Hello, everyone. Welcome back to my weekly rankings. This week is the Top 50 Dynasty Third Basemen for 2026 fantasy baseball.
As a position, this is not the strongest group of players. Third basemen in 2025 slashed .424/.305/.391 with a 93 wRC+. Only center fielders had a lower batting average and and OBP and only second basemen had a lower SLG while second basemen and center fielders had a 92 wRC+.
Here is the age breakdown of this position:
- 35+: 1
- 30-34: 15
- 25-29: 26
- 20-24: 8
There are some young up-and-coming third basemen. But this is a position where older players still are among the best players as there are four 30+ players ranked in Tier 1 before the younger players dominate Tier 2 as nine of the 10 players in that tier are under 30.
Just Missing The Cut
- Jeremiah Jackson: In 48 games with the Orioles, Jackson slashed .276/.328/.447 and hit five homers and an OPS+ of 117. He started most of his games in right field, but he also made 10 starts at third and appeared in 13 games overall at the hot corner.
- Nolan Arenado: He is nearing the end of of his outstanding career, but he still offers some production that can make him a depth option as a corner infielder as he had 12 homers and 52 RBI in 107 games.
- Amed Rosario: In 62 games with the Nationals and Yankees, Rosario slashed .276/.309/.436 with six bombs and 23 RBI. He has a career slash line of .273/.308/.400 and can play second base in addition to third.
- Sal Stewart: He played in only 18 games last year with only four starts coming at third base. Because of that, I am not ranking him within the top 50 as he may not even be a third baseman next year. But he will play somewhere next year – first base, third base, DH or all three – and bring a lot of power to the Reds’ lineup as well as adding a few steals here and there
TIER 5
*Age as of April 1, 2025
| RANK | PLAYER | 2025 TEAM | AGE |
|---|---|---|---|
| 50 | Ronny Mauricio | NYM | 24 |
| 49 | Curtis Mead | CWS | 25 |
| 48 | Blaze Alexander | ARI | 26 |
| 47 | Otto Kemp | PHI | 26 |
| 46 | Miguel Andujar | CIN | 31 |
| 45 | Ke’Bryan Hayes | CIN | 29 |
| 44 | Josh Smith | TEX | 28 |
| 43 | Yoan Moncada | LAA | 30 |
| 42 | Luis Rengifo | LAA | 29 |
| 41 | Edmundo Sosa | PHI | 30 |
Too Young To Toss Aside
Ronny Mauricio was once a Top 100 prospect, reaching as high as 42nd by Baseball Prospectus in 2021. Well, here we are at the end of 2025 talking about 2026 and Mauricio is barely being mentioned as a top third baseman. He appeared in 26 games for the Mets in 2023 and 61 games this year. In those 87 games, he has a .234/.295/.361 slash line with six homers, 10 RBI and 11 steals. There is a chance that Mauricio becomes a utility player as he has played at second and short in his career. Given the fact he is only 24 at the start of the next season, he could be a solid player to stash in deep leagues and hopes he finds his niche in a utility role.
Declining Return
To be honest, the only reason Ke’Bryan Hayes is ranked at all is due to the fact he can steal some bases, averaging 12 steals per year since 2021. But after slashing .376/.442/.682 in 24 games during the 2020 Covid year, Hayes hasn’t come close to matching that production. Since then his average season is seven home runs and 43 RBI with a .248/.303/.355 slash line. I still don’t understand why the Reds traded for him as they have Sal Stewart, Noelvi Marte or even Christian Encarnacion-Strand who can play third base. But as I said, he steals some bases and he is under contract through 2029 with a club option for 2030, so he will also play in a lot of games.
