Third base was far from an epic fail like something JayWrong would have a GIF for. There were a good ten 3rd basemen and another handful that could’ve covered your corner infidel slot. The problem is after the top twelve, the 3rd basemen fall off the map like a 12th century explorer. Here’s you, “Hey, I’m gonna go to India heading west.” You’re whistling, everything is good, then you have Trevor Plouffe in your corner infidel slot and you’re dead from scurvy. This year there were fewer 3rd basemen coming out of nowhere to give you value, so if you didn’t have a top guy, you were probably stuck piecing together waiver scraps. This final ranking is from our Fantasy Baseball Player Rater with my comments. The Player Rater allows me to be impartial while looking at how I ranked them in the preseason. I look forward to the random comment about how I’ve left off so-and-so. This is not for next year. Lisa Simpson groan. Oh, they’re not reading this intro. Anyway, here’s the top 20 3rd basemen for 2014 fantasy baseball and how they compare to where I originally ranked them:
1. Miguel Cabrera – Went over him in the top 20 1st basemen.
2. Anthony Rendon – Went over him in the top 20 2nd basemen.
3. Todd Frazier – Went over him in the top 20 1st basemen.
4. Josh Donaldson – One word of note about the top three guys here and a ton of guys after here, if you had a good third baseman this year, chances were likely he had eligibility elsewhere. All the multi-position eligibility in this post helps us see what positions were deeper this past year on the infield. 1st base was the deepest, then 3rd base, 2nd base, shortstops and catchers. No real surprises there, except 3rd base and 2nd base were nearly interchangeable with their depth and shortstop is noticeably shallower and catchers, of course, were egregious, Jackie Chiles. Continued in next blurb. Preseason Rank #7, 2014 Projections: 74/19/80/.290/4, Final Numbers: 93/29/98/.255/8
5. Kyle Seager – 3rd base and 2nd base being interchangeable in depth is a huge difference from the preseason. This was made abundantly clear from all the landmines at 3rd base. Prepare to not take a breath for a second and then a long sigh as I list the disappointments: David Wright, Ryan Zimmerman, Pedro Alvarez, Gyorko, Asche, Middlebrooks, Mostsuckass, Machado and Bogaerts. Asche and Mostsuckass make it clear in hindsight that I was a moron for trusting them. The other guys weren’t obvious slam dunks, but they weren’t obvious slam-my-head-against-the-walls either. Preseason Rank #9, 2014 Projections: 83/20/77/.263/10, Final Numbers: 71/25/96/.268/7
6. Adrian Beltre – The continued theme from each recap post is the Rangers bombed and took all my preseason recommendations with them. That’s the last time I count on a team run by a guy that once admitted to doing coke and was having an affair. Now, would I vote for that guy for president? Oh, hells yeah! Preseason Rank #3, 2014 Projections: 85/31/104/.303/1, Final Numbers: 79/19/77/.324/1
7. Evan Longoria – I’m trying not to make these recaps about next year and instead about what they did this past year. With that said (reversal time!), we (you and me — hey!) both know Longoria’s going to bounce back next year on someone else’s team after we carried the weight of his suckitude this year. You know that, right? Where do I mail this pile of feces that I’ve collected since April? Anyone have a shipping address? Preseason Rank #2, 2014 Projections: 96/31/103/.273/3, Final Numbers: 83/22/91/.253/5
8. Carlos Santana – Went over him in the top 20 catchers.
9. Josh Harrison – Went over him in the top 20 2nd basemen.
10. Daniel Murphy – Went over him in the top 20 2nd basemen.
11. Pablo Sandoval – My projections and Mr. Butterworth’s stats were about as close as you could get, but I ranked him 7 spots lower in January. Know why? Cause I thought there would be seven other 3rd basemen that wouldn’t disappoint me. Oy gevalt offense is a flippin’ mess! I’m looking in your direction Ryan Zimerman and David Wright. Don’t sneak away, Pedro Alvarez, I’m not done with you yet! Preseason Rank #18, 2014 Projections: 62/17/76/.285/1, Final Numbers: 68/16/73/.279
12. Matt Carpenter – Went over him in the top 20 2nd basemen.
13. Trevor Plouffe – Plouffe goes my brain when Plouffe is a top 13 3rd baseman! And he didn’t even have that good of a year. He had 15 homers and two steals! 15 homers and two steals and there wasn’t 13 guys better? I need to sit down. Wait, I am sitting. Okay, I need to lie down. Preseason Rank #31, 2014 Projections: 51/15/63/.242/2, Final Numbers: 69/15/80/.258/2
14. Nolan Arenado – It’s too bad Arenado doesn’t steal 7 to 10 bases because then it will be easy for me to rank him in the top 25 overall next year. Top 25 overall, you say incredulously. Don’t scoff, you scoffer. I love this guy. He has 5-homer per month power. That’s easy in Coors, and that means 30-homer power. He could hit .320 with just a tad bit of luck, but he’s easily a .300 hitter. In Coors, everyone has counting stats. Drew Stubbs last year had a shizzton of runs and RBIs and he was a platoon guy that only hit well in Coors. Coors makes everything better, hitter-wise. Todd Frazier if he only had two steals or Arenado? Arenado is the easy call there. Unfortch, Arenado runs like he’s got two flat feet. I’m gonna love Arenado next year, but due to the lack of speed, he will be a tad limited. Preseason Rank #11, 2014 Projections: 74/21/82/.282/3, Final Numbers: 58/18/61/.287/2
15. Chris Davis – He didn’t even make it into the top 20 1st basemen, and here he is in the top 15 for 3rd basemen. Um, poo. There was good news with Chris Davis last year. No, not that he was suspended and you could finally drop him without regrets. He hit 26 homers, the 19th best in the majors, and had about as terrible a year as he could have. Okay, smart guy, he could’ve hit .196 and 25 homers and had a worse year, but you catch my drift. If he hit for no power and no average, then shizz would’ve really been pear-shaped. Hitting .286 as he did in 2013 was really the outlier, not 53 homers. He can hit for power, I don’t know if he’ll ever hit for average again. Preseason Unranked for 3rd baseman, Ranked #4 for 1st baseman, 2014 Projections: 83/39/104/.259/3, Final Numbers: 65/26/72/.196/2
16. Aramis Ramirez – He had nearly 500 at-bats last year (494) and only hit 15 homers. Imagine if he has 375 ABs next year like he’s been known to do. *wavy lines* Hey, I have Aramis for 375 ABs and Plouffe for 200 ABs and my team isn’t that bad! *wavy lines* Okay, that wasn’t what I was expecting you to imagine. Preseason Rank #20, 2014 Projections: 64/16/69/.278/1, Final Numbers: 47/15/66/.285/3
17. Lonnie Chisenhall – It’s an exaggeration to say one good game propelled Lonnie Gonnie into the top 20 this year. It’s not an exaggeration to say two good months did. Preseason Unranked, Final Numbers: 62/13/59/.280/3
18. Martin Prado – Went over him in the top 20 2nd basemen.
19. Casey McGehee – Coming back from Japan paid off nicely for him…OR DID IT?! If he would’ve stayed in Japan, instead of four homers, he would’ve hit 59 homers, drove in 167 ribbies, or as they call them there tamagoyakis, and would’ve been awarded an MVP belt by a life-size Hello Kitty. So, did it pay off nicely? I think not. Preseason Rank #33, 2014 Projections: 44/12/59/.231/2, Final Numbers: 56/4/76/.287/4
20. Luis Valbuena – Went over him in the top 20 2nd basemen.
