Chad Young’s 2025 Tiered Ottoneu Rankings: Third Base

If it feels like the balance between 1B and 3B is off this year, you can blame the Toronto Blue Jays. Giving Vlad Guerrero, Jr., 12 games at 3B was enough to give him eligibility for this year and move him off that list and onto this one. That doubled up the top tier here and pushed everyone else down a bit. And that, coupled with the degradation of the 1B position that I discussed yesterday, leaves 3B feeling deeper than 1B.
As a result, this is a position where I am less stressed about having an elite bat. If I miss on one of the top four, or even the next three, I am content to roll with someone like Isaac Paredes or Alec Bohm, as long as it leaves me able to stock up at other spots.
Chad Young’s Tiered Ottoneu 3B Rankings
Rank | Name | Ottoneu Positions | Tier | Note |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Vladimir Guerrero Jr. | 1B/3B | $36-$44 | Everything is coming together for Vlad and can you imagine if he just hit more fly balls? |
2 | José Ramírez | 3B | $36-$44 | I have heard at least two “but the Statcast data” comments on him this off-season, but maybe after a decade we just accept that his approach isn’t fully captured by Statcast. |
3 | Austin Riley | 3B | $28-$35 | Everything in his profile looks primed for a return to form. |
4 | Rafael Devers | 3B | $28-$35 | He should probably be over Riley, but I have slight fears about the shoulder. |
5 | Manny Machado | 3B | $21-$27 | Is 3B better than 1B? Cause the 5th best on that list was Pete Alonso and that was only because Ohtani was on that list and I prefer Machado. |
6 | Alex Bregman | 3B | $21-$27 | I flipped 6 and 7 multiple times, but decided Bregman is safer – mostly due to health – than Jazz. |
7 | Jazz Chisholm Jr. | 3B/OF | $21-$27 | But I think you can make a strong case that Jazz has more upside. |
8 | Royce Lewis | 3B | $15-$20 | Another tier where I flipped the guys, eventually choosing injury risk over swing-and-miss. |
9 | Mark Vientos | 3B | $15-$20 | I don’t think he can maintain that HR/FB rate and if that goes down and the K’s don’t go down, he could take a tumble – and his glove isn’t going to keep him in the lineup. |
10 | Junior Caminero | 3B | $10-$14 | Elite bad speed usually comes with problematic swing and miss so when it DOESN’T come with that, you should be excited. |
11 | Isaac Paredes | 1B/3B | $10-$14 | Back to a short porch, where he belongs. |
12 | Matt Chapman | 3B | $10-$14 | I kinda wish he left that park but he mashed in that park last year. |
13 | Alec Bohm | 1B/3B | $6-$9 | Boring but reliable. |
14 | Jake Burger | 1B/3B | $6-$9 | Park and lineup upgrade for a guy who looks like he should be a great fit for this format. |
15 | Max Muncy | 3B | $6-$9 | He’s basically Burger except old. |
16 | Nolan Arenado | 3B | $6-$9 | Batted ball quality went down but chase and contact looked fine, plus he was much better after a rough start. |
18 | Josh Jung | 3B | $3-$5 | I can’t help but remember the prospect I was so excited about and wonder if he’s finally healthy enough to show what he can do. |
19 | Eugenio Suarez | 3B | $3-$5 | He looks so up and down if you look at wOBA but his xwOBA has been pretty steady; can he keep that up another year? |
20 | Coby Mayo | 1B/3B | $3-$5 | There’s nothing for him to learn in AAA but the Orioles don’t seem ready to give him a regular job either. |
21 | Ryan McMahon | 3B | $3-$5 | The lack of H/R split in ’24 took him from 81-game star to… actually just not that good for this format. |
22 | Jose Miranda | 1B/3B | $3-$5 | The limited power caps his value in Ottoneu and will push him even further down if he loses 3B this year. |
23 | Jace Jung | 3B | $1-$2 | The rumors of Bregman interest tell us something about the Tigers confidence in Jung and it kind of looks like he needs time to really develop. |
24 | Cam Smith | 3B | $1-$2 | He’s going to get work in the OF and the Astros have a big need there. |
25 | Matt Vierling | 3B/OF | $1-$2 | A small dip back to his 2023 HR/FB rate would cost him quite a few HR and really hamper his Ottoneu production. |
26 | Deyvison De Los Santos | 1B/3B | $1-$2 | K-rate spiked when he moved to Miami but if he can get that back in like, with his power, that’s a fun profile. |
27 | Jeimer Candelario | 1B/3B | $1-$2 | Pitchers are less and less scared of him (with reason) and you have to wonder if the Reds are going to feel less and less reliant on him (with reason). |
28 | Noelvi Marte | 3B | $1-$2 | The only thing blocking Noelvi from taking Candelario’s job is Noelvi showing he can hit like he did before the suspension. |
29 | Cam Collier | 3B | $0-$1 | A 129 wRC+ at 19 years old in high-A is nothing to sneeze at. |
30 | Addison Barger | 3B/OF | $0-$1 | Scouts see big power but he hasn’t really shown it yet, so I am still a bit tepid. |
31 | Zach Dezenzo | 1B/3B | $0-$1 | His AAA BABIP and HR/FB rate give me some pause. |
32 | Brady House | 3B | $0-$1 | I am not sure any prospects disappointed me as much as House last year, but I’ll be watching for a rebound. |
33 | Ke’Bryan Hayes | 3B | $0-$1 | After he FINALLY started using his hard contact to pull and elevate in 2023, in 2024 he went back to spraying grounders and stopped hitting them so hard, as well. |
34 | DJ LeMahieu | 1B/3B | $0-$1 | More chase plus softer contact likely equals lost batspeed. |
35 | Anthony Rendon | 3B | $0-$1 | Why not the $0 tier? Maybe he finds it again, right? |
36 | Miguel Vargas | 3B/OF | $0 | It is way too early to just give up on him, but it’s hard to justify counting on him. |
37 | Yoan Moncada | 3B | $0 | If he had a job, I might talk myself into him at $1 because his last two years have been llimited but not terrible. |
38 | Andres Chaparro | 1B/3B | $0 | Doesn’t make enough loud contact. |
39 | Jonah Bride | 1B/3B | $0 | The second half was as unsustainable as it was glorious. |
40 | Nick Senzel | 3B | $0 | He has just never made good enough contact to drive the ball successfully. |
41 | J.D. Davis | 1B/3B | $0 | GB were an issue for him early in his career and they have come back with a vengence the last couple of seasons. |
42 | Gio Urshela | 1B/3B | $0 | 2019 and 2020 are such wild outliers particularly for a guy who was never expected to be a big bat. |
43 | Brock Wilken | 3B | $0 | There is too much development remaining here for me to get excited yet. |
44 | Jon Berti | 3B | $0 | It is still mindblowing to me that the Yankees made the World Series in a year where they need Jon Berti to play 1B for them in the playoffs. |
45 | Eric Bitonti | 3B | $0 | Reports suggest tantalizing power, but he isn’t close to ready. |
A long-time fantasy baseball veteran and one of the creators of ottoneu, Chad Young's writes for RotoGraphs and PitcherList, and can be heard on the ottobot podcast. You can follow him on Twitter @chadyoung.
No Norby?!?
In the MI rankings.