Total points are the newest craze in fantasy baseball, but five and six category leagues are still the foundation of the industry. Still, if you would like a comparison across the first base universe, please feel free to check out the total points version. Included in that version is the contract status of each player. Here, we will rank players according to their aggregate rankings in the five and six categories. The sixth category will be walks for our purposes.

Just like with the total points articles, we will look at not only the averages for each player, but what they have done in each of the past five seasons. Often, we see players have uncharacteristically good or bad seasons that skew the findings. So, take everything as it is intended and adapt accordingly.

Jose Abreu—Chicago White Sox

	AVG	HR	Runs	RBI	SB	BB
2017	.304	33	95	102	3	35
2016	.293	25	67	100	0	47
2015	.290	30	88	101	0	39
2014	.317	36	80	107	3	51
AVG	.301	31	83	103	2	43

5 Category: 6

6 Category: 9

As noted in the other article, Abreu is arbitration eligible following his initial four-year contract. MLBTR estimates the deal would come to around 16 million if the White Sox go through with that. Does it make sense for them to pay him that amount of money given their situation? His numbers look gaudy, but he doesn’t walk enough to be an elite offensive player. So, is there a team out there willing to pay him AND give the White Sox something of value for him?

Yonder Alonso—Free agent

	AVG	HR	Runs	RBI	SB	BB
2017	.266	28	72	67	2	68
2016	.253	7	52	56	3	45
2015	.280	5	50	31	2	42
2014	.243	7	27	27	6	17
2013	.289	6	34	45	6	32
AVG	.264	11	47	45	4	41

5 Category: 25

6 Category: 26

How much credence do you put in one season? His home run per fly ball rate skyrocketed to 19.4 percent last year after never surpassing 7.8 percent (in seasons with more than 100 PA). How much does a team want to invest in that happening again? He has the feel a platoon player at this point. He could land with a team that needs a left-handed 1B/DH option. Those jobs are few and far between.

Josh Bell—Pittsburgh Pirates 

	AVG	HR	Runs	RBI	SB	BB
2017	.255	26	75	90	2	66
2016	.273	3	18	19	0	21
AVG	.264	15	47	55	1	44

5 Category: 28

 6 Category: 27

Like many others, we have to look at the season by season results in lieu of the aggregate. Bell started to put things together in the second half last season, so he will likely be better than last season’s numbers, but how much better. If he puts up .270/30/80/90/2/70 numbers is that enough to be a fantasy starter?

Cody Bellinger—Los Angeles Dodgers

	AVG	HR	Runs	RBI	SB	BB
2017	.267	39	87	97	10	64
AVG	.267	39	87	97	10	64

5 Category: 2

 6 Category: 3

It’s impossible to know what to do with guys like Bellinger. Every few years someone like him comes along (this year there are two with him and Aaron Judge). Do they become superstars or does the league figure them out? Both have holes in their approach that could be closed or lead them to take a giant step back. Bellinger is eligible as a left fielder in outfield specific leagues or as an outfielder in generic leagues. So, he has some added utility.

Brandon Belt—San Francisco Giants

	AVG	HR	Runs	RBI	SB	BB
2017	.241	18	63	51	3	66
2016	.275	17	77	82	0	104
2015	.280	18	73	68	9	56
2014	.243	12	30	27	3	18
2013	.289	17	76	67	5	52
AVG	.266	16	64	59	4	59

5 Category: 17 

6 Category: 16

Some players do better with total points and others do better in traditional formats. Belt doesn’t hit enough home runs to be a big time fantasy player in standard formats. He can still be a valuable member of a fantasy roster, but you can wait until closer to the end of the draft to add him. In leagues that utilize a 1B/3B slot, he could end up starting for you. Otherwise, he is a valuable bench piece.

Justin Bour—Miami Marlins

	AVG	HR	Runs	RBI	SB	BB
2017	.289	25	52	83	1	47
2016	.264	15	35	51	0	38
2015	.262	23	42	73	0	34
AVG	.272	21	43	69	0	40

5 Category: 22

6 Category: 23 

The Marlins are definitely trading Giancarlo Stanton and might trade Marcell Ozuna and Christian Yelich as well. If that is the case then Bour could become their most experienced and talented offensive player. That doesn’t bode well for Bour or for the Marlins in the short term. Some players are prime time players and others produce when they are surrounded by prime- time players. Bour is the latter kind.

Miguel Cabrera—Detroit Tigers

	AVG	HR	Runs	RBI	SB	BB
2017	.249	16	50	60	0	54
2016	.316	38	92	108	0	75
2015	.338	18	64	76	1	77
2014	.313	25	101	109	1	60
2013	.348	44	103	137	3	90
AVG	.313	28	82	98	1	71

5 Category: 8

6 Category: 7 

It’s too bad for Cabrera that he played at the same time as Albert Pujols. If he remains relatively healthy he could end up with more than 2000 RBIs as well. The memory of great players will get you burned in fantasy baseball. No one really knows how much he has left in the tank, but it is clear he is closer to the end than he is to his prime.

