RotoGraphs Consensus Rankings – May Update: Third Basemen
We’re making our way around the diamond with our updated rankings and today we are onto the hot corner. Here are the positions we’ve done so far and you can also access them via the Positional Rankings in the right sidebar:
If you feel we missed someone, please let us know in the comments.
FYI: the table is sortable! Also, these are updated as of 6:20p CT on June 1st w/Beltre & Gallo news as well as adding Paredes into the mix.
| Num | Player | Team | League | Paul | Zach | Mike | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Miguel Cabrera | Tigers | AL | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1.7 |
| 2 | Josh Donaldson | Blue Jays | AL | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2.0 |
| 3 | Todd Frazier | Reds | NL | 1 | 3 | 5 | 3.0 |
| 4 | Kyle Seager | Mariners | AL | 4 | 5 | 8 | 5.7 |
| 5 | Nolan Arenado | Rockies | NL | 6 | 9 | 4 | 6.3 |
| 6 | Kris Bryant | Cubs | NL | 7 | 6 | 7 | 6.7 |
| 7 | Matt Carpenter | Cardinals | NL | 5 | 4 | 12 | 7.0 |
| 8 | Evan Longoria | Rays | AL | 9 | 7 | 6 | 7.3 |
| 9 | Manny Machado | Orioles | AL | 8 | 8 | 13 | 9.7 |
| 10 | Chris Davis | Orioles | AL | 13 | 14 | 3 | 10.0 |
| 11 | Marcus Semien | Athletics | AL | 10 | 11 | 17 | 12.7 |
| 12 | Carlos Santana | Indians | AL | 14 | 15 | 11 | 13.3 |
| 13 | Anthony Rendon | Nationals | NL | 20 | 12 | 14 | 15.3 |
| 14 | Alex Rodriguez | Yankees | AL | 12 | 20 | 16 | 16.0 |
| 15 | Ryan Zimmerman | Nationals | NL | 18 | 23 | 9 | 16.7 |
| 16 | Jung-ho Kang | Pirates | NL | 15 | 18 | 18 | 17.0 |
| 17 | Pablo Sandoval | Red Sox | AL | 26 | 10 | 15 | 17.0 |
| 18 | Trevor Plouffe | Twins | AL | 11 | 13 | 30 | 18.0 |
| 19 | Mike Moustakas | Royals | AL | 17 | 21 | 22 | 20.0 |
| 20 | Chase Headley | Yankees | AL | 21 | 19 | 21 | 20.3 |
| 21 | Martin Prado | Marlins | NL | 25 | 17 | 25 | 22.3 |
| 22 | Josh Harrison | Pirates | NL | 19 | 40 | 10 | 23.0 |
| 23 | Aramis Ramirez | Brewers | NL | 24 | 24 | 23 | 23.7 |
| 24 | Alex Guerrero | Dodgers | NL | 16 | 32 | 24 | 24.0 |
| 25 | Pedro Alvarez | Pirates | NL | 23 | 22 | 27 | 24.0 |
| 26 | Xander Bogaerts | Red Sox | AL | 27 | 16 | 31 | 24.7 |
| 27 | Adrian Beltre | Rangers | AL | 28 | 26 | 20 | 24.7 |
| 28 | Jimmy Paredes | Orioles | AL | 22 | 25 | 36 | 27.7 |
| 29 | Yasmany Tomas | Diamondbacks | NL | 32 | 34 | 19 | 28.3 |
| 30 | Luis Valbuena | Astros | AL | 31 | 29 | 33 | 31.0 |
| 31 | Justin Turner | Dodgers | NL | 29 | 27 | 39 | 31.7 |
| 32 | David Freese | Angels | AL | 30 | 33 | 32 | 31.7 |
| 33 | Maikel Franco | Phillies | NL | 37 | 28 | 34 | 33.0 |
| 34 | Yunel Escobar | Nationals | NL | 33 | 30 | 37 | 33.3 |
| 35 | Lonnie Chisenhall | Indians | AL | 39 | 37 | 26 | 34.0 |
| 36 | Nick Castellanos | Tigers | AL | 35 | 41 | 29 | 35.0 |
| 37 | Matt Duffy | Giants | NL | 36 | 35 | 38 | 36.3 |
| 38 | Joey Gallo | Rangers | AL | 38 | 31 | 42 | 37.0 |
| 39 | Brett Lawrie | Athletics | AL | 43 | 43 | 28 | 38.0 |
| 40 | Will Middlebrooks | Padres | NL | 34 | 44 | 41 | 39.7 |
| 41 | David Wright | Mets | NL | 42 | 39 | 40 | 40.3 |
| 42 | Aaron Hill | Diamondbacks | NL | 41 | 36 | 45 | 40.7 |
| 43 | Mark Reynolds | Cardinals | NL | 44 | 47 | 35 | 42.0 |
| 44 | Brock Holt | Red Sox | AL | 46 | 38 | 44 | 42.7 |
| 45 | Max Muncy | Athletics | AL | 40 | 46 | 48 | 44.7 |
| 46 | Yangervis Solarte | Padres | NL | 48 | 42 | 46 | 45.3 |
| 47 | Kelly Johnson | Braves | NL | 47 | 45 | 47 | 46.3 |
| 48 | Hector Olivera | Dodgers | NL | 45 | 48 | 48 | 47.0 |