TIER 4
| RANK | PLAYER | 2025 TEAM | AGE |
|---|---|---|---|
| 40 | Nolan Gorman | STL | 25 |
| 39 | Willi Castro | CHC | 28 |
| 38 | Ramon Urias | HOU | 31 |
| 37 | Javier Baez | DET | 33 |
| 36 | Jose Caballero | NYY | 29 |
| 35 | Max Muncy | ATH | 23 |
| 34 | Casey Schmitt | SFG | 27 |
| 33 | Jared Triolo | PIT | 28 |
| 32 | Zach McKinstry | DET | 30 |
| 31 | Ernie Clement | TOR | 30 |
Repeat Customers
A host of players in this tier I discussed in previous rankings. You can read about Gorman in my second base rankings while you can read about Javier Baez, Jose Caballero and Jared Triolo in my shortstop rankings. But in summary, Gorman has power but that is about his only tool, Baez has some pop but is on the downside of his career while Caballero and Triolo offer some speed and versatility.
The Other Max Muncy
Max Muncy is a well established major league ballplayer – if you are talking about the slugger for the Dodgers. This Max Muncy was a rookie this season for the Athletics who slashed .214/.259/.379 with nine homers, 23 RBI and a steal. He has never really hit for a lot of power and his minor league slash line is .262/.351/.434 thanks to a 10% walk rate and solid doubles power. He also qualifies as a second baseman, giving him some value.
Good, Solid Player
Ernie Clement is a great player to have in deep leagues as he can play second, third and short, and depending on your league rules, first base. He can also produce some decent numbers at the plate. In his last two seasons with the Blue Jays he has averaged 148 games, 11 homers and 51 RBI with a .271/.301/.402 slash line.
TIER 3
| RANK | PLAYER | 2025 TEAM | AGE |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 | Marcelo Meyer | BOS | 23 |
| 29 | Brady House | WAS | 22 |
| 28 | Brooks Lee | MIN | 25 |
| 27 | Connor Norby | MIA | 25 |
| 26 | Max Muncy | LAD | 35 |
| 25 | Ryan McMahon | NYY | 31 |
| 24 | Alec Bohm | PHI | 29 |
| 23 | Royce Lewis | MIN | 26 |
| 22 | Josh Jung | TEX | 28 |
| 21 | Carlos Correa | HOU | 31 |
Youngsters To Target
Marcelo Mayer was the fourth overall pick in the 2021 draft and he finally got a taste of the big leagues this season by appearing in 44 games for the Red Sox. The debut did not go as planned for a player rated as a top 15 (Baseball America), 12 (MLB) or 25 (Baseball Prospectus) prospect. Mayer slashed .228/.272/.402 with four homers and 10 RBI. He finished with a 30% strikeout rate and only a 6% walk rate. That doesn’t mean you should discard him, however. He was only 22 years old this past season, and if Alex Bregman signs elsewhere, there is a hole that Mayer can fill at third.
The 11th overall pick in the 2021 draft, Brady House packs a lot of power into his 6-foot-4 frame. In 65 games at Triple-A this past season he hit 13 homers and drove in 41 runs while slashing .304/353/.519. After joining the Nationals, he slashed .234/.252/.322 in 73 games with four dingers and 29 RBI. For House to reach his potential, he has to work on his lack of patience at the plate as he had a 2.9% walk rate and 28.5 K% with the Nationals. He wasn’t that bad in the minors, but he did have a 26% strikeout rate with only a 6.5% walk rate.
Brooks Lee is able to play shortstop and second base as well as third base. Where he winds up in 2026 is still unknown. However, his ability to hit for power (16 homers, 64 RBI in 2025) and play three different positions gives him a lot of value.
Connor Norby never got on track in 2025, and he is similar to House – lots of power, trouble with the strikeouts and taking a walk. Norby slashed .251/.300/.389 with eight homers, 34 RBI and eight steals in 88 games with the Marlins. Power has never rally been a question when it comes to Norby. His problem is a career strikeout rate of 29% with a 6.2% walk rate. But he generates great bat speed, which will lead to lots of home runs.
The Other Third Baseman
If Lee doesn’t wind up at third base, that is because he will be at shortstop while Royce Lewis takes over at third base. Lewis has been an intriguing player for several years as he has hit with power during limited time on the field. In 2023 he had 15 homers and and .548 SLG in 58 games and in 2024 those numbers were 16 and .452 in 82 games. In fact, his 162-game average is 29 homers, 98 RBI, 11 steals with a .255/.310/.453 slash line.
