First Base Dilemma

As you all know our Dbacks have created a logjam of players at first base. Unfortunately, none of them actually stand out above the others to start and we are face with the problem of picking one. I know there have already been many articles about this, but here is my two cents... hit the jump!

First we will go through all of the first basemen that will or could get some major playing time this year:

Brandon Allen: We all know that he he has all of the potential that could win him the starting first base job on many teams in the MLB. But in the limited time he has been in the major leagues, he has not shown anything to us that convinces us he will be any good. He racked in the minor leagues, so he has nothing more to prove there, so I cannot see us sending him back there. Unfortunately, I see him devolping as more of a AAAA player instead of a solid major leaguer. I can see him as a backup, but I really want him to take charge in Spring Training and take the job. Some of the stats thta stand out to me are a .221 average throughout his career with 60 strikeouts in 149 ABS. That is a strikeout every 2.5 at bats folks. That is worse than Mark Reynolds and I do NOT want another Mark Reynolds striking out every time. The bright side about Allen however, is the monster power that he posseses. If he can come through, he could form into a Derrek Lee type player I think. That is his roof.

Juan Miranda: He came over in the Scottie Allen trade with the Yankees. I actually am pretty high on this guy. Kevin Towers did work in the Yankees system last year and he is familiar with him. I had a chance to speak with Towers at the fanfest, and I did an interview for a school project. Afterwards, we discussed many things, and Miranda came up. He said he is very high on him and believes he was blocked by Giambi and Teixera for too long. He has monster power potential, even more than Allen in my opinion, and he strikes out less. I say that we start off by giving him the job if he performs admireably in Spring Training, because I think he can prove to everyone that he can really play the game. Miranda actually has a more respectable .253 average over the course of his career. and has 4 homeruns in 83 at bats. I realize that is not outstanding, but take into account that he was coming off the bench cold and getting 1 at bat 1 day at a time usually.

Russell Branyan: For some reason whatsoever, I have always liked Branyan. He seems like a classy, nice guy who can mentor Allen/Miranda, and still hit 30+ home runs in a season. The problem is that he brings way too many strikeouts to the club. If he can only strikeout 90 times as a bench player, or 150 as a starter, I would deem that as a success. But his average is a problem, he has only hit .234 for his career which I do not like. He is probably most suited for a bench role behind Miranda, or we could send him to AAA and keep Allen, or we could trade Allen. Signing him really complicated things furthur which is alos a con of this whole situation.

Xavier Nady/Geoff Blum: I combine these two players because they will probably not see much time at all at first base, seeing as they have other postions that need to be filled. They will be useful backups at some point if someone gets injured, but hey won't see much time there.

Paul Goldshmidt: I really like him and if he is really good during Spring Training, then I could actualy see him winning the job on opening day. I know it would be a huge stretch, but he has monster potential with lots of homers, but when homers come, strikeouts do too. He could be a dark horse this year for top rookie actually in my mind. If nothing goes according to plan, he will be a September callup.

Micah Owings: Yes, I must include him on the list because I think that if he plays at first base and pitches, he could be one of our most valuable players. He has 9 homeruns in 184 at bats over his career. If he gets his average up, and he gets to START at first, he would have the potential to hit 30+ homeruns in 650+ at bats, or even more. home runs. I see him just pinch hitting here and there this year, but I am just saying that he COULD be valuable.

Ok, well that is pretty much it and I even didn't include our first basemen of the future if Paul doesn't pan out: Bobby Borchering. So what do YOU think the Dbacks should do?