We finish off the infield with the top 20 3rd basemen for 2010 fantasy baseball. The top 20 2010 fantasy baseball rankings from shallowest to deepest go catchers, shortstops, third basemen, 2nd basemen then 1st basemen. That’s right, I think the 2nd basemen are deeper than the 3rd basemen. 3rd base gets the gas face. Last year, I punted 3rd base knowing I could get Mark Reynolds late. This year, Stewart’s my sleeper du jour, but because of the lack of 3rd base options, he’s not even making it into the 10th round of most drafts. That’s a bad sign. As with other top 20 rankings, I list where I see tiers beginning and ending and my projections. Anyway, here’s the top 20 3rd basemen for 2010 fantasy baseball:
1. Alex Rodriguez – See the top 10 for 2010 fantasy baseball for A-Rod’s projections.
2. Evan Longoria – See the top 20 for 2010 fantasy baseball for Longoria’s projections.
3. David Wright – See the top 20 for 2010 fantasy baseball for Wright’s projections.
4. Ryan Zimmerman – This is a new tier. This tier goes from here to Sandoval. I call this tier, “You didn’t get a top 3rd baseman, so here you are.” Zimmerman finally came into his own last year. The homers might plateau around 30 and the average probably won’t go above .300… Then again, he’s only 25 years old and he has some speed potential…. Then again, the Nats have put the brakes on him to avoid injury. Either either way, Zimmerman’s on the rise with solid power, Runs, RBIs and average. Hmm… Sounds a lot like Youuuuuk. 2010 Projections: 105/30/110/.295/5
5. Kevin Youkilis – See the top 20 1st basemen for 2010 fantasy baseball post for Youkilis’s projections.
6. Mark Reynolds – See the top 20 for 2010 fantasy baseball for Reynolds’s projections.
7. Pablo Sandoval – See the top 20 1st basemen for 2010 fantasy baseball post for Sandoval’s projections.
8. Chone Figgins – This is a new tier. This is a one man tier. I call this tier, “You better have some serious power from your middle infielders to support Figgy’s dearth.” Figgy’s Dearth is also a great speed metal band. 2010 Projections: 105/5/55/.295/40
9. Gordon Beckham – This is a new tier. This tier goes from here to Beltre. I call this tier, “Upside, no upside, upside, no upside, no upside.” I went over my Gordon Beckham fantasy already. At that post, I said, “Shoot, Jacquese from The Real World: San Diego could probably see the bottom.” Then I said, “It’s impossible; LaRussa tried it briefly with Pujols.” Finally, I said, “I love you, Gordon Beckham even if you sound British and their teeth aren’t the best.” Hmm… Gotta work on what quotes I pull. 2010 Projections: 85/18/63/.260/14
10. Michael Young – Which percentage doesn’t fit — 8.6%, 6.9%, 7.2% or 14.9%? If you answered anything other than 14.9%, you might’ve stopped at the “or.” Fair enough, I do that sometimes. Those percentages were his last four years of HR/FB. He’s really not a 20 homer hitter or. 2010 Projections: 75/14/90/.315/10
11. Ian Stewart – I went over Stewart’s projections in the top 20 2nd basemen for 2010 fantasy baseball post. He also received an Ian Stewart sleeper thing-a-ma-whosie.
12. Aramis Ramirez – He’s Pablo Sandoval with injury concerns, a slightly lower average and no upside. Aramis is only 31 so you may not want to write him off, but he hasn’t hit more than 30 homers since 2006 so I’m writing him off. 2010 Projections: 75/25/95/.290
13. Chipper Jones – Last year, Chipper played in the most games in a season since 2003 and he had his worst season ever. Hey, Chipper, maybe don’t push yourself so hard to play injured. ’09 wasn’t a sign that he can’t still hit .310, just some bad luck. 2010 Projections: 75/20/85/.310/5
14. Adrian Beltre – This is a new tier. This tier goes from here to Cantu. I call this tier, “You might want to drop these guys from your team before May 1st.” God knows Beltre had his balls busted enough last year, but in 449 ABs, he hit 8 homers. So did Gregg Zaun. The move to Fenway has to help a bit, right? Sure, or at least that’s what I said. 2010 Projections: 70/24/80/.275/10
15. Mark DeRosa – Is DeRosa a 20 homer hitter or a platoon player? That’s something to *pinkie to mouth* ponderosa. 2010 Projections: 65/18/75/.265/3
16. Jorge Cantu – I could’ve put Casey Blake here, but what fun is that? Wait, what fun is Cantu? Yeah, true. Cantu hit 7 homers in April then took a Taco Bell-sized dump for 4 months. The batting woes may be attributed to a sore wrist. In September, he started hitting again. May have been due to his wrist coming around. Then again, maybe you’ll want to drop him by mid-April. It’s called a flier, ya’ll. 2010 Projections: 65/18/80/.280
17. Chris Davis – Only has 11 games at 3rd base so Davis may not have eligibility in your league. This is a new tier. This is the last tier and I call it, “Your last chance for some upside.” See the top 20 1st basemen for 2010 fantasy baseball post for Davis’s projections.
18. Jake Fox – Went over my Jake Fox fantasy already. 2010 Projections: 75/24/85/.250
19. Alex Gordon – You know that scene in Notting Hill when Hugh Grant walks through the market and it goes from autumn to spring? What, not lame enough? Okay, here’s a lamer example. You know when Bella is staring out the window in New Moon and the seasons change as the camera goes around her? Yeah, that’s Alex Gordon staring at his career. He’ll only be 26 in 2010 and he’s still capable of the upside he hinted at, oh, 4 years ago when he hit 29 homers and stole 22 bases in Double-A and followed that with a 15/14 year with the Royals in 2007, but it’s really getting to be now or never. 2010 Projections: 75/17/85/.270/12
20. Casey McGehee – I went over McGehee’s projections in the top 20 2nd basemen for 2010 fantasy baseball post.
20 1/2. Andy LaRoche – This guy needs Troy Dunn to find his upside. I contemplated leaving LaRoche off entirely because I can’t imagine him putting together a season to make him worthwhile for fantasy, except for stretches when he can be grabbed off of waivers. 2010 Projections: 75/16/70/.270/3
After the top 20 third basemen for 2010 fantasy baseball, there’s some guys, but these two stand out:
Chase Headley – First off, I’d draft Headley before LaRoche. I only placed them in this order because I wanted to highlight Headley. So consider him highlighted. Headley can get 25 homers and steal 10 bases. Will he? Who am, Nostradumbass? I don’t know. But someone who can produce that should be getting more pub than he has. I’m righting wrongs like a modern day superhero. Well, not really, but I am wearing a cape. 2010 Projections: 70/20/85/.290/10
Brandon Wood – The Angels trust him at 3rd about as much as The Old Man trusts Chumlee, but they gotta give Wood the keys to the Imperial at some point. Don’t they? 2010 Projections: 60/25/75/.250/7 <–optimistic, but whatever