But Lewis has never played in 162 games. The 106 games he played in this past season were a career high, and in those games he hit 13 homers, had 52 RBI and 12 steals. After a poor first half of the season, Lewis slashed .249/.284/.439 over his final 64 games with 11 homers, 39 RBI and all 12 of his steals.
Can He Be Counted On?
If Josh Jung would be able to play an entire season, he would be a really good third baseman. His 162-game average is 24 homers and 80 RBI with a .255/.298/.426 slash line. I don’t like the OBP, but the homers and RBI would be solid. The problem is staying on the field. The 131 games played in this season were a career high. And being consistent at the plate has been a battle. In May he slashed .265/.318/.431 with five homers and 15 RBI. June saw him go .158/.208/.221-1-12. August was another good month followed by a dismal September. If he remains healthy and if he find some consistency from month to month, then Jung is undervalued here.
TIER 2
| RANK | PLAYER | 2025 TEAM | AGE |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20 | Caleb Durbin | MIL | 26 |
| 19 | Colt Keith | DET | 24 |
| 18 | Miguel Vargas | CHW | 26 |
| 17 | Matt Shaw | CHC | 24 |
| 16 | Mark Vientos | NYM | 26 |
| 15 | Matt Chapman | SF | 32 |
| 14 | Brett Baty | NYM | 26 |
| 13 | Colson Montgomery | CWS | 24 |
| 12 | Noelvi Marte | CIN | 24 |
| 11 | Addison Barger | TOR | 26 |
Solid, Not Spectacular
Colt Keith did not produce eye-popping numbers for the Tigers this past season, hitting 13 homers with 45 RBI with a .256/.333/.413 slash line. He barely played in April and had a sluggish September, but from May through August he slashed .262/.334/.429 with 12 homers and 41 RBI. He can also be slotted in at first base and second base. As you may have learned by now, I love players who can play multiple positions. The big concern with Keith is how Comerica Park deflates his offense. In 68 home games he had four homers and 18 RBI with a .405 SLG. In 69 road games, those numbers were 9-27-.421.
Can He Rebound?
Mark Vientos had a breakout season in 2024 as slugged 27 homers and drove in 71 runs with a .266/.322/.516 slash line. Fantasy owners had high hopes 2025 began, thinking Vientos would build on his 2024 season. That never really happened. In 121 games (10 more than 2024) he hit 17 bombs and drove in 61 while slashing .233/.289/.413. Vientos is not a good fielder and a move to first base is likely if Pete Alonso signs elsewhere. But where he plays isn’t important if he doesn’t return to his 2024 form or at least somewhere in between 2024 and 2025.
Third Baseman or Second Baseman?
Brett Baty came up as a third baseman and only moved to second base this past season, making 46 starts at second compared to 60 at third. No matter where he played, Baty had a solid season as he smashed 18 homers in 130 games this year and had a .435 SLG to finally live up to the expectations that have been with him since breaking in with the Mets in 2022.
Is Third Base His Future Home?
I talked about Colson Montgomery last week in the shortstop rankings, but to summarize, he can hit the ball far and rack up tons of homers. The biggest question is will he remain a shortstop or eventually move to third. I ranked him as a third baseman because 15% of the starts (10) he made in the field came at third. Over 162 games, that would be 24 starts and more than enough to qualify as a third baseman. He has great power, and if he was a third baseman fulltime, he would likely come in ranked at No. 10. But with his positional future unknown, I placed him here at 13th.
Another Multi-Positional Player
Addison Barger has never been a top 100 prospect and at 26 is a tad old to have completed his first full season in the majors. But the wait for Barger to make his mark with the Blue Jays was worth it as he hit 21 homers and drove in 74 runs in 135 games. I like him more as a third baseman as his bat doesn’t compare to the top right fielders. He started more games at third this season than in right field, and I think that is his future home unless George Springer remains the primary DH. But no matter where he plays, Barger should produce, at least if his Statcast numbers are to be believed. He ranked in the 91st and 93rd percentile in Hard Hit% and Bat Speed and his Average EV ranked in the 86th percentile.
