End of Season Rankings: Third Basemen
The 2014 fantasy baseball season has come to a close, so it is time to look back at the season past and determine which players were the most valuable at each position. Moving around the infield, we’re on to the hot corner this week.
The players were ranked based on their 2014 production, using the evaluation system explained and updated on this site some time ago. The valuations are built for $260 budgets and standard 5×5 roto fantasy leagues, where only one catcher is started. Players are listed only at their primary positions from 2014.
One important thing to note is the premium (or lack thereof) placed on the position a player occupies in your lineup. For example, while a first baseman may be able to accumulate superior overall numbers, the availability of such production lower in the rankings severely dampers the amount the player was worth. These rankings are meant to reflect a player’s value should he have occupied this spot in your lineup for the entire year. A player who missed time due to injury but put up great numbers during his time on the field would be worth less.
This year, I’ve added in RotoGraphs’ preseason consensus rankings so you can see what we thought of each player coming into the year. This ranking can be found in the “Pre” column. “EOS” of course stands for End Of Season, and the rest should be self explanatory.
With all this in mind, here are your rankings.
| EOS | Pre | Name | pos | G | PA | AB | HR | R | RBI | SB | AVG | $$$ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 22 | Anthony Rendon | 3B | 153 | 683 | 613 | 21 | 111 | 83 | 17 | 0.287 | 25.91 |
| 2 | 20 | Todd Frazier | 3B | 157 | 660 | 597 | 29 | 88 | 80 | 20 | 0.273 | 22.90 |
| 3 | 6 | Josh Donaldson | 3B | 158 | 695 | 608 | 29 | 93 | 98 | 8 | 0.255 | 20.93 |
| 4 | 3 | Adrian Beltre | 3B | 148 | 614 | 549 | 19 | 79 | 77 | 1 | 0.324 | 17.91 |
| 5 | 13 | Kyle Seager | 3B | 159 | 654 | 590 | 25 | 71 | 96 | 7 | 0.268 | 16.48 |
| 6 | Josh Harrison | 3B | 143 | 550 | 520 | 13 | 77 | 52 | 18 | 0.315 | 14.72 | |
| 7 | 5 | Evan Longoria | 3B | 162 | 700 | 624 | 22 | 83 | 91 | 5 | 0.253 | 14.20 |
| 8 | 11 | Matt Carpenter | 3B | 158 | 709 | 595 | 8 | 99 | 59 | 5 | 0.272 | 9.61 |
| 9 | 9 | Pablo Sandoval | 3B | 157 | 638 | 588 | 16 | 68 | 73 | 0 | 0.279 | 8.41 |
| 10 | 27 | Trevor Plouffe | 3B | 136 | 582 | 520 | 14 | 69 | 80 | 2 | 0.258 | 6.95 |
| 11 | 17 | Nolan Arenado | 3B | 111 | 467 | 432 | 18 | 58 | 61 | 2 | 0.287 | 6.25 |
| 12 | 30 | Lonnie Chisenhall | 3B | 142 | 533 | 478 | 13 | 62 | 59 | 3 | 0.280 | 4.61 |
| 13 | Casey McGehee | 3B | 160 | 691 | 616 | 4 | 56 | 76 | 4 | 0.287 | 4.56 | |
| 14 | 12 | Martin Prado | 3B | 143 | 573 | 536 | 12 | 62 | 58 | 3 | 0.282 | 4.48 |
| 15 | 15 | Aramis Ramirez | 3B | 133 | 531 | 494 | 15 | 47 | 66 | 3 | 0.285 | 4.22 |
| 16 | 4 | David Wright | 3B | 134 | 586 | 535 | 8 | 54 | 63 | 8 | 0.269 | 2.18 |
| 17 | 38 | Luis Valbuena | 3B | 149 | 547 | 478 | 16 | 68 | 51 | 1 | 0.249 | 1.68 |
