Here are the Top 25 Third Base Prospects. There is a deep group of third base prospects this season, and I considered listing more than 25 prospects. As always, feedback is appreciated so let us know which prospects you believe are rated too high and/or too low.
1. Anthony Rendon—Nationals
2. Nolan Arenado—Rockies
3. Miguel Sano—Twins
4. Zach Cox—Cardinals
5. Mike Olt—Rangers
6. Cheslor Cutberth—Royals
7. Will Middlebrooks—Red Sox
8. Jed Gyorko—Padres
9. Nick Castellanos—Tigers
10. Kaleb Cowart—Angels
11. Garin Checcini—Red Sox
12. Vince Caltricala—Mariners
13. Matt Dominguez—Marlins
14. Dante Bichette, Jr.—Yankees
15. James Darnell—Padres
16. Tyler Goeddel—Rays
17. Travis Harrison—Twins
18. Alex Liddi—Mariners
19. Francisco Martinez—Mariners
20. Edinson Rincon—Padres
21. Matt Davidson—Diamondbacks
22. Josh Vitters—Cubs
23. Brandon Drury—Braves
24. Nick Delmonico—Orioles
25. Edward Salcedo—Braves
Also Considered: Jeimer Candelario (Cubs), Matt Carpenter (Cardinals), Matt Dean (Blue Jays), Jason Esposito (Orioles), Maikel Franco (Phillies), Robel Garcia (Indians), Christopher Hawkins (Blue Jays), Renato Nunez (Athletics), Aderlin Rodriguez (Mets), Kolbrin Vitek (Red Sox).
Don’t have enough info re: Delmonico’s defense to judge his odds of sticking at catcher. I know he played there in HS, but as the draft approached, there seemed to be a growing consensus his future was at 3B. But the consensus has been wrong numerous times!
It would huge if they can develop Delmonico at catcher. IMO, I think teams should make their best efforts to get a player to stick at a premium position (catcher, SS). In some instances, I think teams can take the concept a little too far when it’s totally unrealistic they player can ever provide adequate value at that position. But if it’s realistic, it seems much better trying to reach the player a more challenging position and then switching them once it becomes apparent it won’t work.
I don’t really have an opinion on what they should do with Delmonico. As far as I’m aware though, the O’s seem to be planning to develop him as a third baseman in the first instance.
I disagree Simon, I think you start with Catcher and move to 3rd. I mean you think about how Catchers typically have 1-2 extra years to just be MLB ready than position players, but a 3B bat is much less valuable in a trade than a Catcher bat. Look at Carlos Santana. If he was at 1B, he wouldn’t be close to a beastly hitter. He’d be sitting somewhere around 10. But since he’s a catcher, he’s #1.
I think the plan with Delmonico is to try him at third and see what happens. They can always try him out at catcher later on if they feel it would be a good idea.
I could buy into him long term as a catching prospect. I see him as a corner infielder being another power potential/advance plate approach hitter that is being held back because he needs to be more aggressive at the plate. The Wieters comment is more of a comment on the Baltimore Orioles player development. They have a glaring issue with depth of position prospects in their farm system.
Not to be too negative, I have not heard any reports on his defense that would move him off of a position, and his plate approach translates well to professional baseball.
Are the Orioles trying Delmonico at catcher? I know he played some catcher in HS, but I thought they drafted him at 3B. Assuming he has a reasonable chance of sticking at catcher, that shift would increase his value even if the Orioles have Wieters.
Great mention on Catricala, Shawn! He had a great season last year and he has some supporters over on the minorleagueball message board. It’ll be interesting to see what happens w/ Seattle’s 3B situation. They have a number of younger guys w/ potential, but no surefire heir to the position (Seager, Liddi, Catricala, Martinez). I like the chances of somebody from that group paying dividends in the not-so-distant future.
He’s a good prospect that is legitimately buried in the Nationals’ farm system, but Matthew Skole could be a candidate for consideration on this list. Very undervalued at this time.
I noticed Nick Delmonico made the 3B list, was he a consideration for the C list? I can see why he was omitted as the O’s have Matt Wieters.
What about Vince Caltricala? He’s a very bad defensive thirdbasemen but a decent first baseman and an average left-fielder. But man he hits.
Can’t see Castellanos ahead of Rendon, Arenado, Sano, or probably Cuthbert, but I’d have him a bit higher than 9.
Castellanos at 9 is low IMO. I have him 3rd
Bradley, I wondered why Edward Salcedo was so low on your list. I saw both Sickels and Baseball America seemed a lot higher on him than you do – is this a case where the tools aren’t really showing up in the numbers yet?
