Paul Sporer’s Top 50 Third Basemen

by
February 12, 2021

I like the hot corner this year. There is a superstar top tier, some up-and-comers, some quality depth, and plenty of deeper league options.

I’ll have an update in early March to account for any moves, news, and/or injuries. Let me know what you think in the comments: how are you building your 3B plan? do you want an extra 3B for CI or do you prefer 1B? who is your sleeper at the position?

Here’s my list.

Other positions:

2021 3B Rankings
RK PLAYER TM ELIG. COMMENT ADP
1 Jose Ramirez CLE 3B Even w/out Lindor, there’s enough lineup strength to fuel 85+ R/RBI 11
2 Anthony Rendon LAA 3B Since ’17: t7th-highest wRC+ (146) & 1 of 15 players w/300+ R/RBI 42
3 Nolan Arenado STL 3B Price only down 6 spots since trade to StL; he’ll still be great 33
4 Manny Machado SD 3B Had his best non-Camden Yards run and it’s hard not be excited by what’s next 22
5 Alex Bregman HOU 3B Struggles were overstated & plate skills remain elite 42
6 Rafael Devers BOS 3B Rough 16 G start (.564 OPS) sank season, but last 41 were good Devers (.874) 42
7 DJ LeMahieu NYY 1B, 2B, 3B Skills are rock solid, though perhaps the dejuiced ball will eat some HRs 28
8 Eugenio Suarez CIN 3B Another slow start who was completely himself by season’s end by time ran out 78
9 Max Muncy LAD 1B, 2B, 3B His 37 HR per 600 PA since ’18 are 2nd to only Suarez (39) at the position 94
10 Tommy Edman STL 2B, 3B, SS, OF Had 27 SBs per 600 PA in 1597 MiLB PA; will deliver strong SB/R/AVG 128
11 Yoan Moncada CWS 3B COVID hit him hard so I’m not sure we’ve seen the follow up to his breakout ’19 85
12 Cavan Biggio TOR 2B, 3B, OF Even if AVG lags, there’s 20 HR/20 SB w/100 R + the triple elig. 61
13 Jeff McNeil NYM 2B, 3B, OF Pwr dipped from ’19 heights, though he did post a .211 ISO in Sept. 87
14 Matt Chapman OAK 3B Sold out for pwr in 37 gm sample as FB% & LA soared, but so did K% (36%) 114
15 Kris Bryant CHC 3B Had a near-identical run in ’19 (.663 OPS, 29% K in 34 gms) & ended w/a 135 wRC+ 131
16 Gio Urshela NYY 3B Another strong 43 gms tacked onto his ’19 breakout just add some legitimacy 161
17 Alec Bohm PHI 1B, 3B Is the power ready to put him among the top 3B? 106
18 Ke’Bryan Hayes PIT 3B I’m kinda surprised the ADP isn’t sky-high after the 195 wRC+ in his debut 143
19 Josh Donaldson MIN 3B It’s all about health and the lower price accounts for that risk 195
20 Justin Turner FA 3B Aging gracefully w/a fantastic skillset… just needs a team now! 220
21 Brian Anderson MIA 3B Personal fave who’s best is yet to come incl. 90+ R/RBI if MIA lineup improves 227
22 Eduardo Escobar ARZ 3B Not buying ’20 as a legit decline, avg’d .266/25 HR/90 RBI/75 R from 2017-19 305
23 J.D. Davis NYM 3B, OF Poor glove could cost him some time if the NL doesn’t get the DH back 222
24 Austin Riley ATL 3B If you don’t mind taking on a poor AVG, it seems like 30 HRs is a lock 207
25 Andrés Giménez CLE 2B, 3B, SS Ran 9x in 49 gms and now joins tm w/4th-most SBs since ’18 169
26 Jean Segura PHI 2B, 3B Still good for a double-double & decent AVG, but 9 pt K% surge is alarming 187
27 Kyle Seager SEA 3B His ’18 now looks like a clear outlier; will remain solid if unspectacular 266
28 Willi Castro DET 3B, SS Not uber-concerned about 0 SBs in debut after 23 per 600 PA in minors (2608 PA) 242
29 Edwin Rios LAD 3B If LAD doesn’t re-sign Turner, he gets 5-7 spot boost 329
30 Joey Wendle TB 2B, 3B, SS With health, his ’18 is very much in play: 7 HR, 16 SB, .300 AVG… solidly boring 317
31 David Fletcher LAA 2B, 3B, SS There are skills here, but they’re leveraged best in very deep leagues 223
32 Ryan McMahon COL 1B, 2B, 3B Could get better, but nothing in his profile suggests a full-on breakout is coming 238
33 Jeimer Candelario DET 1B, 3B I want ’20 to be real, but a .372 BABIP won’t & he feels overpriced for ~.240/20 248
34 Carter Kieboom WAS 3B Still major upside for the 23 y/o and now priced to buy w/0 risk 501
35 Isiah Kiner-Falefa TEX 3B, SS What are we really buying if it doesn’t come w/that C-elig.? 284
36 Luis Urías MLW 2B, 3B, SS He’s just 24 y/o with a mere 422 PA on his ledger, don’t give up yet 417
37 Evan Longoria SF 3B A fine NL-only volume option as he should remain the starter 445
38 Maikel Franco FA 3B Needs a team but even a role can only push him into the early-30s at 3B 488
39 Chad Pinder OAK 2B, 3B Defensive improvements have opened up more PA, but bat still lags for most lgs 552
40 David Bote CHC 2B, 3B Perfect NL Only piece w/multi-elig. & able to do a bit of everything 529
41 Marwin Gonzalez BOS 1B, 2B, 3B, OF Has signed since 1B/2B rankings so he’s up a bit; could find PT in many spots 518
42 Yoshi Tsutsugo TB 3B, OF There’s an adjustment period to MLB & he only got 51 gms; could drop 25+ HRs 536
43 Matt Carpenter STL 3B If he can scrape some health together, could give it one last big hurrah 634
44 Mike Brosseau TB 1B, 2B, 3B Isn’t he just a better Diaz at this point? 457
45 Yandy Díaz TB 3B Oh Yandy… I didn’t see you there when I said that other thing….. 499
46 Isaac Paredes DET 3B Return of Schoop squeezes him out of obvious PT to start the season 584
47 Travis Shaw FA 1B, 3B Strong side platoon bat w/some defensive versatility; needs a team 634
48 Asdrúbal Cabrera FA 1B, 3B 35 y/o needs a team; don’t forget he had 91 RBI in 131 gms in ’19 587
49 Abraham Toro HOU 3B If the 24 y/o found some PT, he could be an legitimate waiver target 709
50 Brad Miller PHI 3B Always have a soft spot for him, but he’s best in NL-Only or even as a DFS play vR 689
SOURCE: NFBC ADP Since 1/9