| 18 | Justin Turner | 3B | 109 | 322 | 288 | 7 | 46 | 43 | 6 | 0.340 | 1.00 | |
| 19 | Brock Holt | 3B | 106 | 492 | 449 | 4 | 68 | 29 | 12 | 0.281 | 0.20 | |
| 20 | Nick Castellanos | 3B | 148 | 579 | 533 | 11 | 50 | 66 | 2 | 0.259 | 0.11 | |
| 21 | 10 | Pedro Alvarez | 3B | 122 | 445 | 398 | 18 | 46 | 56 | 8 | 0.231 | -0.24 |
| 22 | Conor Gillaspie | 3B | 130 | 506 | 464 | 7 | 50 | 57 | 0 | 0.282 | -0.84 | |
| 23 | 34 | Juan Uribe | 3B | 103 | 404 | 386 | 9 | 36 | 54 | 0 | 0.311 | -1.00 |
| 24 | 16 | Chase Headley | 3B | 135 | 531 | 470 | 13 | 55 | 49 | 7 | 0.243 | -1.09 |
| 25 | 21 | Chris Johnson | 3B | 153 | 611 | 582 | 10 | 43 | 58 | 6 | 0.263 | -1.31 |
| 26 | 24 | David Freese | 3B | 134 | 511 | 462 | 10 | 53 | 55 | 1 | 0.260 | -1.50 |
| 27 | Yangervis Solarte | 3B | 131 | 535 | 469 | 10 | 56 | 48 | 0 | 0.260 | -2.35 | |
| 28 | 18 | Manny Machado | 3B | 82 | 354 | 327 | 12 | 38 | 32 | 2 | 0.278 | -5.48 |
| 29 | 23 | Matt Dominguez | 3B | 157 | 607 | 564 | 16 | 51 | 57 | 0 | 0.215 | -5.48 |
| 30 | 26 | Cody Asche | 3B | 121 | 434 | 397 | 10 | 43 | 46 | 0 | 0.252 | -5.71 |
| 31 | Mike Aviles | 3B | 113 | 374 | 344 | 5 | 38 | 39 | 14 | 0.247 | -5.85 | |
| 32 | 25 | Mike Moustakas | 3B | 140 | 500 | 457 | 15 | 45 | 54 | 1 | 0.212 | -6.23 |
| 33 | 31 | Juan Francisco | 3B | 106 | 320 | 287 | 16 | 40 | 43 | 0 | 0.220 | -6.25 |
| 34 | 8 | Brett Lawrie | 3B | 70 | 282 | 259 | 12 | 27 | 38 | 0 | 0.247 | -9.11 |
| 35 | 37 | Marcus Semien | 3B | 64 | 255 | 231 | 6 | 30 | 28 | 3 | 0.234 | -12.02 |
| 36 | Kristopher Negron | 3B | 49 | 158 | 144 | 6 | 19 | 17 | 5 | 0.271 | -13.47 | |
| 37 | 28 | Kelly Johnson | 3B | 106 | 297 | 265 | 7 | 29 | 27 | 2 | 0.215 | -13.67 |
| 38 | 36 | Danny Valencia | 3B | 86 | 284 | 264 | 4 | 20 | 30 | 1 | 0.258 | -13.72 |
| 39 | Mike Olt | 3B | 89 | 258 | 225 | 12 | 23 | 33 | 0 | 0.160 | -14.87 | |
| 40 | Ramon Santiago | 3B | 75 | 214 | 179 | 2 | 20 | 17 | 2 | 0.246 | -16.55 | |
| 41 | Don Kelly | 3B | 95 | 185 | 163 | 0 | 24 | 7 | 6 | 0.245 | -16.96 | |
| 42 | Kevin Frandsen | 3B | 105 | 236 | 220 | 1 | 17 | 17 | 0 | 0.259 | -17.60 | |
| 43 | Jimmy Paredes | 3B | 27 | 65 | 63 | 2 | 12 | 8 | 4 | 0.286 | -17.83 | |
| 44 | Joaquin Arias | 3B | 107 | 204 | 193 | 0 | 18 | 15 | 1 | 0.254 | -17.98 | |
| 45 | Charlie Culberson | 3B | 95 | 233 | 210 | 3 | 17 | 24 | 2 | 0.195 | -18.16 | |
| 46 | Jacob Lamb | 3B | 37 | 133 | 126 | 4 | 15 | 11 | 1 | 0.230 | -18.21 | |
| 47 | Cory Spangenberg | 3B | 20 | 65 | 62 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 4 | 0.290 | -18.56 | |
| 48 | Kevin Kouzmanoff | 3B | 13 | 51 | 47 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 0 | 0.362 | -18.66 | |
| 49 | Rafael Ynoa | 3B | 19 | 71 | 67 | 0 | 5 | 13 | 0 | 0.343 | -19.33 | |
| 50 | Eric Chavez | 3B | 44 | 81 | 69 | 3 | 6 | 8 | 2 | 0.246 | -19.75 | |
| 51 | Ryan Wheeler | 3B | 31 | 64 | 56 | 2 | 6 | 13 | 0 | 0.232 | -19.99 | |
