Rankings Update: Third Base
Aloha, America! Another week means another look at the third base rankings. Just like last week, wOBA numbers are listed as “(Current, ZiPS Updated).”
The Big Three
Alex Rodriguez (.365, .388)
Evan Longoria (.409, .396)
David Wright (.393, .400)
If A-Rod’s HR/FB rate wasn’t half it’s normal level, Longoria would be the top dog. Call me crazy, but I was really tempted to move Wright down to the next tier. Striking out a ton (having a HR/FB rate close to 23% doesn’t help either) is not a good way to go about your season.
Medium Three
Ryan Zimmerman (.423, .390)
Mark Reynolds (.369, .370)
Pablo Sandoval (.340, .371)
After some careful deliberation, I have decided that I would rather have Reynolds’ power than Pablo’s average, at this point. Of course, if you are in a league that docks points for strikeouts, this isn’t the case.
Group X
Ian Stewart (.366, .354)
Jorge Cantu (.338, .338)
Scott Rolen (.359, .356)
Michael Young (.326, .346)
I’m happy to eat my words when it comes to Scott Rolen. I wasn’t very high on him coming into the year (as those of you who bought the Second Opinion will know), and even though his power may be fluky, it is entirely possible he keeps it up for awhile longer.
*Sigh*
Casey McGehee (.399, .354)
Chipper Jones (.349, .379)
Adrian Beltre (.340, .341)
David Freese (.377, .357)
Aramis Ramirez (.237, .322)
Chipper is going to be great in OBP leagues this year, but I’m not sure what he has to offer in standard 5×5 leagues. No power and a extreme BABIP? No thanks, Mr. Beltre. Aramis can’t buy a hit right now, let alone a HR, but he needs to cut down on his strikeouts if he wants to have a better chance to bounce back.
The Rest of ‘Em
Chase Headley (.333, .325)
Kevin Kouzmanoff (.281, .316)
Casey Blake (.318, .340)
Mark Teahen (.291, .321)
Jhonny Peralta (.323, .328)
Alternate group title is “Shaking My Head”. Third base is really ugly this year, which we sort of knew, but it has gotten worse as the season has progressed. You may notice I trimmed the list from 25 to 20 this week, simply because it gets really nasty after these guys, and I’m not sure if any of the other folks are even worth a shot.
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 no Brandon Inge!?
How about Callaspo or Figgins? Where do you feel they fall?
Callaspo – *Sigh*
Figgins – Group X
Are these rankings fantasy-based or real life based? I can see Zimmerman not being in the top tier in a fantasy setting thanks to his supporting cast, but if this is based on individual performance (as wOBA would imply), I have no idea how Z is in the 2nd tier. He has the highest current wOBA at his position and is projected to be within 10 points of any 3B at season’s end (and above A-Rod). Something tells me this is more about the name on the front of his jersey than anything else…
The titles on the page are brown, so this is the fantasy side of the house where nobody cares about jerseys*. Some leagues use wOBA, apparently, but most don’t, so the emphasis/benefit of the doubt is going to be on the traditional stats.
* Well, except for when it comes to pitchers and wins.
Thanks for clearing that up… I didn’t know that about the brown titles, and that makes a lot of sense.
Polanco? Is he in the second-base rankings?
Of course, because it would be utterly useless to rank him at all the positions for which he’s eligible.
What about Tejada? I view him and Rolen as similar stat guys at .285-15hr type power. They’re both old but at least Tejada isn’t hurt 4 months of every season. You still like Rolen that much more. I have Headley and I’ll take a pedigree prospect who might be putting together .285-15-20 skills over Rolen all day long. I’m surprised you have him so low. I’ve looked at the stats page of the guys in the “sigh” category and none jump out as better than Headley.
Headley has been performing fairly well this season hitting .298/.345/.377… Ok, so the slugging sucks, but he’s still done well with 2 HR, 15 RBI, 9 SB and 21 R. It’s not an ideal line for a 3B, but then again, neither was Figgins last year. Any guy that could post 15 HR 20 SB and 60 RBI with a .280 BA at almost any position should be worth owning.
McGehee just a *sigh*?? give the guy his due…even if its not sustainable.
Agreed on McGehee. What else does he have to do?
Wright higher than Zimmerman? C’mon. Also, McGehee is the real deal. I’d take him over Rolen any day.
I’m struggling with A-Ram. Rolen, Chipper, Beltre, Polanco, and Headley are all available. My league uses 6 hitting categories with the extra being OPS. Anyone have an opinion if I should stick with Ramirez a bit longer or drop him for one of these guys? His 0-fer-4s are starting to really kill me.
Wright has a better BB/K ratio than Zimmerman and Longoria.
Does that single stat in isolation make him preferable? I could see reasonable arguments for Wright over Zimm or vice-versa. Not seeing any reasonable argument to rank DW ahead of Longoria, however.
To Write something likes: “but I was really tempted to move Wright down to the next tier. Striking out a ton (having a HR/FB rate close to 23% doesn’t help either) is not a good way to go about your season.”
I would not argue that he is ahead of Longoria, either. I can even see an argument for Zimmerman, as well. I just expect a little bit better explanation because all three are sitting right around 20% HR/FB (22.2 Wright, 19.6 Longoria, and 20.5 Zimmerman). And as for BB/K, Wright is .51, Longoria is .46, and Zimmermand is .43.
True, Wright is striking out in more of his at bats (39%) by a long shot, but my point was only that he is still taking a ton of walks, hitting for good power, stealing far more bases than either Zimm. or Longoria, does not have an inflated BABIP based on his career, has a great OBP, and his ISO is in line with his career numbers. So I struggle to see why he would not still be one of the top three 3B’s. Move Zimmerman up to the top tier, but do not move Wright down.
What about Youkillis? 63 games at 3b last year should qualify him here in most leagues I would think.
I agree, he is 3B eligible in most Yahoo leagues. You have to think that he would be in that second group either right behind or tied with Zimmerman based on rest of season projections.
Yeah, come on, this is crap. Mcgehee has excellent plate discipline and contact and power. That’s why he has the 3rd best wOBA, not small sample size. He’s too far down the list to even count where you put him.
Wright is the small sample size benefactor on that list. a ROS wOBA of 400? You’re on crack to put stock in that.
Aramis Ramirez an essentially last?
Laroche doesn’t even make the article despite being better than several of these names.
So you’re saying that you expect Rodriguez to eventually finish at his normal HR/FB rate of about 23%?
Need some advice at 3B
I am playing in a very deep mixed league and these are my 3B options:
Figgins (usually my MI slot)
Andy Laroche 3B
Encarnacion 3B
In my CI slot I have Cuddeyer/Fielder.
Whats the advice for the future? Laroche or Encarnacion if I need to drop one of the 2, which do I keep?
Where is Bautista going to be ranked?