I’m not sure exactly when it happened, but the third base position has stealthily snuck up on us and is now one of the deepest positions in fantasy baseball. All the big bats used to reside across the diamond at first base, but now there’s an incredibly deep pool of well-rounded hitters at the hot corner. Our 2020 third base rankings reflect that. We ask our analysts to go 30-deep and there are still some very good players who didn’t make the cut.
It also seems to be a position with a lot of consensus. Although we list our positional rankings as 30 deep, we include every player that even one of our analysts put in their Top 30. That means we usually have a decent number of players above 30, due to one analyst ranking a player significantly higher than his peers. Not so in our third base rankings. We’ve only got three extra players and the range of rankings for most players was very small. Yep, third base seems to be pretty cut and dried for 2020. Let’s see what our analysts had to say though. Maybe there’s a little more dissent than we think.
2020 Third Base Outlook
Nathan Dokken – @NathanDokken – Author Archive
One of the most robust positions heading into 2020, Third Base is both loaded with studs at the top as well as deep. There isn’t a ton of speed at the position, which makes it easier to brush off Jose Ramirez’s 2019 first half and focus on his second half and stolen base ability.
There are a ton of bats who will provide plenty of pop and average well into the late rounds of your draft, however, so there are any number of ways to patiently and successfully craft your team from this position.
Eric Cross – @EricCross04 – Author Archive
Hot corner? More like scalding corner.
Not only is this position incredibly deep, but we now have five guys here that are viable picks in the first two rounds. Nolan Arenado is still elite, as is Alex Bregman, and now we have Anthony Rendon and Rafael Devers in the mix as well after breakout 2019 campaigns. Jose Ramirez rounds out the first tier, although, some may be a little skeptical about taking him in the top-25 due to his horrific start to the season. The players ranked 6-11 are all top-50 caliber players as well with Vladimir Guerrero Jr landing square in the middle of this group. His rookie season might not have been what we expected, but 2020 very well could be a monster breakout year for him.
This position is so deep, Manny Machado is at #11 for me. If that doesn’t signal insane depth, I don’t know what will. Further down the third base rankings, we have some multi-positional dynamos like Jeff McNeil and Tommy Edman, power bats like Miguel Sano, Mike Moustakas, and Hunter Dozier, and some intriguing young bats to target later on. Don’t sleep on Miguel Andujar either who was a top-100 guy in 2018.
Mike Kurland – @Mike_Kurland – Author Archive
Third base is ridiculously deep. I can see rostering two or three on just about every team as starters. This is a position you can wait on and still find value at most points within a draft. I would definitely aim to fill any corner infield spot from the third base player pool.
At the end of the day, this is a position you should not have to stress about and there should always be a good option to fall back on if you happen to miss your first target or two at the position.
Jorge Montanez – @JMontanez90 – Author Archive
The hot corner is typically home to many of the best hitters in baseball. This season is no different with Nolan Arenado, Alex Bregman, and Anthony Rendon worthy of top 15 selections. After a breakout season from young star Rafael Devers, I’m ready to put him right in with that tier. While Jose Ramirez experienced nearly a year-long slump, his bounce-back second half restores some faith in him as a fantasy star.
The following tier at third base runs deep with talent that includes Kris Bryant, Eugenio Suarez, Manny Machado, Yoan Moncada, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., and Josh Donaldson. The players worthy of starting at third base for your fantasy team don’t stop there. Names like D.J. Lemahieu, Jeff Mcneil, and Max Muncy will carry over third base eligibility, making this maybe the deepest position in the infield.
Paul Mammino – @PaulMammino – Author Archive
Easily the deepest position we have ranked thus far. Third base is filled with high-quality veteran options. Unlike other positions where the depth is reliant on younger high upside prospect contributors, third base is a stable position with well over 20 options who I would feel comfortable owning.
