Top 20 3rd Basemen for 2025 Fantasy Baseball, A Recap

And we’ve reached our final top 20 recap for the infield. You’ll never guess where we go next. Did you just say outfield? Okay, so you’re a good guesser. 3rd base was the shallowest position. Yes, worse than the catchers. I know, I was shocked when I went over them, and guess what? Still shocked! VinWins did a positional comparison, and here’s what we have:

SS: 593 AB/163 H/93 R/22 HR/81 RBI/27 SB/.275
2B: 539 AB/143 H/80 R/20 HR/74 RBI/16 SB/.266
1B: 570 AB/159 H/85 R/29 HR/97 RBI/6 SB/.278
C: 498 AB/130 H/70 R/26 HR/79 RBI/5 SB/.260

Shortstops were solid. No question there. 2nd basemen? Not great, but Ernie Clement was 20th there, and 12th here. Pretty pathetic for 3rd basemen. 1st basemen? Much better, and Lenyn Sosa was 20th for 1st basemen, he’s 8th here. Cringe. Catchers? The 16th best catcher (Realmuto) was worth $4.70, 16th best 3rd baseman? $2.3 (Durbin) and he’s the last guy here above a dollar in value. Pathetic. If I had to rank the infield from least to best: 3B, Catchers, 2B, 1B, SS. This is the first time a position other than catchers is the shallowest (that I recall). To recap my recap before the recap, this final ranking is from our Fantasy Baseball Player Rater with my comments. This is not for next year. Anyway, here’s the top 20 3rd basemen for 2025 fantasy baseball and how they compare to where I originally ranked them:

1. Jose Ramirez – No one really cares about steals when judging real baseball players, but one thing I never hear about is how steals numbers no longer mean anything. JoJoRam’s steals from just before pitch clock to now: 20, 28, 41, 44. Stupid. Rickey Henderson would’ve stole 200 bags with the pitch clock. Any hoo! Jose is the best 3rd baseman and was ranked first for 3rd basemen in the preseason and is still underrated! Preseason Rank #1, 2025 Projections: 103/36/111/.276/28 in 604 ABs, Final Numbers: 103/30/85/.283/44 in 593 ABs

2. Junior Caminero – If I were Caminero, I would show up at Big Stein Stadium next year and refuse to play back in the Trop. Okay, that is kinda unfair. He’s likely a 32-35 homer guy in a MLB park, just maybe not easy 45 homers. Hilariously, if he called Bing Bong home? He would’ve hit 51 homers. Oh, and because I think I forgot to do it when it was time, Cal Raleigh would’ve had 69 homers in SacTown. Nice. Preseason Rank #9, 2025 Projections:  82/28/88/.264/7 in 572 ABs, Final Numbers: 93/45/110/.264/7 in 602 ABs

3. Eugenio Suarez – He was on a historic run before being shipped to Seattle and being overshadowed by Cal. That shadow looks like a giant peach. Weird. It also didn’t help Suarez that he can’t hit well in the park he calls home. A small caveat! Look at me, I’m an Eugenius. Eugenio reminds me of a low-rent Adrian Beltre. Don’t touch his head! I say that because Beltre quietly put together a bunch of solid years which ended up equalling a lot of stats. Suarez will end up with 400+ homers, barring a catastrophe (or more years in Seattle), and I don’t think anyone expected that a few years ago. Preseason Rank #18, 2025 Projections: 74/27/88/.231/2 in 539 ABs, Final Numbers: 91/49/118/.228/4 in 588 ABs

4. Rafael Devers – Already went over him in the top 20 1st basemen for 2025 fantasy baseball.

5. Manny Machado – The bar is so low for this position that I see Machado doing what he’s supposed to do, and he brings me great joy. Is 27/14 a statline for great joy? Well, it’s basically Willy Adames. (Yes, Manny’s average is much better.) Preseason Rank #5, 2025 Projections: 71/31/108/.272/10 in 581 ABs, Final Numbers: 91/27/95/.275/14 in 615 ABs

6. Jazz Chisholm Jr. – See his recap at the top 20 2nd basemen for 2025 fantasy baseball.

7. Maikel Garcia – See his recap at the top 20 2nd basemen for 2025 fantasy baseball.

8. Lenyn Sosa – Already went over him in the top 20 1st basemen for 2025 fantasy baseball.

9. Matt Chapman – He had a Naylor 27 season in 2024, and showed up in 2025 with his best impression of Matt Chapman every other year. Preseason Rank #15, 2025 Projections: 81/25/86/.242/7 in 527 ABs, Final Numbers: 76/21/61/.231/9 in 454 ABs

