Rankings Update: Third Base
After being listed as Day-to-Day with computer problems last week, I’m 100% and returning to your lineup. I’m going to stick with FANS projected wOBA for now, with a switch to 2010 stats after the first month is over.
Big Three
Alex Rodriguez (.418 wOBA)
Evan Longoria (.386)
David Wright (.395)
No movement here. I flirted with moving Longoria ahead of A-Rod, but it’s still a bit early to be making that call.
Medium Three
Pablo Sandoval (.386)
Ryan Zimmerman (.376)
Mark Reynolds (.364)
Once again, no one moves. If Reynolds can get his BABIP in order, he’s on pace for another nice season.
Oldies But Goodies
Michael Young (.355)
Chipper Jones (.389)
Aramis Ramirez (.383)
Guess who moved this time? No one, that’s who. Two early homers are a nice sign from Young, even if the average isn’t quite there yet. Be patient, it will come. Chipper had a blip on the radar with a minor back problem, but he appears to have put it behind him and is moving forward without an issue.
Cha-Cha-Cha-Changin’
Jorge Cantu (.347)
Ian Stewart (.352)
Adrian Beltre (.346)
None of the first nine players moved off their spots, but there are some small changes here. Beltre moved below Stewart and Cantu, due to some reconsideration on my end. My expectations for Beltre were a bit high, and Cantu deserves his spot.
Tested and True
Scott Rolen (.353)
Casey Blake (.339)
A bunch of owners jumped on the Rolen bandwagon after his big start, but they’ll be jumping off after he goes through the big R known as regression.
Upside!
Chase Headley (.353)
Casey McGehee (.330)
Mark Teahen (.329)
Jhonny Peralta (.329)
Alex Gordon (.364)
McGehee moves up, and Gordon moves in. With Gordon coming off the DL, he may be able to move up to the top of this tier, but I don’t see him going much higher.
The Rest of ‘Em
Andy LaRoche (.340)
Kevin Kouzmanoff (.330)
Edwin Encarnacion (.348)
Garrett Atkins (.331)
Brandon Inge (.319)
Jake Fox (.345)
After discussion on the Pod, Edwin Encarnacion moves into the bottom of the rankings. I do like his power, but the move to the AL East and low batting average will hurt his value. Brandon Inge is also making his debut, but he’s nothing special and isn’t worth your time.
Zach is the creator and co-author of RotoGraphs' Roto Riteup series, and RotoGraphs' second-longest tenured writer. You can follow him on twitter.
Shouldn’t DeRosa be here?
Oversight on my part. He’s probably going to be at the bottom of the Tested and True category, but could fall into the Upside! category. Good catch.
Polanco and Jose Lopez should start being listed here too. They have 3B eligibility in most leagues now and that’s their primary position for the foreseeable future.
Both fit in nicely in the tested and true category. I think I might let Polanco top that list on account of hitting immediately ahead of Utley and Howard. Lopez could be the trailer in that group.
Both Lopez and Polanco are now playing third base, but their true value lies at 2B. If either one of those guys is your starting 3B, I hope you have some injury problems.
Where would Prado fit? (I have Uggla so 2B is not an issue for me.)
I think right behind Mark Teahen is a nice fit.
What about Gordon Beckham?
Same deal as Lopez/Polanco. Better served as a 2B, but I’d probably put him right in front of or right behind Beltre.
I feel like Wright should be in his own category or something. I wouldn’t have him on the same tier as A-Rod/Longo based on the fact that he has shown he can kill you in the HR department. However, he doesn’t seem to fit in the Zimmerman/Sandoval/Reynolds group either because of his potential to be a 5 category monster. I don’t know, tough call. If he goes this season and hits less than like 20HR’s he definately falls into the 2nd tier.
And I was glad to see you move Beltre down, offensively (which again is the ONLY thing that matters in fantasy baseball) he is average at best. He can’t take a bad pitch to save his life, his power has been about average his entire career (save that one fluke season with the Dodgers), and he’s now 2 years older (in Latin years BTW) than the guy who posted a .266/74/25/77/8 fantasy line in 2008. In fact I don’t think you went far enough, I’d personally have him as the leader of the “rest of ’em” tier…
Wright is still worrying me… His contact rate was down last year, and so far this season it’s down even more! Granted it’s a small sample size, but I was expecting a return to his career norms and early indications are worrisome.
I think there’s a chance that we’ll look back at Wright someday and say he was never the same after that pitch to the head.
I like Ian Stewart better than anyone in that third group. He was pretty unlucky with his BABIP last year and this seeason he has cut his strikeout rate by a third. (Admittedly, it’s early, but gotta like those signs.) As a further bonus, Stewart also qualifies at 2B in most leagues. I look for him to steadily climb in these rankings as the year progresses.
These rankings make the Longoria for Cantu trade I was offered (he wanted me to give up Longo) seem even more hilarious.
Ty Wigginton looks like nice value in at least the second to last tier.
David Wright is not going to be as good as Scott Rolen was in Rolen’s prime. And Scott Rolen was, still is, a fine 3B. I’m afraid that Wright had a couple of fine HR years —- that we will not see ever again. David Wright might be better served moving to 1B? That would be a waste of a great glove at 3B, I know; but the HR numbers might improve. Who knows? I just hope I am way wrong about Wright and the HRs come back strong and often.
Any list that makes room for Andy LaRoche should be able to squeeze in David Freese. Do you see more cause for optimism in his high average since last September or pessimism in his yucky BB/K ratio and meh power. Does he make hard enough contact to develop average power for the position and can he hit enough to avoid hurting the lineup with a weak OBP? Felipe Lopez would be good enough to be on this list if he had a full-time gig and that may make any Cardinal infielder not named Albert mixed-league relevant.