Chances are that someone other than Mike Trout is going to finish as the No. 1 hitter in Fantasy baseball this season. As brilliant as he is, Trout has only finished as the No. 1 hitter in Roto leagues in two of his five full seasons in the majors, though no player has topped him twice in that span.

With that in mind, this preseason series is going to look at the seven players with the best chance to finish ahead of Trout in 2017. We'll look at the path that could take them to the No. 1 spot, as well as the potential pitfalls along the way.

This time around, we're taking a look at Diamondbacks' slugger Paul Goldschmidt.

Path to Glory

It felt weird to write "slugger" in reference to Goldschmidt. Sure, Goldschmidt can slug as well as anyone. He led the NL in slugging percentage in 2013, and actually ranks sixth in the majors in slugging percentage since 2012. But "slugger' implies a one-dimension aspect that just doesn't do justice to Goldschmidt's game at this point.

Mark Trumbo is a "slugger." Paul Goldschmidt is a baseball player.

And this gets to the root of what makes Goldschmidt such a tremendous option for Fantasy. At 28, he doesn't have youth or upside on his side, but he has all-around skills that are second only to Trout. Last season, in what may have been a down year for him, Goldschmidt racked up 24 homers, 106 runs, 95 RBI, and 32 stolen bases, while hitting .297. Two years ago, Goldschmidt hit .321 with 33 homers, 213 combined runs and RBI, and 21 steals. This isn't your typical plodding first baseman.

The path to No. 1 for Goldschmidt might be as clear as, "do 2015 again, please." He hits for a high BABIP every year, and with his power and strikeout rate (21.3 percent in 2016, roughly average), Goldschmidt is always going to have a chance to challenge for a batting title. He plays in a terrific park that boosts his power numbers, and with the exception of a hand injury in 2014, has been extremely durable, playing at least 158 games in three of his last four years.

In a lot of ways, Goldschmidt actually looks a lot like Trout as a hitter. Trout is a more proven base stealer, but Goldschmidt has actually been more prolific in recent years. He doesn't have Mookie Betts' contact skills, but he is a rare 30-homer threat who isn't going to strike out in a quarter of his trips to the plate. The Diamondbacks play in a good park and just finished 10th in baseball in runs scored, and Goldschmidt has A.J. Pollock back at the top of the order, giving him even more opportunities to produce runs.

What could derail him?

There's a bit of a a Diet Trout aspect to Goldschmidt that makes it pretty much impossible to justify taking him over the real thing. Goldschmidt could be better than Trout, and even has been before, but Trout's just a bit better at pretty much everything, with a better track record to boot. If Goldschmidt does finish ahead of Trout, it will likely just come down to who gets more plate appearances, or who avoids a nagging two-week injury.

If we're talking about what the potential downside might be for Goldschmidt, it's not hard to see the Diamondbacks' offense taking a bit of a step back. They got career years from Jean Segura, Jake Lamb, and Yasmany Tomas in 2016, and the return of Pollock may not be enough to make up for that.

Goldschmidt also moved in the wrong direction peripherally last season, posting the lowest flyball rate of his career at 28.8 percent, to go along with a sky-high 14.3 percent infield flyball rate. He combined those things with a 37.5 percent hard-hit average, his lowest for a full season, and the only time he has been below 40 percent since 2012. His dip in power last year may not have been a fluke, in other words, a bad sign for an elite player.

Goldschmidt is also 29, so it's possible we've already seen his peak, and he is at the start of his decline phase. As we saw last season, even a declining Goldschmidt is still a remarkable player, but that might be enough to put him outside the tier of truly elite players.

Chances he finishes as the No. 1 player: 10 percent

Anything Goldschmidt can do, Trout can do better, but following the Trout model is pretty clearly a smart path to elite Fantasy status. He might not have as much room to grow as Betts, but Goldschmidt provides safety and upside at the top of the draft.