The first base situation... before everything goes blooey

Let's face it. We either have one of the top slugging 1Bs in baseball or an injury-prone washout. It's Greg Bird, Greg Bird, Greg Bird. That's all. Greg Bird. He flies or he dies. Greg Bird.

Two weeks ago, he turned 25. Thus far, over 304 MLB at bats, he has 20 home runs. Not bad. His .190 batting average in 2017 was skewed by a bum ankle - he hit .100 before the all-star break and .253 afterward. But hell, you know all this. This will be Year III of waiting on Bird. If he tweaks a gonad and he misses a few moons, we can't wait forever.

Still... here's the wet dream: Bird becomes the LH bat between Judge and Sanchez in a lineup as potent as anything since Mantle and Maris. Yeah, it's just fantasy, but don't wake me up. If George Herman Otani signs, the weakest link of our lineup could be Glyber Torres at 3B. Close your eyes and think this: Gardy, Judge, Bird, Sanchez, Otani, Castro, Didi, Hicks, Glyber. Ahh, but it's just a Victoria's Secret fantasy for now.

So... after Bird, our first base options are... hm-mm.... not so dreamy.

1. Tyler Austin (26). A lost year in 2017. Hit .225. Could end up rotting in Scranton. Must envy Garrett Cooper, who was traded for a bucket of fried chicken. Scranton again? Oh, God...

2. Chase Headley (33). His last season on Yankee contract. Hit .273 last year (fourth highest on team, behind Didi, Judge and Sanchez.) Could be traded to clear space, but probably will stay, because we won't get squat, and he gives us flexibility at 3B and 1B. Still, I believe it's significant that Yanks preferred Todd Frazier last October. It's as if they lost confidence in Head Casely at 3B.

3. Billy McKinney (23). Played 1B part time in Arizona fall league. Hit enough to get added to 40-man roster. Still not sure what we have here. Was once a Top 40 prospect in MLB, then hurt leg and faded. Hit .306 with 10 HR at Scranton last year in 209 ABs. Lefty. Very interesting. What if he just tears the International League apart? (Oops, wet-dreaming again.)

4. Mike Ford (25). Princeton guy. Jersey guy. Reached Scranton last June, hit .266 with 7 HR in 94 AB. Bats left. Slow mover. Draws lots of walks. I dunno. Make or break season, and will he even get at-bats?

5. Ryan McBroom (25). The guy we got for... drum roll, please... Brigadoon Refsnyder! Hit .247 with 16 HRs in Double A. Hits right. A bit old to be in Trenton. Supposedly a great fielder. Lost in shuffle?

6. Chris Gittens (23). Big guy - 6'4" - hit 13 HRs at Tampa. Could start in Trenton. Hits right. Looks good coming off bus. If he broke out... well... anything could happen, I suppose. But he's two years away, at least.

7. Isiah Gilliam (21). Might play OF. From great sports family - Junior Gilliam (Dodgers), Joe Gilliam (Steelers), Armen Gilliam (76ers). Not this year. But watch for this name. He could be a fast-mover.

8. The usual as-yet-unsigned minor league veteran. Last year it was Gi-Man Choi. Every year, we grab one, and they often play 1B. This year, though, McBroom, Ford and Austin should battle for Scranton supremacy, and at least one of them will likely be tossed back to Trenton limbo. Not sure we need another Chris Parmelee. Oh well... 

Greg Bird. Did I mention Greg Bird?