Fantasy Baseball On-Deck The Hot Corner - Third Basemen 2005
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Fantasy Sports Home Fantasy Baseball On-Deck The Hot Corner - Third Basemen 2005
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The Hot Corner - Third Basemen 2005
February 18, 2005
by Chris Wang - edited by James Meyerriecks
Chris is currently on the PUP list, so I'm taking a little detour from The Hook to help him out for the next two weeks or so. He'd gotten started on this week's column, so we'll just finish it up for him. I'll leave the outfielders for him in the next couple of weeks, and will come up wtih something for next week's edition of On Deck within the next week. Overview After a short run in the past few years when many didn't consider the position that deep, Third Base figures to be a gold mine this season that will produce as many as seven legitimate players selected by the end of the fifth round in most drafts. The perrenial top pick in fantasy baseball over the past few seasons will now only be eligible at third, while the NL provided us with two players that finished in the top five in MVP voting last season. The hot corner can go ten deep with any other position in the league, though there is a bit of a dropoff once you get beyond the top ten. Keep the depth at third in mind when someone's trying to drive up the price on Hank Blalock or Adrian Beltre in your auction, but make sure that you go the extra mile if all of the other top guys are gone. All of the top ten will provide you with some pretty good power, and most will sprinkle in some stolen base production as well. The big myth this preseason is that Alex Rodriguez won't run as much as he did last year, but don't believe that hype. Joe Torre has always played much more small ball than people give him credit for in New York (did anyone notice the similar dropoff in Alfonso Soriano's stolen base production? 41 in 2002, 35 in 2003, 18 in 2004 when he left The Big Apple) and A-Rod is one of just three players to ever achieve a 40-40 season. Rounds are figured on a basic twelve team standard 5X5 league If you're looking for auction values and/or player rankings, please go to the player rankings page. 
1st-3rd Round Alex Rodriguez, Adrian Beltre, Scott Rolen, Hank Blalock 4th-6th Round Aubrey Huff, Eric Chavez, Aramis Ramirez 7th-10th Round Melvin Mora, Mike Lowell, Chipper Jones, Carlos Guillen, Chone Figgins, David Wright 11th-16th Round Troy Glaus, Corey Koskie, Casey Blake, Aaron Boone 17th-23rd Round Pedro Feliz, Juan Uribe, Mark Bellhorn, Mike Cuddyer, Ryan Freel, Brandon Inge, Bill Mueller, Vinny Castilla Scarcely Standing  While third base has a lot of dominant stars atop the ranks, it's also often home to some players who will help you more at other positions. These are a few of the players who will qualify at third, but are more useful elsewhere on the fantasy diamond. Michael Cuddyer played 43 games at third base for the Twins last season and 15 games in the outfield. His value, however, will come at this season's scarcest position, second base, where he played 48 games in place of an injured and ineffective Luis Rivas. Cuddyer was originally drafted as a 3b by the Twins, though they had eventually moved him to the outfield. He was a big power prospect into the minors, but had a lot of trouble translating that to the big leagues until last season. He finally started to blossom a bit in 2004, cranking 12 homers in just 339 at bats. With his biggest obstacle (Corey Koskie) now up in Toronto, Cuddyer should finally be able to get over 500 at bats, which could translate into a breakout 25 homer season with 80+ RBI. Brandon Inge covered just about every position on the diamond for the Tigers last season, though his value will be primarily as a catcher. More importantly, Inge finally discovered that he's supposed to do something when he has the bat in his hands. His numbers won't blow you away, and certainly aren't worthy of a starting fantasy 3b, but he will probably be the starter at 3b in Detroit now that Eric Munson is gone. Inge, who had barely hit above the Mendoza line in 2002 and 2003, crushed the ball (by his standards) in 2004, batting .287 with 13 dingers and 64 RBI. Pedro Feliz continues to force the Giants to put his bat in the lineup more and more every season. Unfortunately, they can never seem to just find a regular spot for him on the diamond. Feliz will qualify this season at 3b and SS, and he'll be an above-average fantasy producer at either of the two positions. With Omar Vizquel now in the loop, he probably won't see much time at SS, but that's not