Written by Amit Lal | 19 March 2010

Time for a look at the top third basemen in the National League. Dollar values are based on a 5x5 12 Team NL-Only league. Previous rankings for other positions can be found here: SS, 2B, 1B, C. Players marked with a * are eligible at multiple positions, and may have already been discussed at previous positions.

Player	AB	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OBP	SLG	$$
Wright, D - NYM	581	102	26	104	21	.308	.394	.520	31
Zimmerman, R -WAS	595	107	35	108	3	.287	.361	.541	29
Ramirez, A - CHC	504	78	25	101	1	.294	.367	.508	23
Reynolds, M - ARI	558	93	35	98	14	.258	.338	.509	23
Sandoval, P - SF*	575	80	23	88	2	.289	.341	.489	20

David Wright tops the list for third basemen. After four years of .300-30HR-100RBI performance, Wright slumped to only 10 HR and 72 RBI despite maintaining a .307 AVG and .390 OBP. Much of Wright's power outage was attributed to Citi Field, but Wright actually only hit 5 HR on the road. Overall, Citi Field was almost neutral as a hitters park, as the Mets actually hit more HR at home (49-46) and Mets' pitchers allowed more HR at home than on the road (81-77).  Will Wright bounce back? I think so. Wright's fly ball rate in 2010 (36%) was approximately the same as the two previous years (38%), but only 7% of his fly balls left the yard instead of 16% from 2008-09.  I expect Wright to bounce back to at least 20 HR.  That, along with his usual .300 AVG, 100 R, 100 RBI, and 20+ SB, is enough to put him atop the 3B rankings. Right behind Wright is Ryan Zimmerman. Zimmerman won't provide the SB that Wright does, but should hit for more power.  The next two hitters are Aramis Ramirez and Mark Reynolds. Ramirez missed half of the 2009 season with an injury, but has established himself as a consistent .300-30 HR-100 RBI performer. At age 32, I predict a slight dropoff, but he will still be a very valuable hitter. Reynolds will provide lots of HR and good SB, at the expense of a mediocre batting average. As discussed in the 1B article, I'm a little worried about Sandoval's plate discipline, weight, and teammates, and am predicting a small dropoff from his excellent 2009 season.

Player	AB	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OBP	SLG	$$
Jones, C - ATL	476	81	21	78	3	.292	.391	.479	18
Stewart, I - COL*	478	81	24	77	5	.257	.331	.469	16
Prado, M - ATL*	588	77	14	65	4	.301	.353	.435	15
Headley, C - SD*	581	73	16	77	8	.270	.347	.429	14
Blake, C - LA	502	71	17	75	3	.267	.337	.436	14
LaRoche, A - PIT	473	67	17	74	3	.271	.342	.459	14
Rolen, S - CIN	491	67	14	71	5	.283	.354	.444	14
Glaus, T - ATL	466	63	22	71	2	.258	.350	.464	14

This group of batters are fairly closely bunched. At the top is Chipper Jones, one of only 4 active players with  career AVG/OBP/SLG rates over .300/.400/.500 (with Pujols, MRamirez, and Helton). Jones had a down year in 2009, but should have one more good season in him.  All of the group has decent power, with the two best HR hitters, Ian Stewart and Troy Glaus, probably providing the lowest batting average. Chase Headley has been a little bit of a disappointment for the Padres. Like many on that team, his offensive stats are hurt by his tough home park - Headley had a solid .803 OPS on the road, but only .651 at home. The Padres as a team hit only .219/.313/.342 at home in 2009. Unfortunately, Headley has another season in Petco, but I think moving back to his natural position of 3B as well as another season of development will bump his numbers up a notch. Andy LaRoche is another player who I think will improve in 2010.  LaRoche played excellent defense in 2009, but was one of the streakiest offensive players in the NL. His OPS by month went like this - .675, .869, .684, .544, .659, .911.  Two great months along with 4 mediocre to bad ones.  Plus now LaRoche has to worry about Pedro Alvarez coming up to take his job.  His strong hitting last September showed a glimpse of what he can do, and I think he'll manage to keep the 3B position all season. Casey Blake has been very consistent over the last few years at the .275-20 HR- 80 HR level. At the age of 36, I predict a slight drop-off this year. Scott Rolen is no longer an all-star level 3B, but can still be a productive player when healthy. Troy Glaus only played 14 games in 2009 due to shoulder and back injuries, but looks to be healthy this year. Switching to 1B should help keep him off the DL. Martin Prado and Ian Stewart were discussed in more detail in the 2B article.

Player	AB	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OBP	SLG	$$
DeRosa, M - SF*	501	74	16	72	2	.255	.330	.411	13
McGehee, C - MIL*	471	61	14	66	0	.280	.338	.427	11
Feliz, P - HOU	488	53	12	61	0	.254	.296	.383	11
Kennedy, A - WAS*	465	62	8	51	12	.273	.329	.383	11
Fontenot, M - CHC*	341	41	8	40	3	.273	.333	.422	6

This group of players should have starting jobs at the start of the season. Mark DeRosa really struggled after returning to the NL last summer, going .228/.291/.405 after being to traded to the Cardinals. At age 35, and moving to tough offensive environment, DeRosa might struggle with the AVG and OBP.  Pedro Feliz has moved to Houston, and should continue his low OBP, double-digit HR ways.  Mike Fontenot appears to have won the 2B job away from Jeff Baker.

Player	AB	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OBP	SLG	$$
Keppinger, J - HOU	330	38	8	32	0	.276	.338	.418	5
Alvarez, P - PIT	101	18	4	21	1	.267	.339	.455	5
Freese, D - STL	278	41	9	44	1	.255	.310	.424	4
Uribe, J - SF*	295	35	10	36	2	.261	.308	.424	4
Mora, M - COL	214	31	5	34	3	.252	.319	.397	3
Hairston, J - SD*	300	45	4	33	7	.257	.320	.373	3
Baker, J - CHC*	243	32	6	31	1	.255	.325	.407	3
DeWitt, B - LA*	220	31	4	28	1	.255	.328	.373	3
Tatis, F - NYM	159	29	6	27	1	.277	.335	.459	2
Dobbs, G - PHI	181	17	4	22	2	.260	.309	.381	2
Gamel, M - MIL	151	18	4	21	1	.272	.317	.417	2
Bonifacio, E - FLA*	153	23	0	13	9	.248	.303	.340	2
Carroll, J - LA*	195	31	1	22	3	.267	.347	.359	1
Counsell, C - MIL*	211	26	1	19	2	.270	.353	.355	1
Abreu, T - ARI*	112	17	2	18	2	.295	.325	.464	1
Francisco, J - CIN	122	14	3	18	1	.262	.286	.377	1
Craig, A - STL	89	11	3	10	0	.270	.309	.427	1
Blum, G - HOU	255	25	5	32	0	.247	.309	.357	0

This group of players has several who are battling for starting positions. In St. Louis, David Freese is battling with several others for the 3B job, including Felipe Lopez, Allen Craig, and Joe Mather. Freese's bat should be OK, but his glove is still a question mark. In LA, Blake DeWitt may be moving ahead of Ronnie Belliard for the 2B position, as Belliard is still struggling with his weight. In Houston, Tommy Manzella is the current starter at SS, but his lack of offense may give Jeff Keppinger or the veteran Geoff Blum a chance for more playing time. In Milwaukee, Mat Gamel has been diagnosed with a shoulder injury and will be out for 6 weeks. When he returns, he will probably start in AAA.