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 fifteen 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 Mark Reynolds 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. Anyway, here’s the top 20 3rd basemen for 2013 fantasy baseball and how they compare to where I originally ranked them:
1. Miguel Cabrera – Miggy was the only player to score $40+ on the year and one of six guys to score more than $30. So, think back to your draft and all of those players that were going for $30 or more or the one stunod who went to $50 on a player. Okay, now think back to your first day of kindergarten. Okay, now think back to the smell in the room. You smell carrots and doodie? Sorry, I just hypnotized you. You’re too easy. So, Miggy was the only player worth the $40 bid, and as I’ve been known to preach in the past, you really shouldn’t go over $30 on anyone. (That’s outside of keepers where more money is available for less players.) Miggy once again competed for the Triple Crown while wishing it was Crown Royal. If it wasn’t for Chris Davis, he would’ve taken it easily. Stupid Chris Davis, ruining baseball history. Preseason Rank #1, 2013 Projections: 110/39/124/.327/3, Final Numbers: 103/44/137/.348/3
2. Edwin Encarnacion – Went over him in the top 20 1st basemen post.
3. Adrian Beltre – As I went over during the season ad nauseam, I traded for Beltre after his terrible April. His stats for me: 71/24/76/.331/1 in 507 ABs. His stats for the other guy: 15/4/13/.241 in 112 ABs. Classic buy low, sell high, which is different than when you stand outside of the supermarket selling pickles. That’s a Vlassic buy low, sell high. For Beltre, I traded Shin-Soo Choo. His stats for me 25/5/13/.331/3 in 118 ABs. His stats for him: 82/16/41/.273/17 in 451 ABs. Yup, I got a .331 average from both of them. How you like dem apples? Delicious! Preseason Rank #3, 2013 Projections: 82/28/103/.281/2, Final Numbers: 88/30/92/.315/1
4. Matt Carpenter – Went over him in the top 20 1st basemen post.
5. Josh Donaldson – Here’s what I said in the preseason, “He couldn’t even stick with the A’s (in 2012), hitting .153 through his first 28 games. From April to June, he had one walk. He couldn’t hit the ball even if he was swinging with his dad Sam Donaldson’s eyebrows. When he returned, he looked like a new man, hitting .290 with 8 homers in 176 2nd half ABs. His September (4 homers, .257 in 101 ABs) looks repeatable. Unfortunately, I’m not convinced his April through June aren’t repeatable, as well.” And that’s me quoting me! He proved he could build on his respectable 2nd half of 2012 and defied my expectations for the entire year. Now that I have some distance from hating him all year for defying me, I see his walk and strikeout rates were decent and his homers per fly ball ratio wasn’t egregiously lucky. He looks more like a 20+ homer, .280 hitter than I gave him credit for. Mea culpa. Now that I’ve made amends he’s surely going to fall on his face next year and don’t call me Shirley. Preseason Rank #30, 2013 Projections: 58/16/68/.258/4, Final Numbers: 89/24/93/.301/5
6. Evan Longoria – It took Longoria to the last day of the season, game number 163, to match my home run projection. It took the Rays playing an extra game, a tiebreaker. But he got there. He got there because in March I knew the Rangers and Rays would play an extra game with Longo hitting his 32nd homer. I’m a witch, y’all! Preseason Rank #2, 2013 Projections: 89/32/107/.283/5, Final Numbers: 91/32/88/.269/1
7. Ryan Zimmerman – Due to the entire Nats offense minus Werth not playing until September, Zimmerman’s RBIs were down, but everything else was fine. This was far from a successful season though, since he was one of the biggest jockstuffers with a Septacular final month. If you owned Zimmerman, you were probably either out of it by September when he decided to hit 11 homers or you dropped him and helped someone else win. Either way, there’s no love lost for Zimmerman from me or anyone who has owned him the last three years. Or there’s lots of love lost. I never understood that cliche. Preseason Rank #4, 2013 Projections: 88/27/108/.293/6, Final Numbers: 84/26/79/.275/6
8. Pedro Alvarez – I can’t help thinking Pedro and Chris Davis can meet somewhere in the middle next year like Malcolm and Monie. Pedro from Pittsburgh takes quite a few less walks than Chris Davis. Their line drives aren’t that far off, their ground balls and fly balls have sizable differences and the amount of pitches they both swing at outside the strike zone is nearly identical. Does any of this mean anything? Am I hiding my skepticism in a long string of thoughts that most won’t read? Probably. But Preseason Rank #13, 2013 Projections: 60/27/81/.245/1, Final Numbers: 70/36/100/.233/2
