It’s February already! I need to get moving on my rankings. This post completes my infield rankings and I plan on getting the outfielder rankings out early next week. If you want to see all my other rankings, CLICK HERE!



Where were we? Oh, right, third base rankings. Third base is pretty deep this year. However, there’s a shit-ton of guys that are eligible at other positions (especially if you play in Yahoo leagues). If I’m being honest, in Yahoo leagues, I just draft the player with the best value and worry about positions later. The chances are, you can fill out a roster in Yahoo formats without worrying about positions. For the rest of us, I’ve put out my rankings with tiers to make things a little bit easier. The tiers are based on my projections and standard gain points. I write a blurb on each tier below the rankings. Here we go!

Rankings Updated 3/13/19.

Third Base Rankings for 2019

Pos Rank Player Team Positions Tier 1 Jose Ramirez CLE 2B/3B 1 2 Nolan Arenado COL 3B 1 3 Manny Machado SD SS/3B 1 4 Alex Bregman HOU SS/3B 1 5 Javier Baez CHC 2B/SS/3B 2 6 Anthony Rendon WAS 3B 2 7 Kris Bryant CHC 3B 2 8 Eugenio Suarez CIN 3B 2 9 Vlad Guerrero Jr. TOR 3B 2 10 Travis Shaw MIL 2B/3B 2 11 Matt Carpenter STL 1B/2B/3B 3 12 Miguel Andujar NYY 3B 3 13 Matt Chapman OAK 3B 3 14 Justin Turner LAD 3B 3 15 Max Muncy LAD 1B/2B/3B 3 16 Wil Myers SD 3B/OF 4 17 Mike Moustakas MIL 3B 4 18 Josh Donaldson ATL 3B 4 19 Rafael Devers BOS 3B 4 20 Jurickson Profar OAK 1B/2B/SS/3B 4 21 Eduardo Escobar ARI SS/3B 4 22 Yuli Gurriel HOU 1B/2B/3B 4 23 Evan Longoria SF 3B 4 24 Kyle Seager SEA 3B 4 25 Carlos Santana CLE 1B/3B 5 26 Nick Senzel CIN 3B 5 27 Jed Lowrie NYM 2B/3B 5 28 Asdrubal Cabrera TEX 2B/SS/3B 5 29 Jeimer Candelario DET 3B 5 30 Jake Lamb ARI 3B 5 31 Joey Wendle TB 2B/3B/OF 5 32 Maikel Franco PHI 3B 5 33 Colin Moran PIT 3B 5 34 Niko Goodrum DET 1B/2B/SS/3B/OF 6 35 Ian Happ CHC 3B/OF 6 36 Hernan Perez MIL 2B/SS/3B/OF 6 37 Miguel Sano MIN 1B/3B 6 38 Hunter Dozier KC 1B/3B 6 39 Renato Nunez BAL 3B 6 40 Scott Kingery PHI SS/3B 6 41 Zack Cozart LAA 2B/SS/3B 6 42 Jedd Gyorko STL 2B/3B 6 43 Aledmys Diaz HOU SS/3B 6 44 Johan Camargo ATL SS/3B 7 45 Matt Davidson TEX 1B/3B 7 46 Matthew Duffy TB 3B 7 47 Tim Beckham SEA SS/3B 7 48 Eduardo Nunez BOS 2B/3B 7 49 Todd Frazier NYM 3B 7 50 Alen Hanson SF 3B 7 51 Miguel Rojas MIA SS/3B 7 52 Yangervis Solarte FA 2B/3B 7 53 Austin Riley ATL 3B 7 54 Isiah Kiner-Falefa TEX C/2B/3B 7

TIER 1: I’ve discussed Ramirez (2B Rankings), Bregman (SS Rankings), and Baez (both 2B and SS Rankings). Nolan Arenado is the only player in tier 1 I have not discussed. Arenado is still just 27 years old and has averaged 40 home runs and 125 RBI the last four seasons while never hitting below .287 in that span. That’s incredible, bankable production, he’s great. However, his production did dip a little bit in 2018. His barrel rate was just 7.4% in 2018 behind hitters such as Kike Hernandez, Starling Marte, and Lewis Brinson. His previous elite level strikeout rate dipped three percent to 18.1%. Calling Colorado home, I still see Arenado around .290 with 35 homers and 100 RBI, but without any speed, I no longer feel comfortable grabbing him inside the top 10 (he’s 11 for me).