 

Paul is the Editor of Rotographs and Content Director for OOTP Perfect Team. Follow Paul on Twitter @sporer and on Twitch at sporer.

24 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
weekendatbidens
4 years ago

I play in keeper leagues, so I’m looking for guys to buy for ’22.

Sleeper – Yandy Diaz:
If we are discounting 2020 then some of it can be forgiven. He had some visible shifts where he was hitting farther away in the box (Draysbay did a couple of nice pieces on him). His plate skills trended towards elite (OBP was insane) and his contact rate was excellent for a great BA. And when he did lift the ball it still was hit hard. Another thing was that he clearly lost flexibility with how much muscle and weight he put on, which could have unfortunately made it difficult to lift the ball. I think that could be part of the LA issue, but it remains to be seen what he looks like in ST. The big thing I’m actually worried about is his health. Seems to struggle to stay healthy, but I think if he does stay on the field, I think he puts it all together.

Waiver Wire target – Isaac Paredes:
Had a huge surge of power in his profile during the Mexican league (AA equivalent). This doesn’t mean it will translate, but it does give him hope for him later in the season once he grabs PT from Schoop at 2B or 3B.

3
vots3Member since 2025
4 years ago
Reply to  weekendatbidens

There’s a really good article posted on Diaz a couple months ago about why 2020 is probably the new norm. His BB% will continue to be elite, but his power will be non-existent. Pitchers and Diaz are in essentially a stalemate. Unless something changes to force pitchers to not pitch Diaz low and away. But yeah, look up the article on FG Yandy Diaz and the Groundball Revolution

0