And we’ve reached our final top 20 summary for the infield. You’ll never guess where we’re going. Did you just say outside area? Okay, so you can guess right. 3rd base was the shallowest position. Yes, worse than the catchers. I know, I was shocked when I looked at them, and guess what? Still shocked! VinWins did a positional comparison and this is what we got:
Stainless steel: 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
The shortstops were solid. No question there. 2nd basemen? Not great, but Ernie Clement came 20th there and 12th here. Pretty sad for the 3rd basemen. 1st basemen? Much better, and Lenyn Sosa was 20th for first basemen, he’s 8th here. Shrink. Catchers? The 16th best catcher (Realmuto) was worth $4.70, the 16th best 3rd baseman? $2.3 (Durbin) and he’s the last guy here over a dollar in value. Miserable. 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 has been the shallowest (that I remember). To recap my pre-recap recap, these final rankings are from our Fantasy Baseball Player Rater with my comments. This isn’t for next year. Anyway, here are the top 20 fantasy baseball third basemen of 2025 and how they compare to where I originally ranked them:
1. Jose Ramirez – No one really cares about steals when rating real baseball players, but one thing I never hear about is that steals numbers mean nothing anymore. JoJoRam’s steals from just before the pitch clock to now: 20, 28, 41, 44. Stupid. Rickey Henderson allegedly stole 200 bags with the field clock. Anyway! Jose is the best 3rd baseman and was ranked #1 for 3rd basemen in the preseason and is still underrated! Rank #1 Preseason, 2025 Projections: 103/36/111/.276/28 in 604 ABs, Final Figures: 103/30/85/.283/44 in 593 ABs
2. Junior Caminero – If I were Caminero, I would show up at the Big Stein Stadium next year and refuse to play at the Trop again. Okay, that’s kind of unfair. He’s probably a 32-35 homer guy in an MLB park, but maybe not an easy 45 homers. Hilarious, if he called Bing Bong home? He is said to have hit 51 home runs. Oh, and because I think I forgot to do it when it was time, Cal Raleigh would have had 69 home runs in SacTown. Nice. Preseason Rank #9, 2025 Projections: 82/28/88/.264/7 in 572 ABs, Final Figures: 93/45/110/.264/7 in 602 ABs
3. Eugenio Suarez – He had a historic run before being shipped off to Seattle and overshadowed by Cal. That shadow looks like a giant peach. Foreign. 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 cheap Adrian Beltre. Don’t touch his head! I say that because Beltre quietly put together some solid years that ultimately produced a lot of stats. Suarez will finish with over 400 home runs, barring some catastrophe (or more years in Seattle), and I don’t think anyone would have expected that a few years ago. Preseason Rank #18, 2025 Projections: 74/27/88/.231/2 in 539 ABs, Final Figures: 91/49/118/.228/4 in 588 ABs
4. Rafael Devers – He has already passed him into the top 20 first basemen for 2025 fantasy baseball.
5. Manny Machado – The bar is so low for this position that I see Machado doing what he has to do, and he brings me a lot of joy. Is 27/14 a statline for great joy? Well, it’s actually Willy Adames. (Yes, Manny’s average is much better.) Preseason Ranking #5, 2025 Projections: 71/31/108/.272/10 in 581 ABs, Final Figures: 91/27/95/.275/14 in 615 ABs
