Let's Look At Depth At: Third Base

[Tom Kessenich]

Let's continue our look at each position for the upcoming 2010 season by profiling third basemen. In our just completed Fanball Just Cheat Sheets Magazine, 10 different writers ranked their Top 60 players at each position. The editors then created a grid with all of these rankings by position and created an ADP. Here's a look at the Top 15:



Third Base

Name, Avg Pick by Fanball, High, Low

1. Alex Rodriguez 1, 1, 1, 1

2. Evan Longoria 2.8, 3, 2, 4

3. David Wright 2.9, 2, 6

4. Mark Reynolds 4.8, 4.5, 3, 8

5. Pablo Sandoval 5.4, 5, 4, 7

6. Kevin Youkilis 5.8, 6, 2, 9

7. Ryan Zimmerman 6.4, 6, 4, 12

8. Aramis Ramirez 8.6, 8, 5, 12

9. Chone Figgins 9.7, 9, 8, 14

10. Michael Young 9.7, 9.5, 8, 13

11. Jorge Cantu 11.3, 11.5, 7, 15

12. Gordon Beckham 11.5, 12, 8, 14

13. Chipper Jones 12.8, 13, 10, 16

14. Ian Stewart 14.8, 25, 11, 20

15. Martin Prado 15.8, 16, 10, 20



This is arguably the strongest position in fantasy this season. There is depth and plenty of quality starters for Mixed League participants. Even if you don't land a stud like A-Rod or Longoria, there's no reason to fret because you can standouts like Reynolds, Sandoval and Youkilis later.



Perhaps the biggest question mark at the position is David Wright. He lost his power in the shift to Citifield last season and based on his current ADP, it's clear most owners seem to think he'll regain it. I'm not so sure. He altered his swing to adapt to his new stadium and I'm not sure he alters it back for fear of losing out on the .300-plus production he displayed last season. He's going too high for my taste in preseason drafts.



I really like Chone Figgins as a starter here if you've loaded up on some power early. With an ADP of around 67, you can get a couple of stud power hitters early and then grab him in the fifth round of an NFBC draft. I love that spot for him. I'm also big on Jorge Cantu as a CI option. He's the like the new (pre-2009) Raul Ibanez. Nobody talks him up, but all he does is put up real nice numbers.



The biggest drop-off is Chipper Jones. Age is catching up to him and he's no longer a top 3B option. However, his ADP is dropping so far I think he could end up being a nice value pick. You just can't expect him to return to his prior level of production.



So what says all of you about the third base position in 2010?