Here's the Thing About 3B....

[DOUGHBOYS]

Guess how many third basemen have hit 20 homers this year....go ahead, guess.
While you're searching your brain, I'll keep writing.....
If thinking Miggy or Encarnacion. they don't count, they haven't played 20 games there this year. I'm speaking of 3B-eligible players for next year only.
If thinking Beltre, Longoria, or Wright, all second round picks last year, don't bother. They don't have 20.
Neither do Pedro Alvarez, Mike Moustakas, Nolan Arenado, or Aramis Ramirez.

Third base is considered a power position. Well at least, it was.
Now, fellas like Matt Carpenter, Juan Uribe, David Freese, Martin Prado, Chris Johnson and others like them, man this position.
And may I say from a fantasy perspective, I kinda wanna puke.

Two players, Anthony Rendon and Brett Lawrie will have 2b/3b eligibility next year. Both will probably be used at 3b more than 2b because 3b is as deep as thought from a Kardashian.
By the way, Lawrie had 259 at bats this year and never stole a base. He's a fantasy curmudgeon. Athletic enough to move to 2b. Throws himself around the field to get hurt. Yet, can't steal a friggin base. I'd rather draft Peter Lawrie.
At the same time, don't get head-up about Nick Castellanos at 3B.
By the end of the year, he'll have around the same number of homers as Lawrie.....with TWICE the at bats!
Up until now, Martin Prado was drafted in single digit rounds because of his Zobristness.
Next year, Prado and his 10 homers and three stolen bases only qualify at third base.
Don't worry, those that love Prado's non-filling stats and utility. He is one game from 2B eligibility and eight from being OF eligible too.
Brock Holt will have 3B/OF positionality. For all the media rave of Holt, he has all the earmarks of a teammate.
Daniel Nava.

On a good news, bad news note, one of the third baseman that DID hit 20 homers this year, is new to the position.
Carlos Santana and his Adam Dunn approach to hitting has 25 homers. He also has a Dunn-like 100 walks and .230 batting average.
Gaining 3b eligibility is the good news for those that like Santana. The bad news, or 'evil ways' twist, is that Santana loses his C eligibility.

Alright, you've had enough time to think. Here are the 3b eligible players for next year with at least 20 homers.
Donaldson-26
Frasier-25
Santana-25
Seager-23
Reynolds-21
Yuck.
That sound you just heard was Eddie Mathews rolling over in his grave.
None of these fella look bound for the first two rounds of any draft. Reynolds is a slug, more than slugger. And the others, if outfielders, would not be a thought at an early stage of any draft.

We're used to power at third base. But, it is not just 3b.
Only 43 players have at least 20 homers. Here is the breakdown of the positionality for them.....
14 OF
13 1B
1 1B/OF
3 1B/3B
2 U
2 3B
4 C
3 SS
1 2B

Remember when we use to say that this middle infielder or that middle infielder would go 20/20?
Now, they barely go 20.
Brian Dozier has a 20/20 exactly. But, he quit there. His last hr or sb came on August 20.

Last year, 70 players hit 20 homers.
And to be fair, this year is not over. We still have 20 days left in the season.
And to be further fair, positionality may further change. It should in the next couple of days for Chris Davis, who becomes 1B/3B eligible with one more game at 3B.
It won't for others like Miggy who will stay just 1B eligible.
And with 17 total 1B players having 20 homers or more, I'm betting that Miggy moves off the second Overall pick a lot more this coming year. Miggy having 3B eligibility would have been a boon for him next year.

Allow me to pick on one third baseman before leaving. Drafters continue to overdraft this guy. I think it is because they WANT him to succeed. He's an All-American type guy with an All-American type personality.
But, that does not translate to fantasy.
They've moved in fences for him.
He's on the wrong side of 30...he'll be 32 this year.
He's only hit 20 homers once during the last four years.
And yet, gets taken in the second round every year.
His name is David Wright.

Wright has eight homers this year. Over the last four years, Wright has had 14, 21, 18, and 8 homers.
In the past, drafters could count on sb's from Wright. This year, he is an 8/8 guy.
And that is with 535 at bats.
I love David Wright.
He plays the game the right way. Does everything off the field in the right way. If anybody is going to carry the Derek Jeter torch, it'll be David Wright.
But, we're a fantasy group.
And here's the thing....
We wonder whether Adrian Beltre or Victor Martinez or Nelson Cruz had career years with the help of PED's.
And if we own them, we don't care.
If they don't get caught, it is good for our fantasy teams and we don't know whether they did or didn't.
What we do know, is that the chances of David Wright getting help from external sources is slim.
We can't really expect a late career year from Wright. Before steroids and PED's, we expected late career years from nobody.
It's a catch-22 for us.
We revere Wright, but other fantasy owners are probably reaping rewards from lesser men.
We all want David Wright to succeed. I don't know of no man or beast that roots against Wright.
But in this fantasy day and age, a fellow like Wright, who does everything right, should be under drafted for his sportsmanship, not over drafted.
Sad, but true.

Oh, and that reminds me....ARod comes back next year.
Somebody said that it would 'take balls' for him to cheat again.
So wrong.
It doesn't take 'balls' at all.
He and others weigh these facts before deciding.
1. Will I get away with it....
2. How much will it help me...
3. Can I benefit more financially...
These are the same things a bank robber thinks about before robbing a bank.
It really doesn't take 'balls'.
It just takes a person who is willing to break rules.

[Raskol]

This bears all the signs of someone desperately trying to prepare for the Premature draft!!

Seriously, the fall off in power and batting average across the league has me leaning towards making some strange picks in the early rounds.....

[Bronx Yankees]

Good stuff, Dan. As someone who fell into Wright (or wrong) trap for two teams, I couldn't agree with you more. I was expecting 15-20 HR and 15-20 SB with about 80-90 runs and RBI and a plus batting average. Zero for five on that one, although he has played hurt for much of the season. To turn the tables for a minute, virtually everything you wrote about Wright, in a general sense, also would apply to Dustin Pedroia, who I don't think even is a Top Ten 2B in 2015. Sad how some of the mighty have fallen. It will be interesting to see some of the huge rankings changes between 2014 and 2015.

Mike

[DOUGHBOYS]

So agree, Mike.
I don't have Pedroia in my top 10 of 2B.
At this stage, I don't know if it is because I'm not happy with Pedroia since I had him on a few teams or because he is no longer truly a top 10 2B. Time will decide that for me.
One year of blaming injuries is forgivable, two is not...and that holds true for both Pedroia and Wright.
They'll be drafted next year by owners hoping for good health. Both have given me a lot to doubt.

[DOUGHBOYS]

This bears all the signs of someone desperately trying to prepare for the Premature draft!!

Seriously, the fall off in power and batting average across the league has me leaning towards making some strange picks in the early rounds.....

Not 'desperately' this year!
My teams have sucked so bad this year that it has given me more than ample time to prepare for the Pre-Mature!