6. Jazz Chisholm Jr. – See his summary of the 20 best second basemen for fantasy baseball of 2025.
7. Michael Garcia – See his summary of the 20 best second basemen for fantasy baseball of 2025.
8. Sosa Island – He has already passed him into the top 20 first basemen for 2025 fantasy baseball.
9. Matt Chapman – He had a Naylor 27 season in 2024 and appeared every other year in 2025 with his best impression of Matt Chapman. Preseason Rank #15, 2025 Projections: 81/25/86/.242/7 in 527 ABs, Final Figures: 76/21/61/.231/9 in 454 ABs
10. Addison Barger – A real bright spot among the 3rd basemen! Yes, a guy who hit 21 home runs with no velocity 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 – A bit wildly, the 11th best 3rd baseman was a guy who I remember being introduced in the postseason as, “He has eleven hitless games in his last 14.” Third basemen are defined by two traits: a guy you didn’t want on your team who had a lot of ABs (McKinstry) or a guy you wanted and didn’t get enough ABs (Barger, Caballero). Preseason unranked, final numbers: 68/12/49/.259/19 in 452 ABs
12. Ernie Clemens – See his summary of the 20 best second basemen for fantasy baseball of 2025.
13. Alex Bregman – The 13th best 3rd baseman is also the last guy on this list that I can defend year-round (yes, even when I’m on IL) in mixed fantasy leagues. The 3rd basemen are throwing up. As for Bregman, give him 571 ABs, as I projected him to be, and he’s basically exactly what you’d expect. Preseason Rank #10, 2025 Projections: 92/25/81/.282/5 in 571 ABs, Final Figures: 64/18/62/.273/1 in 433 ABs
14. Jose Caballero – So my Bregman blurbman – means I can’t argue that Caballero should have been on the list all year? That’s right. He shouldn’t have done that. He wasn’t even a starter all year. I could see you holding it when you had to steal something. Although, SAGNOF is great and almost very hard to justify starting him every day when he wasn’t playing and you were hoping he would come in the later innings and steal a bag or two. Preseason Rank #34, 2025 Projections: 36/6/31/.220/32 in 341 ABs, Final Figures: 52/5/36/.236/49 in 314 ABs
15. Miguel Vargas – Some of these preseason rankings are way off, but in this regard it’s a bit like catchers: when a player’s ranking can change based on a hot week because no one is good, then the rankings will change dramatically on swings, literally. For unstints, look at Caballero’s projections against the year-end numbers and look at the huge difference in rankings. Preseason Rank #48, 2025 Projections: 51/12/56/.206/10 in 476 BAs, Final Figures: 80/16/60/.234/6 in 504 ABs
16. Caleb Durbin – I’m not sure how to explain guys who have nothing to do with stealing bags making it to 30, and guys like Durbin who don’t make it to 20. I think rookies just not feeling comfortable running or being allowed to run is one explanation. I don’t know if that’s correct, it’s just a guess. If Durbin steals more than 40 bags in 2026, we’ll know. Preseason Ranking #42 for 2B, 2025 Projections: 41/8/40/.271/15 in 302 ABs, Final Figures: 60/11/53/.256/18 in 445 ABs
17. Max Muncy – He is the 17th best 3rd baseman and he only played four months, and was a two-tier guy even when he did. Super sad, 3rd basemen. Preseason Rank #27, 2025 Projections: 51/20/54/.206/1 in 397 ABs, Final Figures: 48/19/67/.243/4 in 313 ABs
18. Alec Bohm – He’s an 11-homer, .280 hitter with zero velocity. This position gives me the gee-dee-yawns! Preseason Rank #16, 2025 Projections: 72/18/92/.282/5 in 550 ABs, Final Figures: 53/11/59/.287/2 in 464 ABs
19. Carlos Correa – He is ranked 279th in the overall rankings (and Baty at 281). Right out of them comes Nolan Schanuel – the 32nd best first baseman! – and Adrian Houser – the 74th best starter! Ha! Preseason Rank #25 for SS, 2025 Projections: 64/17/52/.276 in 456 ABs, Final Figures: 63/13/52/.276 in 537 ABs
20. Brett Baty – The fact that he made the top 20 third baseman list isn’t even a positive. I’m sorry. If you can’t crack the top 20 at third base, are you eligible for third base? Preseason Ranking #45, 2025 Projections: 37/12/46/.234/2 in 302 ABs, Final Figures: 53/18/50/.254/8 in 393 ABs
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