TIER 1
| RANK | PLAYER | 2025 TEAM | AGE |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | Eugenio Suarez | SEA | 34 |
| 9 | Maikel Garcia | KC | 26 |
| 8 | Austin Riley | ATL | 28 |
| 7 | Isaac Paredes | HOU | 27 |
| 6 | Jordan Westburg | BAL | 27 |
| 5 | Alex Bregman | BOS | 32 |
| 4 | Manny Machado | SD | 33 |
| 3 | Jazz Chisholm Jr. | NYY | 28 |
| 2 | Jose Ramirez | CLE | 33 |
| 1 | Junior Caminero | TB | 22 |
Two Very Different Players
Eugenio Suarez is good at one thing at the plate – hitting home runs. In four of the last five full seasons, Suarez has hit at least 30 home runs and in each of the last two seasons he has topped 100 RBI. You are not going to get a player who helps your AVG or OBP (.246/.328 career marks), but that is the tradeoff you get for the power he provides. If there is one area that may give you pause when it comes to Suarez is his home ballpark. His career SLG at T-Mobile Park is .406. That ranks seventh-worst in parks where he has had at least 100 career at-bats. In the three stadiums he has called home (T-Mobile, Great American and Chase Field), that is far and away his worst SLG. If he remains in Seattle, that could lead you to bump him down a couple of spots.
In some leagues Maikel Garcia qualifies at second base as well as a third baseman. No matter where he can be slotted, he is a player who will help you across multiple categories. He is coming off a season in which he had 16 homers, 74 RBI, 23 steals and a .286/.351/.449 slash line during his age 25 season. Garcia doesn’t have the gaudy power numbers some people look for in a third baseman. In other words, he is not Suarez, a third baseman who fits the traditional stereotype of the lumbering power hitter at third base. What Garcia brings is solid power, a solid slash line and speed. That is a pretty good player to have.
Healthy = Awesome
From 2021-2023, Austin Riley averaged 36 homers and 99 RBI per season with a .286/.354/.525 slash line. But injuries have hampered Riley the last two seasons as he has appeared in 110 and 102 games the last two years with his production dropping to an average of 17.5 and 55 RBI with a .258/.316/.445 slash line. Riley is now recovering from core injury surgery but should be ready for the 2026 season. In the first half of this past season, Riley had 14 homers and 48 RBI through 93 games with a .274/.324/.441 slash line but played in only 9 games after the All-Star Break. A healthy Riley should return to the player he was from 2021-23.
Like Riley, Isaac Paredes missed a big chunk of the 2025 season after suffering a hamstring injury on July 19. Though he rushed back to try to help Houston make the postseason, he was 50% – at best – during the final two weeks of the season as he struggled at the plate. Before the injury, Paredes was slashing .259/.359/.470 with 19 homers and 50 RBI in 94 games. That equals a 33 homer, 86 RBI season over 162 games. Paredes is built for Daikin Park and its short left field, so he should easily be close to reaching the numbers he had in 2023 with the Rays, when he hit 31 homers and had 98 RBI.
The only question concerning Paredes is how much playing time at third will he get in 2026 with Carlos Correa now manning the hot corner. I’m certain he should get enough starts at third to remain eligible at that spot while also picking up plenty of starts at first base as well as second base, giving him even more value.
Injuries limited Jordan Westburg to only 85 games, but in those games he hit 17 dingers and drove in 41 runs while slashing .265/.313/.457. The question for Westburg is the same one concerning a lot of players – will he remain third base eligible beyond 2026? He has played a lot of games at second as well as third, but third is his likely primary position moving forward with Jackson Holliday at second and Gunnar Henderson at short. Or could it be Henderson at third, Holliday at short and Westburg at second? Knowing the Orioles, Westburg will continue to get time at both spots, making him a very good player at either of those two positions.
Continuing To Produce
As you may have notice, this tier isn’t exactly full of young players as there are four players 30 or older. But these older players are still at the top of their games and are still among the 10 best hitting third basemen. I already highlighted Suarez. Two of the other Oldies but Goodies are Alex Bregman and Manny Machado.