| 52 | 19 | Will Middlebrooks | 3B | 63 | 234 | 215 | 2 | 14 | 19 | 1 | 0.191 | -20.45 |
| 53 | Cesar Hernandez | 3B | 66 | 125 | 114 | 1 | 13 | 4 | 1 | 0.237 | -20.52 | |
| 54 | Ian Stewart | 3B | 24 | 72 | 68 | 2 | 8 | 7 | 1 | 0.176 | -21.24 | |
| 55 | Reid Brignac | 3B | 37 | 91 | 81 | 1 | 4 | 10 | 1 | 0.222 | -21.31 | |
| 56 | Chone Figgins | 3B | 38 | 76 | 60 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 4 | 0.217 | -21.37 | |
| 57 | Garin Cecchini | 3B | 11 | 36 | 31 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 0.258 | -21.42 | |
| 58 | Chris Nelson | 3B | 27 | 81 | 73 | 0 | 5 | 7 | 1 | 0.233 | -21.70 | |
| 59 | Zelous Wheeler | 3B | 29 | 62 | 57 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 0.193 | -21.78 | |
| 60 | Andres Blanco | 3B | 25 | 53 | 47 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0.277 | -21.79 | |
| 61 | Carlos Rivero | 3B | 4 | 8 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0.571 | -21.99 | |
| 62 | Scott Sizemore | 3B | 6 | 16 | 16 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0.313 | -22.12 | |
| 63 | Andy Marte | 3B | 6 | 16 | 16 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0.188 | -22.74 | |
| 64 | Maikel Franco | 3B | 16 | 58 | 56 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0.179 | -22.85 | |
| 65 | John McDonald | 3B | 95 | 91 | 76 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 0.171 | -23.29 | |
| 66 | Brent Morel | 3B | 23 | 41 | 39 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0.179 | -23.43 | |
| 67 | Luis Jimenez | 3B | 18 | 41 | 37 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0.162 | -23.48 | |
| 68 | Ryan Roberts | 3B | 8 | 22 | 19 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.105 | -23.99 | |
| 69 | Jayson Nix | 3B | 41 | 91 | 83 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0.120 | -24.56 |
It should be noted that our top ranked third basemen heading into the season were Miguel Cabrera and Edwin Encarnacion, neither of whom will be eligible outside of first base next season.
Zach is the creator and co-author of RotoGraphs' Roto Riteup series, and RotoGraphs' second-longest tenured writer. You can follow him on twitter.
What a brutal year for 3rd baseman.
If you’d of told me Casey McGehee would of ended up above David Wright this year I’d of asked for your dealers number to find out what you’re smoking. Though, I take this list with a grain of salt, cause I drafted Frazier 237th in a 20 man league and typed “drops mic” in the chat so I’ll bring that up against everyone for the next few months, I’ve been waiting for him to turn the corner for a while now and just wreak havoc. Though as of now I am salivating at the upside of Arenado and a possible return of the Moose next year (I hope. We can hope right? Right?)
I want to keep Beltre because he’s awesome and 3B is so shallow but I am terribly afraid he is about to hit the proverbial wall soon
I don’t even know how I’m going to draft this position next year.