9. Hanley Ramirez – Went over him in the top 20 shortstops post.
10. David Wright – You know you have a problem when you have third basemen in the top 10 who have middle infielder-type stats. Wright’s 18/17 is great for a middle infielder or for Wade Boggs’s vision. From your 3rd baseman? Meh. Since Wright did it in 112 games, you could give him a bye, but he’s been hurt two of the last three years and the only bye I wanna give him is with a wave of my hand. BAM! In robot voice, “Clever points rating off the chart. Hard to compute how clever Grey is.” Preseason Rank #5, 2013 Projections: 88/24/102/.286/15, Final Numbers: 63/18/58/.307/17
11. Kyle Seager – From 2012 to 2013, Seager was the steadiest* player. Giving virtually the same stats in both years — 20 to 22 HRs; 13 steals to 9; .259 to .260. *Sample size to figure out the steadiest player was one player — Kyle Seager. Also, what the hell does steadiest mean? He’d make a good waiter? Preseason Rank #18, 2013 Projections: 69/18/85/.264/11, Final Numbers: 79/22/69/.260/9
12. Manny Machado – You can just look at my mentions of him in roundups as the season progressed to see how his season went. In the first half, .310 vs. .240 in the 2nd half. Also, he had zero steals in the 2nd half after getting 6 in the 1st. Could mean his legs got tired after his first full season in the majors. Could mean he doesn’t like you. Hey, don’t shoot the messenger. Preseason Rank #12, 2013 Projections: 72/19/81/.274/12, Final Numbers: 88/14/71.283/6
13. Martin Prado – Went over him in the top 20 2nd basemen post.
14. Jedd Gyorko – Went over him in the top 20 2nd basemen post.
15. Chris Johnson – Came up just short of winning the boringest Braves batting title since Terry Pendleton. He gets points for courage since Pendleton didn’t want him even attempting to win that title. Preseason Rank #27, 2013 Projections: 44/13/48/.274/4, Final Numbers: 54/12/68/.321
16. Todd Frazier – We all know he didn’t live up to the hype I heaped on him in the preseason, but, in all fairness to me, he was unlucky and really seemed to start to piece together things in the 2nd half. Make you feel better? No? How about now? *rubs shoulders* You like Frazier more now? Yeah, you do. Preseason Rank #9, 2013 Projections: 72/29/89/.268/5, Final Numbers: 63/19/73/.234/6
17. Pablo Sandoval – In my mind’s eye, I could’ve sworn I predicted Pablo would be lousy again this year. My mind’s eye is clouded by years of marijuana and forty ounces of malt liquor. Preseason Rank #6, 2013 Projections: 84/25/90/.289/3, Final Numbers: 52/14/79/.278
18. Matt Dominguez – He was unranked, but I did mention him. He was a punchline for a guy to not draft. Who’s the punchline now?! You? I was speaking rhetorically, Random Italicized Voice. You say tomato, I say stupid. Thanks. You’re welcome. Leave me alone! Any the hoo! Dominguez really wasn’t someone you were drafting in most mixed leagues, or owning for the better of the year. He did passable as a corner infidel for stretches of the season. Those stretches of the season where you couldn’t find anyo0ne else. Preseason Unranked, Final Numbers: 56/21/77/.241
19. Mark Reynolds – Behind door number one is, “How sad is it that Mark Reynolds is in the top 20?” Behind door number 2 is, “Twenty homers gets you in the top 20.” Behind door number three is, “There is no door number three.” So which door do you choose? Did I do that ‘behind door number’ thing wrong? You’re not supposed to know what’s behind the doors, are you? Hmm, okay, what door do you choose if you don’t know what’s behind the doors? Preseason Rank #20, 2013 Projections: 79/29/88/.226/6, Final Numbers: 55/21/67/.220/3
20. Mike Aviles – Went over him in the top 20 2nd basemen post.
