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A Look Back at our 2013 Consensus Third Base Rankings

Ray reviews the Fake Teams 2013 Consensus Third Base rankings and profiles three third baseman whose value increased this season and three whose value dropped this season.

By Ray Guilfoyle
Elsa

I continue with my review of the Fake Teams 2013 Consensus Position Rankings by looking at our fantasy third base rankings from last November-December timeframe. Below are links to the positions that have been reviewed to date:

Catcher

First Base

Second Base

Shortstop

Before we get into the rankings, let's take a look the the third base position for fantasy purposes:

  • There were only eight third baseman to hit 20 or more home runs in 2013 vs twelve in 2012.
  • Young Pedro Alvarez hit more home runs than any other third baseman besides Miguel Cabrera. Surprised?
  • Only six third baseman drove in 80 or more runs in 2013, and one of them was Martin Prado!! Nine third baseman drove in 80 or more runs in 2012.
  • One four third baseman had a slugging percentage of .500 or higher in 2013.
  • Miguel Cabrera, the best hitter in the game, still plays third base. But for how long?

Let's take a look at our 2013 Consensus Third Base Rankings, followed by player profiles for third baseman ranked 1 - 13:

Rank

Player

Team

Ray

Bret

Jason

Craig

Score

1

Miguel Cabrera

DET

1

1

1

1

108

2

Adrian Beltre

TEX

2

2

2

2

104

3

Evan Longoria

TB

3

3

5

5

96

4

David Wright

NYM

6

4

3

4

95

5

Hanley Ramirez

LAD

7

5

4

3

93

6

Ryan Zimmerman

WSH

5

9

8

6

84

7

Aramis Ramirez

MLW

4

7

7

11

83

8

Chase Headley

SD

8

10

6

7

81

9

Pablo Sandoval

SF

9

6

10

10

77

10

Brett Lawrie

TOR

10

8

9

9

76

11

David Freese

STL

11

11

11

8

71

12

Will Middlebrooks

BOS

12

13

13

12

62

13

Manny Machado

BAL

13

12

15

14

58

14

Martin Prado

ATL

15

15

14

15

53

15

Pedro Alvarez

PIT

14

16

12

18

52

16

Alex Rodriguez

NYY

17

14

17

13

51

17

Mike Moustakas

KC

16

17

18

16

45

18

Kyle Seager

SEA

18

19

16

17

42

19

Todd Frazier

CIN

19

18

19

20

36

20

Chris Johnson

ARZ

20

22

23

19

28

21

Kevin Youkilis

CHW

23

23

21

21

24

22

Trevor Plouffe

MIN

22

24

20

NR

18

23

Lonnie Chisenhall

CLE

21

20

NR

NR

15

24

Chris Nelson

COL

24

25

24

NR

11

25

Luis Cruz

LAD

NR

NR

22

23

11

Three Up

Josh Donaldson, OAK

Donaldson was not even ranked in our consensus third base rankings last season, so that was a big miss. All Donaldson did was hit .301-.384-.499 with 24 HRs, 89 runs, 93 RBI and 5 stolen bases. Donaldson was so good in 2013 that he had a higher WAR than Miguel Cabrera: 7.7 vs 7.6. He will be ranked appropriately in 2014.

Kyle Seager, SEA

Seager had a solid season in 2013, hitting .260 with 22 HRs, 79 runs, 69 RBI and 9 stolen bases in 160 games. He set career highs in home runs and runs scored, but saw his RBI and stolen base totals drop a bit. Amongst all fantasy third baseman, he ranked in the top 12 in four of the five hitting categories, with batting average being the only exception.

Pedro Alvarez, PIT

Alvarez tied for the National League lead in home runs with 36 and ranked 5th in RBI in 2013. He took a step up in the power department, and despite a low batting average, put up a very productive season for his owners.

Three Down

Aramis Ramirez, MIL

The age and injuries appear to be catching up with Ramirez, just a few years after others ranked him lower than they should have and were calling for him to underperform expectations. He battled knee injuries all season and it affected him at the plate. He will fall in my third base rankings for 2014.

Chase Headley, SD

Well, 2012 looks like a career year for Headley after all. Headley could not duplicate his terrific 2012 season, as he hit .250-.347-.400 with 13 HRs, 59 runs, 50 RBI and 8 stolen bases in 140 games, a far cry from his .286-31-95-115-17 season in 2012, The question for his owners is whether he can bounce back and put up a 20 HR - 80 RBI season in 2014.

Pablo Sandoval, SFG

Sandoval is forever battling weight issues, and had a disappointing season in 2013, hitting .278 with 14 HRs, 52 runs and 79 RBI. Gone are the 20+ home run days, I guess, but he is a better hitter than he has shown. I could see a bit of a bounce back from him in 2014, but he will fall in most rankings on the net.

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