TIER 2: Rendon is criminally underrated every single year. His injury history past is far behind him as he’s averaged 616 plate appearances a year the last three seasons. I discussed Rendon in my HR/BRL under-performers, so you know I love him going into 2019. Bryant is due for a bounce back after suffering from injuries all year in 2018. That being said, I don’t see the MVP caliber season we saw in 2016 from Bryant. I think his numbers will be similar to Rendon’s with about 10-15 points lower in terms of batting average. Then there’s Vlad. It’s amazing that he’s in the second tier without playing a single game in the Majors. He profiles as a .300 hitter with good power. That’s why he’s here. His numbers could be as good or better than Rendon’s or similar to Andujar’s (on the low side).

TIER 3: This tier is filled with injury concerns and breakouts. Basically, I don’t anticipate that any of these players play enough games or perform at their peak level. For instance, Carpenter is 33 years old and is coming off a season where he hit 36 home runs, eight more than his previous career high. I know he’s a Statcast hero, but with a rising strikeout rate, a lower batting average and a home run total closer to 26-28, I’m not comfortable putting him inside the top 75. I’ll touch on Chapman because, at age-25, he has the power potential to hit 35+ homers. I still think he’s a year away from a monster season but still, think he’s worth a top 100 pick given the Athletics lineup and his improvements from 2018.

TIER 4: Josh Donaldson still harnesses power and solid plate discipline. That’s about where the positives end. He’s 33 years old, hasn’t had more 496 plate appearances since 2016, and his contact rates have plummeted the last three seasons. His strikeout rate is trending in the wrong direction, since 2016, and it looks like this: 17%, 22.4%, 24.7%. Donaldson is a .250 hitter with 25-30 homer power, IF (big if there) he can stay healthy for 140 games. Wil Myers is in the same boat as Donaldson because he can’t stay healthy. Myers is intriguing because he has speed. A 25-20 season is in the possible outcomes for Myers. It’s a good time to buy Rafael Devers after he flopped last year. He’s only 22 years old and hasn’t yet reached his raw power potential. 2019 may be the cheapest Devers will be for the next 10 years.



TIER 5: Nick Senzel has the talent to jump two tiers right now but he’s dealt with injuries and bouts of vertigo over the last season plus. Basically, he’s a high risk/high reward player in 2019. The Reds are giving Senzel a shot at Centerfield with Suarez and Gennett blocking him at 3B and 2B, respectively. If he struggles defensively in center during spring training, he may be in the minors to start the season. I could see anywhere from .285-22-12 to .250-10-5 given injuries, minors, etc. Seager seems like a major average drain similar to Carlos Santana. Seager’s 30 homer potential is now gone and the lineup around him in Seattle is not exciting. He’s the epitome of a boring, everyday veteran. He still has value in 15-team leagues, but I won’t be reaching for him. Jake Lamb is interesting because he’s moving to 1B with the departure of Goldy. Still, on the right side of 30, Lamb could still hit 25 homers while sitting against lefties.

TIER 6: This is truly the swiss-army knife tier. I’ve touched on most of these guys at other positions but should discuss Ian Happ. Happ was someone I was high on coming into 2018 but he completely flopped as his strikeout rate went through the roof after an elevated 31% K rate his rookie year. The positives include youth, improved O-swing, and extremely valuable contact (when he actually does make contact). The bad, while he offered at pitches outside the zone less often, his zone contact rate dropped over 7%! He does run some and could pop 25+ homers given improvements in contact rate, but still remains very risky in Chicago where he doesn’t have an avenue to play every day. The other guy that no one is talking about is Renato Nunez, Baltimore’s third baseman. He should play every day and has shown 30 homer power in the minors. There’s a lot of holes to his offensive game and will be some slumps but Baltimore is a great park to hit in for power and given the lack of depth on the Orioles, he could hit fourth or fifth in the lineup if he’s successful.

Tier 7: is cringeworthy. There’s a combination of over-the-hill veterans and a few young players without a starting job. Personally, I’m hoping Frazier doesn’t reach 300 at-bats this year with Alonso coming up and McNeil getting more playing time. Matt Davidson has power but no starting role. Austin Riley was a favorite prospect of mine last year, but he took a step back. That’s the reason the Braves gave Josh Donaldson a one-year deal. Not only that, Johan Camargo had a solid year in 2018 and can fill in at short as well. In my opinion, Riley requires more seasoning and even if Donaldson gets injured, Riley will stay in Triple-A with Camargo filling in at third base. Riley will be called up this year but it won’t be until August or later. What happened to Eduardo Nunez? I’ll give you one word, SPEED! His steals went from 40 in 2016 to 24 in 2017, to just 7 in 2018. He actually had more plate appearances in 2018 than in 2017. Sure, he can play all over the field, but 2B is likely where he sees the most playing time. His speed is on the severe decline and I can’t bump him up at all.



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