Chris Davis—Baltimore Orioles

	AVG	HR	Runs	RBI	SB	BB
2017	.215	26	65	61	1	61
2016	.221	38	99	84	1	88
2015	.262	47	100	117	2	84
2014	.196	26	65	72	2	60
2013	.286	53	103	138	4	72
AVG	.236	38	86	95	2	73

5 Category: 10

6 Category: 10 

Two obviously brilliant campaigns are bringing the entire average up. 2016 might represent the midpoint of what we can expect when Davis is healthy. Those are pretty good numbers when you ignore the batting average. This is especially true when we add the sixth category. So, in his case the aggregate actually works out.

Lucas Duda—Free Agent

	AVG	HR	Runs	RBI	SB	BB
2017	.217	30	50	64	0	60
2016	.219	7	20	23	0	15
2015	.244	27	67	73	0	66
2014	.253	30	74	92	3	69
2013	.223	15	42	33	0	55
AVG	.233	22	51	57	1	53

5 Category: 24

6 Category: 22

In a way, Duda demonstrates the depth the first base position. If you remove 2016 he comes off even better. Still, the aggregate probably represents where we should expect him moving into the future. We probably won’t see any everyday jobs for him this winter, but if he goes to the right team he could end up being the lefty side of a really good platoon at either first base or designated hitter.

Edwin Encarnacion—Cleveland Indians

	AVG	HR	Runs	RBI	SB	BB
2017	.258	38	96	107	2	104
2016	.263	42	99	127	2	87
2015	.277	39	94	111	3	77
2014	.268	34	75	98	2	62
2013	.272	36	90	104	7	82
AVG	.268	38	91	109	3	82

5 Category: 4

6 Category: 3

It is always interesting comparing formats. Encarnacion was first in the total points, but suffers a little here when we move to more traditional formats. What is also interesting is that when you compare him to the other top first basemen he ends up trailing in the sabermetric numbers like WAR. Clearly, he hits in the right moments so he can produce all of those RBI. Maybe he is a clutch performer or maybe he’s just a vulture. Either way, he should never be ignored.

Freddie Freeman—Atlanta Braves

	AVG	HR	Runs	RBI	SB	BB
2017	.307	28	84	71	8	65
2016	.302	34	102	91	6	89
2015	.276	18	62	66	3	56
2014	.288	18	93	78	3	90
2013	.319	23	89	109	1	66
AVG	.298	24	86	83	4	73

5 Category: 7 

6 Category: 6

Freeman is a prime time performer that is only a little luck away from being a top five performer. He has missed significant time in two out of the last three seasons. If you take the 162 game average for his career you’d see that Freeman would average .290/26/93/93/4/76. That includes the early part of his career where he struggled a little. He easily could end up being a .300/30/100/100/5/80 guy.

Paul Goldschmidt—Arizona Diamondbacks

	AVG	HR	Runs	RBI	SB	BB
2017	.297	36	117	120	18	94
2016	.297	24	106	95	32	110
2015	.321	33	103	110	21	118
2014	.300	19	75	69	9	64
2013	.302	36	103	125	15	99
AVG	.303	30	101	104	19	97

5 Category: 1

6 Category: 1

Goldschmidt is the perfect fantasy baseball package for traditional formats. He even adds 20 steals at a position that doesn’t traditionally add it. He hits home runs, hits for average, and draws walks. There are others that do each individual skill better, but no one has the combination of skills that Goldschmidt has. 

Adrian Gonzalez— Los Angeles Dodgers

	AVG	HR	Runs	RBI	SB	BB
2017	.242	3	14	30	0	16
2016	.285	18	69	90	0	55
2015	.275	28	76	90	0	62
2014	.276	27	83	116	1	56
2013	.293	22	69	100	1	47
AVG	.274	20	62	85	0	47

5 Category: 15

6 Category: 15 

Gonzalez will turn 36 next season. It’s hard to determine at this point whether 2017 was just an injury riddled season or the beginning of the end. The Dodgers would love to unload him on someone and it would be easy to see him succeeding in the right spot, but goodness knows where that spot is at this point. If healthy, he could be a nice bench piece for an industrious fantasy owner, but that’s a lot to gamble on.

Yulieski Gurriel—Houston Astros

	AVG	HR	Runs	RBI	SB	BB
2017	.299	18	69	75	3	22
2016	.262	3	13	15	1	5
AVG	.281	11	41	45	2	14

5 Category: 26

6 Category: 29 

Gurriel had a nice “rookie” campaign last season and it helped the Astros advance to the World Series. He had an .864 OPS in the postseason including two home runs in the World Series. It is clear he has arrived as a player, but without patience at the plate he is not much of a fantasy player in traditional terms. His 43 doubles make him a much more appealing total points player than five or six category guy.

Eric Hosmer—Free Agent

	AVG	HR	Runs	RBI	SB	BB
2017	.318	25	98	94	6	66
2016	.266	25	80	104	5	57
2015	.297	18	98	93	7	61
2014	.270	9	54	58	4	35
2013	.302	17	86	79	11	51
AVG	.291	19	83	86	7	54

5 Category: 10 

6 Category: 8

If Gurriel drew more walks he would essentially be Eric Hosmer. Gurriel is signed a five year, 47.5 million-dollar deal in 2016. Hosmer hopes to sign for around 200 million (at least that’s what his agent, Scott Boras, hopes he will sign for). Either someone is going to significantly overpay or someone is going to come away disappointed. The same is true in fantasy circles. Anyone investing a high draft pick or high auction value in him is going to come away disappointed.