Rotographs Midseason Rankings – Third Base

by
July 17, 2015

While shortstop has been a wasteland, third base has been the infield oasis. Third base has turned out to be remarkably rich this year with some established guys taking another step forward and a strong core of young guys jumping a couple levels and arriving ahead of schedule.

For this update, you will have the rankings from me, Zach Sanders, Jeff Zimmerman, and Dan Schwartz. Mike Podhorzer is currently on vacation.

Other positions:

Rank Player Team League Paul Zach Jeff Dan AVG
1 Josh Donaldson Blue Jays AL 3 1 2 1 1.8
2 Todd Frazier Reds NL 1 3 3 3 2.5
3 Manny Machado Orioles AL 2 2 4 5 3.3
4 Nolan Arenado Rockies NL 4 4 5 2 3.8
5 Kris Bryant Cubs NL 5 5 1 4 3.8
6 Chris Davis Orioles AL 6 8 6 7 6.8
7 Kyle Seager Mariners AL 8 6 8 11 8.3
8 Alex Rodriguez Yankees AL 7 7 15 9 9.5
9 Evan Longoria Rays AL 9 9 10 10 9.5
10 Matt Carpenter Cardinals NL 12 13 19 6 12.5
11 Adrian Beltre Rangers AL 11 29 7 8 13.8
12 Maikel Franco Phillies NL 15 10 12 19 14.0
13 Xander Bogaerts Red Sox AL 10 11 20 16 14.3
14 Carlos Santana Indians AL 17 23 9 13 15.5
15 Pablo Sandoval Red Sox AL 18 16 17 14 16.3
16 Miguel Cabrera Tigers AL 19 18 14 17 17.0
17 Mike Moustakas Royals AL 22 14 18 24 19.5
18 Justin Turner Dodgers NL 14 15 32 18 19.8
19 Anthony Rendon Nationals NL 13 12 43 12 20.0
20 Pedro Alvarez Pirates NL 20 25 16 23 21.0
21 Trevor Plouffe Twins AL 21 22 22 20 21.3
22 Miguel Sano Twins AL 16 20 24 27 21.8
23 Yasmany Tomas Diamondbacks NL 27 27 11 31 24.0
24 Matt Duffy Giants NL 23 17 29 29 24.5
25 Yunel Escobar Nationals NL 26 26 26 21 24.8
26 Jung-ho Kang Pirates NL 24 19 30 32 26.3
27 Marcus Semien Athletics AL 36 21 23 28 27.0
28 Jimmy Paredes Orioles AL 37 31 21 22 27.8
29 Josh Harrison Pirates NL 42 24 35 15 29.0
30 Chase Headley Yankees AL 35 38 13 36 30.5
31 Ryan Zimmerman Nationals NL 34 33 33 26 31.5
32 Aramis Ramirez Brewers NL 29 34 39 25 31.8
33 Martin Prado Marlins NL 38 28 28 33 31.8
34 Brett Lawrie Athletics AL 25 40 31 37 33.3
35 Daniel Murphy Mets NL 28 39 25 44 34.0
36 Luis Valbuena Astros AL 31 35 41 30 34.3
37 Brock Holt Red Sox AL 30 36 36 39 35.3
38 Nick Castellanos Tigers AL 33 43 27 44 36.8
39 Jake Lamb Diamondbacks NL 41 32 42 34 37.3
40 David Freese Angels AL 46 30 34 40 37.5
41 Alex Guerrero Dodgers NL 39 42 49 35 41.3
42 Kelly Johnson Braves NL 32 43 49 44 42.0
43 Mark Reynolds Cardinals NL 47 43 37 42 42.3
44 Yangervis Solarte Padres NL 40 43 44 44 42.8
45 Giovanny Urshela Indians AL 43 37 48 44 43.0
46 David Wright Mets NL 49 43 38 43 43.3
47 Joey Gallo Rangers AL 44 43 49 38 43.5
48 Cody Asche Phillies NL 51 41 40 44 44.0
49 Will Middlebrooks Padres NL 48 43 49 41 45.3
50 Juan Uribe Braves NL 45 43 49 44 45.3
51 Chris Johnson Braves NL 51 43 45 44 45.8
52 Casey McGehee Giants NL 51 43 46 44 46.0
53 Cory Spangenberg Padres NL 51 43 47 44 46.3
54 Hector Olivera Dodgers NL 50 43 49 44 46.5





 

Paul is the Editor of Rotographs and Content Director for OOTP Perfect Team. Follow Paul on Twitter @sporer and on Twitch at sporer.

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Alex
9 years ago

Justin Turner….really Jeff? REALLY?

0
Ian
9 years ago
Reply to  Alex

Is a 32 ranking REALLY that surprising? Looking over the list from Turner on through the 30’s, aren’t they all pretty much pick’ems?

0
Scott
9 years ago
Reply to  Alex

Jeff’s ranks are always based upon the projections. Turner is a classic case where the projections will see years of being a light hitting utility infielder outweighing the last calendar year of vastly increased power/FB%/LD%.

Conversely you’ll see Jeff has Beltre 7th because the projections see Beltre’s last decade of being awesome as much more predictive than the past 3.5 months.

IMO projections are at their worst when it comes to older player breakouts and veterans succumbing to father time. Case in point here.

4
Jackie T.
9 years ago
Reply to  Scott

Agreed, although it’s also helpful to have a healthy dose of agnostic analysis and projection thrown in with the eye-test results from the other voters.

2
Wobatus
9 years ago
Reply to  Scott

The projections actually aren’t bad for Turner, but not in the roto categories per se and also playing time is a bit limited due to Callaspo for some reason getting starts as well as Olivero looming..

3
Matt
9 years ago
Reply to  Alex

Turner has seemed awfully low in each of these rankings. I can understand it a bit at 3B, 1 through 20 on this list could easily be 3B1 on a team, but I would find it awfully hard to roster Adrian Beltre or even Carlos Santana (in non-OBP leagues) over Turner. Certainly understand the hesitancy to believe in Turner’s breakout but I’d have an easier time believing in his breakout than I would believing Adrian Beltre will remember how to be Adrian Beltre again.

Beltre’s walk rate has plummeted, he’s making the same amount of contact as last year but the quality of contact is terrible and he has zero pop post-injury (which he was rushed back from).

Seems like there are single extreme outliers (Chase Headley #13?!) in these rankings swaying the overall rankings. Wouldn’t mind seeing the extreme outliers (+/- 15 spots from the mean of the other 3) dropped and the numbers re-averaged.

0