| 49 | Juan Uribe | Braves | NL | 50 | 49 | 43 | 47.3 |
| 50 | Jake Lamb | Diamondbacks | NL | 49 | 49 | 48 | 48.7 |
| 51 | Cory Spangenberg | Padres | NL | 51 | 49 | 48 | 49.3 |
| 52 | Miguel Sano | Twins | AL | 52 | 49 | 48 | 49.7 |
Notes:
- For me, Donaldson’s greatly improved AVG and Frazier’s speed give them an edge over Miggy. With just a power edge over Miggy, they’d still be behind him, but the improvements elsewhere keep JD and Frazier over Miggy the rest of the way.
- **Mike’s updated ranking of Beltre will be added later today. He’s at work so as soon as he sends it, I’ll update!
- This position is so deep. You’ve got guys in the 20s who could be 10+ ranks higher at shortstop.
- Loving what we’re seeing from Bryant, but he’ll have a cold snap somewhere so I had a hard time seeing him as a top 5 rest of way.
- I’m torn on Tomas as his .400 BABIP says the .320 AVG is fraudulent and the .082 ISO is so lame, but he has the 12th-highest Hard% at the position. I went conservative w/my ranking for now.
- If you’re simply in need of power, there is some cheap pop available at the cost of batting average w/Freese, Valbuena, and Middlebrooks.
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Trevor Plouffe at 30? Is that a typo? Are you serious?
I was just thinking this. Mike would rather own Lonnie Chisenhall over Plouffe? By four spots? Okay then.
Yup….my exact thoughts.
Plouffe and Longo are looking quite similar these days….
Am I reading this right? Did you say Donaldsons average gives him an edge over Miggy? Miggy has a career avg 40 points higher…
Donaldson’s improved AVG, not his AVG in strict comparison to Miggy. Donaldson has a power edge, so with a legit AVG and that high-flying O, I give him the nod over Miggy.
In my opinion, you’re over thinking it. Miggy has shown he’s healthy and the power has returned to pre-2014 levels and Donaldson has experience a 8% jump on hr/fb% without a material increase in distance. Not to mention his batted ball profile is similar to last years where he posted a .278 babip. 15/44/41% LD/GB/fb splits just doesn’t support a .320 babip. J Don is on a hot streak, and numbers look good on a hot streak.
You’re giving zero run to a MASSIVE park (and lineup change) for Donaldson which is helping the power and runs scored/driven in numbers. It’s not just a hot streak that has Donaldson w/a major R lead over Miggy.
JD’s batted profile has improved and deserved better than a .278 in the first place, last year. I fully understand Miggy’s health, I watch the Tigers daily. He remains a superstar, but Donaldson wasn’t far from him last year and now Donaldson’s situation has changed substantially. Enough for me to give him the edge.
Allow me to point you in the right direction. Notice anything?
I’d rather take Miggy over Donaldson, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Donaldson outperforms him either.
Bingo, BM. Pure talent, still Cabrera, but context matters a lot and it’s favoring JD these days.
Im trying to solve this Justin Turner conundrum, his stats look great in his limited AB over the last year or so, he draws walks and has good power, and he finally has a starting job now. Do you think his peripherals suggest he is actually that good? Im having a hard time finding anyone’s analysis on him and I see you guys ranked him pretty low considering his production.
I’m having a similarly tough time. A large part of his ranking is the depth of the position for me and the thickness of a tier that kind of runs from Headley to Tomas with little difference.
