Rankings: Third Base
Three first basemen will go in the first round, though I would contend that only two should. A-Rod should be the first player taken, and I would not question someone taking Wright with the second pick. In a ten-team league, there is one formidable third basemen for each league, though in a twelve-team league letting your target 3B slip may cost you. A lot of people argue that the position is deep, though I feel that there are several tiers at the position and hence having a premier third basemen can be extremely valuable.
Tier 1: Alex Rodriguez
Tier 2: David Wright
Tier 3: Miguel Cabrera, Ryan Braun, Aramis Ramirez, Garrett Atkins (and I like him, though something seems wrong with him here with Miguel Cabrera and him with Beltre)
Tier 4: Chone Figgins, Chipper Jones, Ryan Zimmerman, Adrian Beltre
Tier 5: Alex Gordon, Mike Lowell, Hank Blalock, Evan Longoria, Josh Fields
Tier 6: Edwin Encarnacion, Kevin Kouzmanoff, Andy LaRoche, Scott Rolen, Troy Glaus, Akinori Iwamura, Ty Wigginton, Eric Chavez
Tiers don't ordinarily include one player, but the top two in these rankings must. After last year, Rodriguez is on a tier of his own, while his fantasy compatriot Pujols no longer holds such an honor. Wright may hit the same number of home runs as Miguel Cabrera. He might bat for the same average. And he'll compliment both feats with more than twenty-five steals.
I'm not totally sold on Braun, but on the off-chance that he holds his value I'll roughly equate him to Ramirez on the on-chance that he will get injured. Figgins has second base eligibility in some leagues, and should be the third second basemen off the board if thats the case. At third though, he's costing you homeruns at a position you depend on power from.
Lastly, Alex Gordon is my post-hype sleeper for the season. He could go 20-20 without much improvement, and I expect improvement, especially in regard to his average. The former blue-chipper's poor performance is scaring people away from rookie-phenom Longoria, when Braun's rookie of the year performance should be attracting them. Always take high-risk, high-reward players over marginal veterans. If not for fear of Red Sox nation, Lowell might be at the end of that fifth tier.
Labels: Position Rankings
posted by Zachary Piso at
12:48 AM
4 Comments:
You forgot Garret Atkins. Like him or not, he belongs right around A-Ram... count on Coors Field to pat his statistics. He's definitely more valuable at third than at first in my opinion.
This post has been removed by the author.
How many steals do you have Braun in for? If he gets 15-20 per most projections, how can he be on the same tier with Aramis and Atkins?
In my opinion, the possibility for 15-20 steals is what gets Braun into that tier. I don't particularly trust last year's power numbers, as he never combined for more than 22 HR in any year in the minors (albeit it was only two). I honestly believe that Braun carries a high risk for a bust, not necessarily because he isn't a great player, but just because of the relatively small sample size of his statistics do not show him to be the player he was last season.
I'm expecting a sophomore slump as the division becomes familiar with him, and even with a slump he's still in that third tier. Throw in the fact that he'll be in a lineup with severe strikeout tendencies, and you're looking at a player learning a new position, in a streaky lineup, with the likelihood of a sophomore regression. I just don't consider him one of the better picks in his season's second round.
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