Fantasy Prospect Third Base Rankings for 2012

Here at Fake Teams, our aim is to provide fantasy baseball advice, and it would not be complete without providing our 2012 Fantasy Baseball Prospect Rankings. Ray and I will be giving you our take on the Prospect rankings by position for 2012. Some positions are harder than others to rank, but 3B is one of the positions with quite a few prospects that will be fantasy relevant, both in 2012 and in the future. Here are the links to the other positions we have completed:

Catcher

First Base

Here are my top fantasy third base prospects for 2012. These rankings are for fantasy purposes, and JUST for 2012.

I will also provide a ranking for those of you in keeper leagues at the end.

Top 3B Prospects for 2012 Season Only

1. Alex Liddi (SEA)

2. Taylor Green (MIL)

3. Will Middlebrooks (BOS)

4. James Darnell (SD)

5. Josh Vitters (CHC)

6. Anthony Rendon (WAS)

7. Nolan Arenado (COL)

8. Matt Dominguez (MIA)

9. Mike Olt (TEX)

10. Zack Cox (STL)

11. Francisco Martinez (SEA)

Some notes on these rankings, along with keeper league rankings, after the jump:

• I placed Liddi at the top of this list not necessarily because of the production I think he can provide, but more because he is the most likely player on this list to get himself a starting job in the bigs this year. The Mariners have had a black hole at 3B since they signed Chone Figgins, and Liddi showed himself to be a power hitting 3B, albeit one with a bit of a strikeout problem. I could see him giving 20+ homers in full-time playing time, but it may be with a .250 batting average or worse.
• Taylor Green seems likely to me to either end up playing 1B on a daily basis, or filling in across the diamond in a super-utility role. If he ends up doing either of those things, he could end up giving his owners double digit homers with a solid batting average.
• Vitters should have been able to sew up the 3B job in Chicago in my opinion, but he just hasn't quite filled out the way anyone thought he would. That said, the only thing really standing between him and the 3B job is Ian Stewart. If he heats up quickly, and Stewart struggles, we could see Vitters on the North side before too long.
• There seems to have been discussion amongst fans that Arenado should be moved up as fast as possible, but let's remember that he has not played above High-A as of yet, and he really needs some time at AA and AAA in all likelihood.
• Matt Dominguez should probably have already found his way to the Majors based on his glove, but his bat just can't seem to keep up. He will probably spend a majority of the season back in AAA, but if Hanley Ramirez does end up getting traded, we could see Dominguez very soon. He just may not be fantasy relevant when he gets there.

For my dynasty rankings, I have only included players that have been playing 3B recently. There are quite a few shortstop prospects that seem unlikely to remain at shortstop, but until their respective teams have not moved them, neither will I. Here's my top 15 fantasy 3B prospects for dynasty/keeper leagues:

1. Nolan Arenado (COL)

2. Miguel Sano (MIN)

3. Anthony Rendon (WAS)

4. Nick Castellanos (DET)

5. Cheslor Cuthbert (KC)

6. Will Middlebrooks (BOS)

7. Jedd Gyorko (SD)

8. Garin Cecchini (BOS)

9. Mike Olt (TEX)

10. Zack Cox (STL)

11. Francisco Martinez (SEA)

12. Josh Vitters (CHC)

13. Dante Bichette Jr (NYY)

14. Alex Liddi (SEA)

15. Matt Davidson (ARI)

HM: Stephen Parker (OAK), Matt Dominguez (MIA), Brandon Drury (ATL), Chris Dominguez (SF)