San Diego Padres Options at First Base

Aug 10, 2014; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; San Diego Padres first baseman

(23) in the field against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the first inning at PNC Park. San Diego won 8-2. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

Since the Padres sent Adrian Gonzalez to Boston prior to the 2011 season, production from first base has been hard to find. Since his departure, Padre first basemen have combined to slash .245/.316/.382 putting them in 21st, 23rd and 29th in those categories respectively. In short it hasn’t been pretty. The Padres have yet to find someone who can consistently perform and at least replace some of the production that Gonzalez provided years ago.

The guy who has had the most starts in that span of time and has been considered the starting first baseman for the team the past couple seasons has been Yonder Alonso. While he hasn’t been a disaster, he hasn’t been great either. He’ll always be compared to Anthony Rizzo of the Chicago Cubs, who the Padres traded to open up first base for Alonso. Now Rizzo has become an All-Star while we’re still trying to figure out who Alonso is.

Bill Center on Friarwire opined that Alonso’s future isn’t as clear cut as it looked 3 years ago. Now his time in San Diego could be coming to a close due to his lack of performance and injuries that could have lasting effects on how he plays.

So if not Alonso then who? Here are 5 guys who I believe could take the reins from him at first in 2015.