More 2020 Fantasy Baseball Rankings: C | 1B | 2B | 3B | SS | OF | SP | RP
2020 Third Base Rankings
| Rnk | Player | Dokken | Cross | Kurland | Montanez | Mammino |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nolan Arenado | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | Alex Bregman | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| 3 | Anthony Rendon | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 |
| 4 | Jose Ramirez | 2 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 4 |
| 5 | Rafael Devers | 5 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 5 |
| 6 | Kris Bryant | 7 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 9 |
| 7 | Vladimir Guerrero Jr. | 10 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 6 |
| 8 | Yoan Moncada | 12 | 9 | 6 | 8 | 8 |
| 9 | Matt Chapman | 8 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 10 |
| 10 | Manny Machado | 11 | 11 | 9 | 9 | 11 |
| 11 | Josh Donaldson | 6 | 14 | 10 | 10 | 13 |
| 12 | Eugenio Suarez | 17 | 8 | 12 | 12 | 7 |
| 13 | Max Muncy | 9 | 12 | 14 | 14 | 12 |
| 14 | DJ LeMahieu | 15 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 |
| 15 | Jeff McNeil | 14 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 14 |
| 16 | Mike Moustakas | 16 | 17 | 16 | 16 | 15 |
| 17 | Yuli Gurriel | 13 | 16 | 18 | 17 | 18 |
| 18 | Miguel Sano | 18 | 21 | 17 | 20 | 16 |
| 19 | Justin Turner | 21 | 22 | 20 | 19 | 17 |
| 20 | J.D. Davis | 19 | 19 | 19 | 21 | 22 |
| 21 | Eduardo Escobar | 20 | 18 | 22 | 22 | 20 |
| 22 | Tommy Edman | 28 | 20 | 21 | 18 | 21 |
| 23 | Hunter Dozier | 25 | 23 | 24 | 23 | 19 |
| 24 | Miguel Andujar | 22 | 26 | 23 | 24 | 23 |
| 25 | Scott Kingery | 23 | 24 | 26 | 26 | 25 |
| 26 | Ryan McMahon | 26 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 24 |
| 27 | Giovanny Urshela | 24 | 28 | 28 | 27 | 27 |
| 28 | Nick Solak | 27 | 27 | 27 | 28 | 26 |
| 29 | Tommy La Stella | 31 | 29 | 30 | 30 | 30 |
| 30 | Yandy Diaz | 30 | 34 | 29 | 29 | 29 |
| 31 | Hanser Alberto | 32 | 30 | 33 | 32 | 34 |
| 31 | Luis Arraez | 29 | 31 | 35 | 31 | 35 |
| 34 | Matt Carpenter | 34 | 36 | 32 | 34 | 33 |
| 35 | Kyle Seager | 37 | 33 | 36 | 36 | 32 |
| 36 | Starlin Castro | 38 | 32 | 34 | 35 | 36 |
| 36 | Brian Anderson | 40 | 35 | 31 | 38 | 31 |
| 36 | Jon Berti | 39 | 39 | 36 | 33 | 28 |
| 39 | Howie Kendrick | 35 | 37 | 37 | 37 | 38 |
| 40 | David Fletcher | 36 | 38 | 39 | 39 | 37 |
| 41 | Evan Longoria | NR | NR | 40 | 40 | 39 |
| 42 | Marwin Gonzalez | NR | 40 | NR | NR | 40 |
| 43 | Asdrubal Cabrera | NR | NR | 38 | NR | NR |
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I noticed that it says Fantasy rankings, but I’m not seeing any fantasy criteria here (league size, points, roto, cat, salary, etc) and I’m not seeing any projections. With respect is this more just a popularity contest than it’s legit rankings based on settings and projections?
The rankings are based on 5×5 scoring. These are consensus rankings. You’d have to ask each analyst for their method of ranking.
Can’t believe all of you have Yandy Diaz ranked 29th or below. Is playing time or health a concern because unless they are, he flashed solid potential last year and should expand on that to have him finish closer to the 20th ranked guy at the position.
For me, it’s 100% about the playing time. Love the talent, but not sure he gets everyday AB right now.
How can you justify the ratings for andujar and urshela when urshela is a much better fielder than andujar a therefore be more likely to be played and get more at bats . In any case their at bats as predicted given the yankee set up at dh is only possible if stanton is on dl the whole year