something you really need to worry about unless you plan on using him there in 2006. Pedro's bat will force Felipe Alou to give him at least 70 starts at 1b and 50 starts at 3b. If he can manage to squeeze the 500 at bats he got last year out of the Giants again, those 22 homers and 84 RBI should become the norm. Old Faces, New Places  In perhaps the biggest preseason fantasy dropoff for the previous season's NL RBI champ ever, Vinny Castilla's prospective owners are running from him like he's chasing them with a butcher's knife. Castilla will see a major dropoff from the 35 HR/131 RBI season that he had a year ago, but he should at least approach his more realistic "non-Coors-inflated" 25 HR/80 RBI season yet again. He's a borderline starter in mixed leagues, though he's solid in deep or NL-Only leagues. There's no denying that Troy Glaus has great raw power - he hit 88 homers in 00-01. However, he needs to find a way to shake the injury-prone label he's received in the past two seasons. After playing in at least 154 games in each season from 1999-2002, Glaus has managed to keep his potent bat in the lineup for just 149 in the past two seasons.... combined. Even if he does remain in the Diamondbacks' lineup all season, he strikes out far too often to be considered a top option at such a deep position. Glaus' contact problems have led to season-ending batting averages that have ranged from .248 to .251 for the past four seasons, so those 600 at bats you're praying he'll get for his power will hurt you somewhere else if he gets them. That said, he's a lock for 30 homers and 100 RBI if he gets over 500 at bats, so he's a legitimate starter even in shallow leagues. Corey Koskie changes his landscape moving up north to Canada. Despite playinng in just 118 games last year, he hit .251/.342/.495 with 25 homers, 71 RBI and 9 steals. When he's in the lineup he's a solid producer, unfortunately the chances of him playing 140+ games is about as likely as President Bush following through on his education campaign promises (who needs a brain when you have bombs). Unless Eric Hinske and Orlando Hudson suddenly find some bats to help protect Koskie in the lineup, he'll have to depend on Vernon Wells as his only serious lineup support, so expect a bit of a dropoff. Technically, Aaron Boone was a member of the Cleveland Indians last year, but who am I kidding? Boone, whose last at bat ruined Red Sox Nation's hopes back in 2003, missed all of last season after tearing an ACL in a pickup basketball game. Eventually, the Yankees voided his contract, but the Tribe made a saavy move by picking him up and stashing him away for the future. Boone had become a consistent 20/20 guy with the Reds and Yankees in 2002 and 2003, and should be able to put up about 20 dingers again in Cleveland this season. It should be interesting, however, to see how much he runs in his first season after knee surgery. Immediate Impact 
David Wright probably isn't ready to have that .300/30/100 season that should eventually become the norm for him, but he showed last season that it's not going to take him too long to translate his minor league success into an All-Star appearance or five down the road. Wright struggled a little when he first got the call, but settled in nicely last season, finishing with a .283 average, 14 homers, and 40 RBI in just 263 at bats on a terrible offensive ballclub. With a healthy Jose Reyes and freshly imported Carlos Beltran now bulking up the lineup surrounding Wright, expect him to be worthy of a top ten selection at the position next year. With the depth at third, he's not there yet. The Angels knew what they were doing when they let Troy Glaus go, as Dallas McPherson should develop into Troy Glaus with average-hitting skills. McPherson's biggest problem early on in his career is the same as Glaus'.... strikeouts. He had an awful strikeout rate going when he received his first call-up in September (17 in 40 ABs), but he did still manage to hit three round-trippers. In fact, McPherson was so good in the minors last season (.317, 40 homers, 126 RBI) that some publications had him as the Minor League Player of the Year. The 23-year-old is headed for stardom, and should bat seventh in a powerful Angels lineup. Expect .260-20-70 out of him this year. Those numbers will start to improve in 2006. If you want more info on a specific player that I didn't go into or if you have any questions, comments or suggestions about this column, please use the comments section below or feel free to e-mail me at cwang@fantasyinfocentral.com. |
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