10. Addison Barger – An actual bright spot in the 3rd basemen! Yes, a guy who hit 21 homers with zero speed is a bright spot. What do you want me to tell you, it’s not a great position. Preseason Unranked, Final Numbers: 61/21/74/.243/4 in 460 ABs

11. Zach McKinstry – Kinda wild the 11th best 3rd baseman was a guy who I remember in the postseason being introduced as, “He has eleven hitless games in his last 14.” 3rd basemen are defined by two attributes: A guy you didn’t want on your team who got a lot of ABs (McKinstry) or a guy who you wanted who didn’t get enough ABs (Barger, Caballero). Preseason Unranked, Final Numbers: 68/12/49/.259/19 in 452 ABs

12. Ernie Clement – See his recap at the top 20 2nd basemen for 2025 fantasy baseball.

13. Alex Bregman – The 13th best 3rd baseman is also the last guy on this list I can defend holding all year (yes, even while on IL) in mixed fantasy leagues. 3rd basemen are vomit. As for Bregman, give him 571 ABs, as I projected him for, and he’s basically right in line with what you’d expect. Preseason Rank #10, 2025 Projections: 92/25/81/.282/5 in 571 ABs, Final Numbers: 64/18/62/.273/1 in 433 ABs

14. Jose Caballero – So, my Bregman blurb — Blurbman — means I can’t make the case that Caballero should’ve been rostered all year? That’s right. He shouldn’t have. He wasn’t even a starter for the whole year. I could see holding him if you needed steals. Though, SAGNOF is great and all but very hard to justify starting him every day when he wasn’t playing and you were hoping he’d come into the later innings and steal a bag or two. Preseason Rank #34, 2025 Projections: 36/6/31/.220/32 in 341 ABs, Final Numbers: 52/5/36/.236/49 in 314 ABs

15. Miguel Vargas – Some of these preseason ranks are way off, but it’s kinda like catchers in this respect: When a player’s ranking can change based on one hot week because no one is good, then rankings will change dramatically on swings, literally. For unstints, look at Caballero’s projections vs. end of year numbers and look at the huge difference in ranking. Preseason Rank #48, 2025 Projections: 51/12/56/.206/10 in 476 BAs, Final Numbers: 80/16/60/.234/6 in 504 ABs

16. Caleb Durbin – Not really sure how to explain guys who have no business stealing bags getting 30, and guys like Durbin not cracking 20. I guess rookies just not being comfortable with running or being allowed to run is one explanation. I don’t know if that’s accurate, it’s merely a guess. If Durbin steals 40+ bags in 2026, then I guess we’ll know. Preseason Rank #42 for 2B, 2025 Projections: 41/8/40/.271/15 in 302 ABs, Final Numbers: 60/11/53/.256/18 in 445 ABs

17. Max Muncy – He’s the 17th best 3rd baseman and he barely played four months, and was a two category guy even when he did. Super sad, 3rd basemen. Preseason Rank #27, 2025 Projections: 51/20/54/.206/1 in 397 ABs, Final Numbers: 48/19/67/.243/4 in 313 ABs

18. Alec Bohm – He’s a 11-homer, .280 hitter with zero speed. This position is giving me the gee-dee yawns! Preseason Rank #16, 2025 Projections: 72/18/92/.282/5 in 550 ABs, Final Numbers: 53/11/59/.287/2 in 464 ABs

19. Carlos Correa – He’s ranked 279th overall (and Baty’s at 281). Right in from of them is Nolan Schanuel — the 32nd best 1st baseman! — and Adrian Houser — the 74th best starter! Ha! Preseason Rank #25 for SS, 2025 Projections: 64/17/52/.276 in 456 ABs, Final Numbers: 63/13/52/.276 in 537 ABs

20. Brett Baty – That he made the top 20 3rd baseman isn’t even a positive. I’m sorry. If you can’t make the top 20 3rd basemen, do you even have 3rd base eligibility? Preseason Rank #45, 2025 Projections: 37/12/46/.234/2 in 302 ABs, Final Numbers: 53/18/50/.254/8 in 393 ABs