Bregman had a resurgent season in Boston as he slashed .273/.360/.462 with a 128 OPS+, his best overall slash line and OPS+ since 2019, when he finished second in the AL MVP voting. While he did miss 48 games, in the 114 games he did play he hit 18 homers and drove in 62 runs. Bregman also struggled down the stretch for the Red Sox as he slashed .250/341/.386 over his final 61 games with seven home runs and 27 RBI. I almost moved him down in the rankings because of that, but his overall performance and his overall career still make him a top 5 third baseman.
Machado is just a consistent machine at the plate for the Padres. Since 2021 he has hit 28, 32, 30, 29 and 27 homers and driven in 106, 102, 91, 105 and 95 runs. His OPS+ has been 131, 157, 113, 120 and 118. Those are pretty consistent numbers to go with an overall slash line of .277/.339/.483 during that span with an OPS+ of 127. Additionally, in four of the last five seasons he has appeared in at least 150 games, with the 2023 season being the only blip when he played in 138 games.
Perfect Fit In The Bronx
Jazz Chisholm Jr. has always had amazing talent. He showed that off while with the Marlins before being traded to the Yankees in 2024. During his first three full seasons in Miami, Chisholm averaged 17 homers, 50 RBI and 19 steals in 94 games per season. Translated to a 162-game season and those numbers are 29-86-33. In 2024 Chisholm played in 147 games, and his numbers were 24 homers, 73 RBI and 43 steals.
In his 46 games with New York in 2024, Chisholm was outstanding as he slashed .273/.325/.500 with 11 dingers, 23 RBI and 18 steals. Given a full season in a Yankees uniform in 2025, he hit 31 homers, drove in 80 and swiped 31 bases. Adding to Chisholm’s value is the fact he can also be slotted in at second base, where I have him ranked first at that position. No matter where he is on the field, Chisholm is an outstanding talent.
If He Was Younger…
The only reason Jose Ramirez isn’t my top-ranked third baseman is because he is 33 years old. There is really no other reason why he wouldn’t otherwise be ranked first at this position. Ramirez is coming off a season in which he hit 30 homers, drove in 85 runs, stole 44 bases, scored 103 runs and slashed .283/.360/.503 with a 137 OPS+. He has slugged .503 or better in five of the last six seasons and has topped 40 steals in each of the last two years. He has finished 10th or better in the MVP voting since 2020, placing third this past season.
…But He’s Not
Junior Caminero takes the top ranking because he is a stud now, will be a stud for years to come, and because he is 22 and not 33 like Ramirez. The Rays third baseman had an amazing season, slashing .364/.311/.535 with 45 home runs and 110 RBI. Was he helped by the fact half of his games were played in a minor league park? Yes and No. The yes part is his home-road slash line. At home he slashed .313/.358/.595 while he slashed .218/.266/.477 on the road. But that is the only significant difference in his home-road splits. At home he hit 22 homers. On the road he hit 23. At home he had 54 RBI. On the road he had 56 RBI.
And as the season progressed, Caminero got better. In the first half, covering 91 games, he slashed .252/.292/.499 with 23 homers and 60 RBI. In 63 second half games, those numbers are .282/.338/.588 with 22 dingers and 50 RBI. His walk rate also increased (5.5% to 7.4%) while his strikeout rate decreased (20.3% to 17.4%). A 22-year-old player who only got better as the season progressed.
Thank You
Thanks for reading and come back next week when we continue our trip around the infield and put on a spotlight on the Left Fielders.
Previous Rankings
Top 50 Dynasty Relievers for 2026 Fantasy Baseball
Top 100 Dynasty Starting Pitchers for 2026 Fantasy Baseball
Top 50 Dynasty Catchers for 2026 Fantasy Baseball
Top 50 Dynasty First Basemen for 2026 Fantasy Baseball
Top 50 Dynasty Second Basemen for 2026 Fantasy Baseball
Top 50 Dynasty Shortstops for 2026 Fantasy Baseball
Is Jordan Lawlar destined to be the 3B this year? Where would he rank if he was on the list?