But I’m admittedly skeptical on the production, too. I’ll make a more drastic move on him in the July update if he’s still raking. If we had done something like this, he’d have a green up arrow next to his name as he’s definitely on the rise. Whereas Beltre, for example, would obviously have a red down arrow. Not everyone would have an arrow one way or the other, but Turner’s is definitely headed up.
it’s still hard to tell exactly how much of a starting job he has, long-term; that might be part of it. same thing keeping alex guerrero lower than you might expect just considering him as a player. they’re both playing right now, but as soon as puig comes back, you’ve got puig, pederson, ethier, guerrero and turner for four spots. then if carl crawford comes back… or if olivera shows up later in the year… dodgers have a lot of moving parts, even with uribe out of the picture now. and turner has a Historically Utility Player / Anything For The Team profile which might increase the odds of his playing time getting cut in one of these scenarios.
Mike wants Chris Davis and Beltre over Todd Frazier ROS. I think it’s safe to say Mike isn’t paying attention. Sorry, Mike!
He doesn’t do a lot of shifting after a couple months as you can see in the comments of the other positions. But make no mistake, he’s playing plenty of attention. It’s just that his needle needs more to get moved.
I have Frazier and I find him the most frustrating player in the game. That Reds lineup is awful, and for what it’s worth Frazier has been awful with men on in his career (about ~800 AB worth.). I wouldn’t be surprised if he ended up with .270/20HR/10SB the rest of the way but only like 30 runs and RBI. The Big Red Machine this is not.
(only slight exaggeration on the R/RBI part, but you get the picture)
sorry not on topic but who wins this trade 12 team points league: Stanton HanRam Arrieta N.Walker for PIneda Carrasco Dozier and J.Reyes
clearly the guy getting Stanton and HanRam, sorry. Way way way overbalanced in one team’s favor.
Its all good thanks man! seperate quesiton, if you had to drop one would you drop Soler or Rusney first?
Why is Miggy still listed as a 3B? He hasn’t played there since 2013.
He played 10 games there last year. If he doesn’t qualify in your league (as he doesn’t in mine), just eliminate him and move everyone up.
I know he’s been an enigma, but Jimmy Paredes can’t crack the top 50 3B? Sure he’s been cold the past week, and doesn’t have any good explanation for posting his good numbers, but he could certainly be this year’s JD Martinez: High K%, big power, high BABIP leading to a decent BA.
I think he’s unranked here b/c he qualifies as a 2B.
D’oh. We forgot him. Thought I had everyone this time around.
These are ROS rankings correct? Rendon was a top 20-25 overall player last year and he barely cracks the top 20 in 2nd base rankings? Sounding like he’ll be back in a couple days
Love Rendon, but I’m nervous about health. First off, I think you have to cut the SB severely right off the bat. That was a MAJOR component to his fantasy value and I’m not sure he’ll do much at all this year. Plus, is he going to hold up all four months the rest of the way? We just don’t know.
And lastly, the major depth at the position hurts him, too. I had him 12th at 2B.
I’m surprised to see Beltre so low. I know part of that is his injury, but all indications are that he should only miss 2, maybe 3 weeks. Sure that’s a decent chunk of time, but unless you see a major drop off in production when he comes back, I still like him more than Panda, Kang (who is really more valuable as a SS) or Zimmerman.
I think 2 weeks is very aggressive. Won’t even swing for 12 days. And then a thumb issue can linger. Ask Braun. Thus I’m quite bearish unfortunately.
2 weeks, maybe 3 weeks was when the diagnosis was a thumb sprain. Now it’s a full dislocation. I’d be very wary.
Picked up Kang over Plouffe to fill in for Beltre. If for nothing more than I heard someone pronounce his name “Junk Cocaine”
I’m loving my Kang[Gong]-Wong middle infield.
Why the huge difference of opinion on Carpenter?
I won’t speak entirely for Mike, but my guess is that he’s more or less unmoved by the power surge and expects more of the 2014 Carpenter the rest of the way.
Where would Joey Gallo rank? The Rangers brass stated today that Gallo will be called up Tuesday to replace Beltre. I know Gallo has huge contact red flags and his defense at Third may force them to move him off the position eventually, but for Fantasy purposes can he contribute immediately or is he a wait and see at best?
We will add Paredes and Gallo ASAP and with Mike P’s update on Beltre, too.
BTW, I’ll note that we had Gallo in the ranking pool, just none of us ranked him in our lists, but obviously this news changes things.
3-4 weeks of Gallo really change things for this year?
Can you talk about Josh Harrison a bit…. huge spread on him… high of 10, low of 40…
That’s what I noticed, too. 10 seems very, very, very, very….ambitious?
(Very!)
These are laughably awful.
Sorry you drafted poorly.
You must be the guy that still thinks Longoria is elite