Ray, Jason, and I are in the process of releasing our league-specific ranks, and today the unenviable task of ranking 40 major league third basemen falls on me. Before moving on, why not take some time to check out the other ranks? Feel free to leave your comments and questions in the comments section and I'll do my best to respond.
Fake Teams League-Specific Ranks
Fake Teams Third Base Coverage
Mixed League Ranks & Profiles | Points League Ranks & Profiles | Prospect Ranks
Wright vs. Rodriguez | Wright vs. Lawrie | Moustakas vs. Lawrie | Longoria vs. Beltre
AL-Only Third Basemen
1. Jose Bautista, TOR
2. Evan Longoria, TB
3. Adrian Beltre, TEX
4. Alex Rodriguez, NYY
5. Kevin Youkilis, BOS
The rest of the ranks after the jump:
6. Brett Lawrie, TOR
7. Michael Young, TEX
8. Mark Reynolds, BAL
9. Mike Moustakas, KC
10. Edwin Encarnacion, TOR
11. Brent Morel, CWS
12. Danny Valencia, MIN
13. Alberto Callaspo, LAA
14. Lonnie Chisenhall, CLE
15. Scott Sizemore, OAK
16. Chris Davis, BAL
17. Kyle Seager, SEA
18. Eduardo Nunez, NYY
19. Mike Aviles, BOS
20. Kevin Kouzmanoff, KC
We start off with a decent-sized group of top-shelf guys, then follow that up with a bunch of uncertainty. Bautista stays at #1, despite some movement from Longoria supporters to install him at the top. Bautista's teammate, Brett Lawrie, stays out of the top 5, which is harsh, but I maintain that he is a risk being treated like a sure thing in mock drafts. The bottom half of this list is full of high-upside guys, most of whom will not reach their potential. One thing that was apparent to me as I put together these ranks is that the position seems to be moving away from power and toward speed.
NL-Only Third Basemen
1. Hanley Ramirez, MIA
2. Ryan Zimmerman, WAS
3. David Wright, NYM
4. Aramis Ramirez, MIL
5. Pablo Sandoval, SF
6. Ryan Roberts, ARI
7. David Freese, STL
8. Chase Headley, SD
9. Chipper Jones, ATL
10. Martin Prado, ATL
11. Daniel Murphy, NYM
12. Emilio Bonifacio, MIA
13. Placido Polanco, PHI
14. Casey McGehee, PIT
15. Pedro Alvarez, PIT
16. Scott Rolen, CIN
17. Ian Stewart, CHC
18. Mat Gamel, MIL
19. Jimmy Paredes, HOU
20. Blake DeWitt, CHC
Hanley Ramirez vaults right into the first spot, as both Wright and Zimmerman have flaws that keep them from being considered elite options. Hanley will not be eligible to start the year, so you'll have to improvise for a short time if you pick him. The quality falls off quite a bit after Ryan Roberts, who gets the #6 spot by virtue of being a serviceable major leaguer (by comparison, take a look at who #6 is on the Junior Circuit). By the time I got to the end of this list, I almost felt as if I would have been better off making up player names and seeing if anybody noticed. There were several players that I originally eliminated from consideration, only to come crawling back once I realized how dire this position is in the National League. Several of these players (like Bonifacio and Gamel) are switching positions, so those in keeper leagues will want to devalue these guys even more.