make the playoffs. Prince Fielder is a certified monster who is only 23 years old and hit 50 plus home runs last year. I’m not sure why you think he won’t do that again, especially with protection from Braun helping him out. Braun is going a tad bit too early in draft rankings I see though. Yeah, I said tad. So what?

Big Papi: I think this is a nice year to grab Ortiz with a later pick than he should go–he had a bunch of injury concerns last year but none of them really turned into anything serious, even if he misses 10-15 games he’s still someone that can drive your team, he’s a 1.000 plus ops guy and they’re rare. Fantasy owners get too fickle and skittish sometimes and this is a case where you should take advantage. He and Hanley drove my offense last year– Even if he only hits 35 HR again, he still put up 110 plus runs/rbi with great on base and average numbers, and he’ll get his 100+ walks. Howard too might be a bit undervalued due to his injury last year. I’d take him before Braun.

Berkman is always reliable and he had one bad half of a season, which might scare away skittish owners who don’t know better. But I still like him hitting in that dipsy doodle theme park over there in Houston, and he’s a great 3rd round addition to a top speed guy and #1 Starter.

And let’s not overlook Teixiera. Like Ortiz, this may be a good year to get Teixiera a bit later than he should go. He was crushing the ball in the 2nd half last year and looking like the top 5 pick he was supposed to be in 2007. Something tells me he bounces back in a big way this year. He and Morneau should go pretty close to each other in your draft.

A: I like the value in the bottom half of the Top 10 at first. Derrek Lee looks like a guy you can count on for at least 30 HRs and around 80s RBIs. He’s not going to approach the production of the Top 3, but he’s also going to slip into the fifth or sixth round where you’re going to have a ton of outfielders going and a sizable number of upper tier starting pitchers being taken. Morneau could approach the level of the top guys, so he’s less likely to drop.

Carlos Pena could also drop, but I’m not going to be the one to tell you he shouldn’t. I’m one of those who thinks last year might have been a fluke, even though I like Tampa Bay’s lineup this year. If Wily Mo Pena hits 46 HRs this year I still won’t be draft him next year. I’d rather take a chance a couple rounds later on someone due for a bounce back — like Jason Bay.