23-year old lefty swinging Chris Davis will battle 23-year old switch-hitting Justin Smoak for the starting job at 1B this spring. Davis has the clear lead in this competition based on his major league experience. He played in 113 games for the Rangers last season and he was 93 for 391 (.238 avg, .726 OPS) with 48 runs scored, 21 homers and 59 RBIs. His main problem has been his whiffing as he did it 150 times last season. With that in mind I never see him really having too much of a batting average but if the Rangers can accept that he could put up 35-40 homers in 2010. In 100 games at 1B last season Davis only made 3 errors which is pretty good. I think he will be able to handle it defensively even though he is a natural 3B.

Justin Smoak is one of the best prospects the Rangers have. He played in 106 games in Rookie+AA+AAA ball last season and he was 112 for 386 (.290 avg, .853 OPS) with 58 runs scored, 12 homers and 57 RBIs. Smoak does show decent plate discipline as he did walk 75 times last season.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 1B IN 2010: C