There’s a lot of uncertainty at the position with key players coming off injuries or sub-par years (Wright and A. Ramirez) while other players are coming off breakout / career years (Reynolds and Sandoval).  I see many tiers at 3B with A-Rod as a stand-alone, and Wright and Longoria next in line.

The top three are clearly separated from the crop below that includes a close knit group of Reynolds, Youkilis and Zimmerman. Please note that this list is based on projections for 2010 only without regard to keeper leagues and includes players who played at least 20 games at third base in 2009.

1) Alex Rodriguez - NY Yankees - A-rod missed over a month in 2009 but still managed 100 RBIs. Postseason accolades proved he is still one of the handful of premier players around and I expect 2010 to be no different. (2010 projected rating - 92)

2) David Wright - NY Mets - The big question is whether 2009 was an aberration for Wright? My guess is that David will revert back to his wonder years and once again become a standout fantasy producer. The edge is off however and I don’t think Wright is a challenge for A-rod for the top spot at 3B. (2010 projected rating - 80)

3) Evan Longoria - Tampa Bay - Longoria’s second half swoon is still in the back of my head or he would be #2 on this list. (2010 projected rating - 78)

4) Mark Reynolds - Arizona - Can Reynolds continue to put up 2009-type numbers if he continues to set ML records with his strikeouts?  I am not so sure so I am discounting my 2010 projection by a modest 10-15%. (2010 projected rating - 72)

5) Kevin Youkilis - Boston - Youkilis tends to be underrated and I  think some people would be surprised to find him rated ahead of Zimmerman but Youkilis has been consistent at an inconsistent position. (2010 projected rating - 71)

6) Ryan Zimmerman - Washington - Two years ago seems like a distant memory but it is still in the back of my mind. I expect a 2009-type season going forward but I have factored in the possibility of a disappointing 2008-type. (2010 projected rating - 70)

7) Pablo Sandoval - San Francisco - There is cleanup talk going around and Sandoval seemed to blossom out of nowhere. There was little evidence of  a .340 type AVG back in 2008 so I am not going crazy here. (2010 projected rating - 66)

8) Aramis Ramirez - Chicago Cubs - Hopefully Ramirez’s shoulder problems are behind him. I have no reason to expect otherwise but I want to hear some news when spring training starts. (2010 projected rating - 64)

9) Michael Young - Texas - An old favorite but I liked him better at short. (2010 projected rating - 62)

10) Chone Figgins - Seattle - I am not crazy about the move to Seattle for Figgins. Runs might take a hit due to batting second behind Ichiro and the rest of the Mariner lineup leaves a lot to be desired. (2010 projected rating - 62)

11) Jorge Cantu - Florida - My sleeper bet for the position. Cantu had a scorching start last year but was hampered by a hand injury after May.  If things are 100% with the hand, then you just might see something here. (2010 projected rating - 62)

12) Gordon Beckham - Chicago White Sox - Excellent debut and I really like the potential here. Move to 2B in 2010 will have a positive boost to value. (2010 projected rating - 60)

13) Chipper Jones - Atlanta - Been around forever. AVG went south last year partly due to several nagging injuries. I expect around 420 at bats based on recent durability history. (2010 projected rating - 57)

14) Casey Blake - LA Dodgers - Nothing fancy here but not a bad option when you are looking for consistency. Another year older at 36 but I still feel he has something to offer. Look elsewhere for upside, though. (2010 projected rating - 55)

15) Adrian Beltre - Boston - Two years removed from his last really good fantasy season. I don’t see a move to Boston rejuvenating past fantasy glory but it should help. (2010 projected rating - 53)

Note on the projected fantasy rating: It is based on assigning point values to each of the five standard fantasy categories on a rough scale of 1 to 25. More than 25 can be awarded in a particular category for exceptional production (Bonds 73 HR’s in 2001 or the 100+ SB’s Rickey Henderson produced during several seasons are examples). Theoretically, the top rating would be 125.

Comments (2)

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Hardy Berger said:

	I I agree, if you asked me the worst pic they could have melded A-Rod with it would have only been half as brutal as that pic
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February 09, 2010
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Ian Fergusson said:

	... that truly is a brutal pic.
	report abuse vote down vote up

February 05, 2010
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