2012 Fantasy Baseball Preseason Rankings: Third Basemen
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Updated as of Sunday, April 1st
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These rankings are based on rotisserie scoring in mixed leagues that use 5x5 scoring and are for redraft (i.e., not
keeper) leagues.
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After missing 20 games in 2010, Miami's Hanley Ramirez missed many more games (70) last year and was one of the biggest disappointments in all of fantasy baseball.
Not only did Ramirez miss almost half of the season, but he struggled when he was on the field. HanRam hit a career-low .243 and it was the first time since 2006 that he hit below .300. Several months into the season (June 20th), Ramirez was hitting only .200.
Now there is plenty of change in Miami.
The team is no longer called the Florida Marlins, Ozzie Guillen is the team's new manager and the addition of free-agent shortstop Jose Reyes means that Ramirez will shift to third.
Believed to not be thrilled about the move, Ramirez said the right things about the transition earlier this spring.
“I never said I’m not going to do it,” Ramirez said, per Tom D'Angelo of the Palm Beach Post. “I’m just happy to be here, be back in the spring with my guys, my teammates, everybody’s happy. That’s what we need. We got to stay together through the year. We’re looking good. This is the best team I have been in six years with the Marlins.”
Although he's not initially eligible at third base, Ramirez will be eligible at both shortstop and third base by the middle of April.
Here are some notes on third basemen:
- Despite being walked 100-plus times in each of the past two seasons, Toronto's Jose Bautista has hit 97 home runs during that span and has led the majors in the statistic each season. In fact, there have been only four 40-homer seasons over the past two years and Bautista has two of them. Over the past two seasons, Bautista also has 100-plus runs, 100-plus RBIs and nine steals each season.
- Arizona's Ryan Roberts, who is eligible at second as well as third base, fell just shy of a 20-15 season. Roberts finished the season with 19 home runs and 18 stolen bases, both of which were career highs. Roberts also set career highs in runs scored (86) and runs batted in (65).
- Although he missed almost 30 games and hit a career-low .244, Tampa's Evan Longoria hit 31 home runs, only two shy of his career best set in 2009. Longoria finished last season much better than he started it. Over the past two months, he hit 17 home runs and drove in 46 runs in 55 games.
- Mets third baseman David Wright hit a career-low .255 and played his fewest games (102) since his rookie campaign. After five straight seasons hitting .300 or better, Wright has had sub-.300 batting averages: .283 in 2010 and .255 in 2011. In the past three seasons, Wright has hit a total of only 55 home runs, which works out to one homer in every 27.5 at-bats. While the number is bad at Citi Field (32.4 at-bats per HR), it's not great on the road (24.2/HR) during that span. (At least, they will be moving the fence in a bit at Citi.)
- San Francisco's Pablo Sandoval played in only 117 games last year, but he still managed to hit 23 homers, only two shy of the career high he set back in 2009, and drove in 70 runs. After the All-Star break, KungFu Panda hit .325 with 15 home runs and 41 runs batted in over 67 games. Not only is Sandoval eligible at third base, but he is first base eligible as well.
- With Baltimore's Mark Reynolds, you know exactly what you're getting. He's going to simultaneously help you (home runs) and hurt you (batting average). Since 2008, only four players have hit more home runs than Reynolds (141): Albert Pujols (163), Ryan Howard (157), Prince Fielder (150) and Mark Teixeira (144). However, no player has struck out more than Reynolds (834) during that span.
- In his 43 games last year, Toronto's Brett Lawrie gave fantasy owners a sample of what he can do -- hit for power and average and steal bases. The former first-round pick (2008) hit .293 with nine home runs, 25 runs batted in and seven steals.
- Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez has not played more than 138 games in any of the past four seasons and played his fewest (99 games) since 1995. It was also the first time that A-Rod failed to reach 30 home runs or 100 runs batted in since 1995. Considering he turns 37 in July, it's risky to bank on Rodriguez staying healthy enough to reach 140 games for the first time since 2007.
Here are our top 25 third basemen for the 2012 season:
1. Jose Bautista, Blue Jays
2. Evan Longoria, Rays
3. Adrian Beltre, Rangers
4. Ryan Zimmerman, Nationals
5. Brett Lawrie, Blue Jays
6. David Wright, Mets
7. Pablo Sandoval, Giants
8. Alex Rodriguez, Yankees
9. Kevin Youkilis, Red Sox
10. Aramis Ramirez, Brewers
11. Michael Young, Rangers
12. David Freese, Cardinals
13. Ryan Roberts, Diamondbacks
14. Mark Reynolds, Orioles
15. Martin Prado, Braves
16. Mike Moustakas, Royals
17. Emilio Bonifacio, Marlins
18. Chase Headley, Padres
19. Chipper Jones, Braves
20. Edwin Encarnacion, Blue Jays
21. Daniel Murphy, Mets
22. Lonnie Chisenhall, Indians
23. Danny Valencia, Twins
24. Pedro Alvarez, Pirates
25. Placido Polanco, Phillies
Other Positions: C - 1B - 2B - 3B - SS - OF - SP - RP
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