Midseason Third Base Rankings
2014 seemed like a wasteland for the hot corner, and at the arbitrary mid-way point which isn’t a mid-way point at all, we find third base surprisingly deep. No longer is there a top tier with some guy named Miguel standing alone, far above all other tiers. There are four bonafide studs at third base, and you can drill down all the way into the teens and still find very good production. Names like Evan Longoria, Kyle Seager, Adrian Beltre, Pablo Sandoval don’t even crack the top-10 anymore and holy-crap-I-can’t-believe-I’m-going-to-say-it but Alex Rodriguez is relevant again. What a year.
| Rank | Who | Quick Thoughts |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Todd Frazier | Most cautioned moderate regression from 2014 and he’s been even better so far. Take that. |
| 2 | Josh Donaldson | Kendall Graveman is nice, but the A’s could probably use .293/.351/.532 21HR 65R 60RBI. |
| 3 | Manny Machado | He’s 23. What’s his line going to look like at 27? |
| 4 | Nolan Arenado | No HR’s in July after 12 in June. But who cares. No signs of fluke anywhere. No Coors effect either. |
| 5 | Kris Bryant | As advertised. Maybe be a little suspicious of .369 BABIP |
| 6 | Miguel Cabrera | Injury adjusted, and Yahoo! only. You can avert your eyes if you need to. |
| 7 | Alex Rodriguez | Really. |
| 8 | Chris Davis | He may not hit .240, but 35 HR’s are still mighty tasty |
| 9 | Matt Carpenter | OBP league darling |
| 10 | Anthony Rendon | I don’t know, he’s gotta go somewhere. Ought to shake off the cobwebs soon. |
| 11 | Mike Moustakas | Buoyed by huge April, but .297/.353/.427 is solid. |
| 12 | Evan Longoria | On pace for his lowest HR total over a full season. Not a big difference between this and Seager. |
| 13 | Kyle Seager | Doing what he does, on pace for another 20+ HR, hitting near .270. |
| 14 | Carlos Santana | He’s a catcher but if I didn’t include him you would have pointed it out. Wouldn’t you? |
| 15 | Xander Bogaerts | Still just a kid, the power should follow. But a pretty hollow .304/.338/.411 |
| 16 | Adrian Beltre | Maybe, finally, acting his age |
| 17 | Miguel Sano | It’s early, but boy has he delivered on all that hype |
| 18 | Yunel Escobar | Hey, if you love what Bogaerts has done, you kind of have to give some love to Yunel. |
| 19 | Jimmy Paredes | Great first half, but I think he may turn into a pumpkin soon |
| 20 | Trevor Plouffe | He’s pretty much Seagering. Could be 13th on this list. |
| 21 | Justin Turner | Who leads all 3B in wRC+? This guy. Producing like a top-10 off the scrap heap. Good on you, Justin |
| 22 | Brett Lawrie | |
| 23 | Pablo Sandoval | After a dreadful May, he picked himself up in June. Still a pretty ugly season though |
| 24 | Logan Forsythe | |
| 25 | Luis Valbuena | On pace to Chris Davis all of us. |
| 26 | Chase Headley | |
| 27 | Yasmany Tomas | A pretty slash line and so far a little power and a little speed, but .383 BABIP raises an eyebrow |
| 28 | Maikel Franco | More power in the bigs than he’s had since AA. If he keeps this up, he slides up considerably. |
| 29 | Jung-Ho Kang | |
| 30 | Matt Duffy | Yeah, Matt Duffy |
| 31 | Pedro Alvarez | |
| 32 | Aramis Ramirez | |
| 33 | Juan Uribe | |
| 34 | David Freese | |
| 35 | Kelly Johnson | |
| 36 | Ryan Zimmerman |
Michael was born in Massachusetts and grew up in the Seattle area but had nothing to do with the Heathcliff Slocumb trade although Boston fans are welcome to thank him. You can find him on twitter at @michaelcbarr.
Lawrie over Franco? Give me a break.
What hasn’t Franco done already to justify moving him up considerably? Outperformed all the guys in front of him on the worst offense in the game…
Franco is a better real player, but Lawrie’s comps are right with Franco’s (for 2015) so far, fantasy wise. But you are right, the Phillies offense is ghastly.
If you are referring to the fact that Lawrie has 3 more rbis, 3 more steals, and an equivalent batting average then you have to dig a little deeper. In 100 less pa’s Franco has more homer runs already, higher BB%, lower K%, .075 higher ISO, .100 points higher OPS, on top of all that Lawrie has a .366 babip (~50 points higher than his career). Seems like Franco is the better player across the board so far if you ask me…
Santana is a 1B — hasn’t played third or caught all year
Welcome to Rotographs. This is a fantasy baseball ranking.
I really don’t understand what’s so hard to grasp about this concept that we have to see comments like this after every single one of these articles.
Positional eligibility is based on last year’s positions, and can only be added to this year. Last year, Santana started 26 games at 3B, enough to qualify him at 3B in virtually every format there is.
Should he not be listed in the 3B rankings because at some point in the future he won’t be eligible for them any more? What is the point of these comments?!?
Not sure why Turner doesn’t get more love. He’s been one of the best bats in baseball over the calendar year. Admittedly not the hugest sample, but his swing is demonstrably different and the results are there. Has to be higher than that.
Yah. So you think Paredes is gonna turn in to a pumpkin, Escobar is what Turner used to be, i.e., empty batting avg.,…so why rank both over Turner?
Agreed, Turner is way too low.
No Jake Lamb?
37. Jake Lamb.
Danny Espinosa?
I’d take Franco over Longoria and Seager. He’s 33rd in flyball/HR distance – supporting the power – and his current line is supported by a perfectly normal BABIP. What used to make Seager special was the SBs, which are gone, and Longoria’s power is in a free-fall, despite his relatively young age. I also see Franco as relatively slump-proof, as his 80% contact rate is great for a power hitter, and he’s still showing the same K/BB profile he had in the minors. He is criminally underrated here.
Agree. Barr says he is ranking Franco that low because he showed more power than he has in minors. Is that not the case with Paredes? Furthermore Franco was a legit prospect, whereas Paredes came out of nowhere. So if anything shouldn’t Paredes be the one held to a tougher “if he keeps it up” standard? Why does the player who in the author’s own words “may turn into a pumpkin” get ranked 9 spots higher?
i think moustakas is a bit too high…ranking him above longoria and seager (and also possibly santana) seems pretty generous for a guy with one awesome month, three ugly years, and a 17 wrc+ in july…
Where’s Joey Gallo? How about Daniel Murphy?
Round Rock, TX.
I agree on franco. His line is near moose’so minus counting stats, and he’s projected for good power in the 2nd half. I’d take his pedigree and skills over Paredes and Valbuena, and maybe this version of Xander.
Hmm. Giants themselves are surprised (see short-lived Casey McGehee experiment) but that doesn’t change this: Matt Duffy is having a better season in a tough hitter’s park than Pablo Sandoval is having in Fenway. The Duffman should be ahead of the Panda.
Actually if you’ll look you’ll notice that Matt Duffy is #8 in WAR for 3rd basemen, not #30. Yeah, Matt Duffy.
Agree with the guys before me on Maikel Franco and Justin Turner being too low. Producing way more than many above them, with sustainable peripherals.