Great stuff, Dan! The position battles at third base are pretty interesting. I agree Seattle is a good opportunity for a young player to seize the job (Catricala, Liddi, Martinez, and Seager). Oakland might have some candidates? I failed to list Stephen Parker, but under the right circumstances, he might get a shot. I also sorta like Cardenas, even though he primarily plays 2B.
Good mention on Jimenez. Next to Trout, he was the best hitter on LA’s AA team and could be worth watching.
Sano/Cox/Salcedo is a solid combination, Alex. I would value Sano over Cox, but they are different prospects. Cox was one of the premier college hitters in the 2010 draft. He posted decent numbers last season, and when looking more closely, he basically played in two levels where struggled at first but then started hitting. Sano offers much more upside than Cox, but he’s also more speculative.
Geo007, there just aren’t that many 3B jobs open for 2012, and even those that are, most of them either have a fwe well known names fighting over the job, or have heirs apparent in line so the MLB job is just being held by a stand-in.
Teams with set starters: Yanks, Red Sox, Rays, Blue Jays, White Sox, Royals, Twins, Angels, Rangers, Braves, Marlins (I am assuming HanRam will be the starter), Mets, Nats, Reds, Brewers, Cardinals, D’Backs, Giants, Padres.
Other than a few question marks (will Morel really be relied on as the starter? will Headley be traded?), these teams are pretty set at 3B. Next are the teams with multiple known quantities fighting for the job:
O’s: Davis/Reynolds/Bell (possible sleeper)
Indians: Chisenhall (heir)/Hannahan
Tigers: Inge/Kelly (heir Castellanos, but he’s years away)
A’s: Sizemore (no heir)
Phillies: Polanco/Wigginton (no heir)
Astros: Paredes/Downs (no heir)
Pirates: Alvarez (heir)/McGehee
Rockies: Blake/Pacheco/Nelson (heir Arenado, at best mid-2012, at worst 2013)
Dodgers: Uribe/Hairston/Kennedy (no heir)
So a couple of ‘open’ spots here, but that have no heir apparent. That leaves the Mariners (Catricala/Liddi) and Cubs (Vitters, if he stays at 3B) jobs as the only ones really ripe for a new face to jump into the mix for 2012. Someone like Darnell (SDG) or Middlebrooks (BOS) might get traded, filling in a hole for a team like HOU or DET, or filling in if their team’s starter is dealt (e.g. Headley in SDG).
Bradley,
I am not sure if Christopher Hawkins is playing 3b 100% of the time, he played most of last season as OF. His numbers are fantastic, but we need to keep an eye on his position location.
Im in a 30 team dynasty…took over a team, and am in complete rebuilding. I have Sano, Cox, and Salcedo in my minors…which one of them will likely be the better player once they reach the MLB?
A 23 year-old in AA hit .290/.335/.486 went 18/15. OPS of at least .800 in every minor league season. Defense will be at least league average at 3B.
Huge, huge omission. He is a must add on draft day in any AL league with more than 10 teams.
Wow, not a lot of depth here this year…
Guys, I need a sleeper pick for a 3b prospect to crack the MLB lineup next season…
Yeah, Sano remains the perennial high upside international prospect. Despite posting huge power numbers in the Appy League last season, 77 k’s in 293 PA’s is a little higher than you’d like.
High-upside players like Sano are tough to value in dynasty leagues. I’ve always thought it depends on the rules of the league. Generally, players like Sano are more valuable when the dynasty league: (1) has less teams, (2) more farm spots, and (3) longer contracts.
Basically, we value based on rules that seem to be the middle ground between dynasty teams we help ($260, 23 teams, 10 farm picks at $4 w/ the year contracts that can be extended to five years).
Seems like a pretty big gap in talent from Rendon and Arenado to Sano and then Cox. I suppose Sano could get there but right now he’s a complete unknown as to how he will develop.
Boagerts loses a little bit of value switching to 3B, but he would still rank fairly high. I would definitely list him behind the top 3….probably somewhere in the group w/ Cox, Olt, Cheslor, and Middlebrooks. Those four were tough to rank b/c this is arguably the second consecutive year I overrated Cox. I might still put Boagerts in the four spot, but it’s tough to consider how to value Boagerts compared to Cheslor after the switch.
Great call on Drury, Jed! Sorry about the typo. I started creating these lists a little more quickly just b/c I’m trying to make sure we publish our master list by early January. FYI, I also completed work on the first draft of the OF and SP lists. Even though they need more work, I posted the first drafts in the forum just to generate some discussion.
http://www.deepleagues.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=3
If Xander Bogaerts moves to 3B, where does he fall on this list?
Hey Brad.. one thing I noticed about your list. Chris Drury is actually a Forward for the Colorado Avalanche.. or atleast he was. The Drury you’re looking for is Brandon Drury from Atlanta.