Mastersball

Continuing on with draft prep for 2012, let’s look at how the third basemen fared last year and which I project to be the top twelve for next season.

Here were the Top Ten in 2011

1. Jose Bautista, Toronto
2. Michael Young, Texas
3. Adrian Beltre, Texas
4. Aramis Ramirez, Chicago Cubs
5. Evan Longoria, Tampa Bay
6. Mark Reynolds, Baltimore
7. Pablo Sandoval, San Francisco
8. Ryan Roberts, Arizona
9. Edwin Encarnacion, Toronto
10. Kevin Youkilis, Boston

Odd that two teams both had two “third basemen” in the top performers last year. “Tatman” – aka Ryan Roberts came out of nowhere last year – he wasn’t even projected as a starter by the Diamondbacks heading into the 2011 year.

Okay, so what do my 2012 third base rankings look like?

1. Jose Bautista – no reason he won’t repeat
2. Adrian Beltre – room for more contributions in his second year in Arlington
3. Evan Longoria – expecting a rebound here assuming he can stay healthy
4. Brett Lawrie – he will easily be a 20-20 guy and could be 30-30
5. David Wright – assuming he stays in New York with shorter fences
6. Kevin Youkilis – just needs his health to allow full at bats
7. Ryan Zimmerman – he will have more RBI chances next year if he can stay in the lineup
8. Michael Young – will just keep on hitting
9. Alex Rodriguez – assuming the hip is better he should have a rebound
10. Pablo Sandoval – even on a bad offense
11. Mike Moustakas – I like his potential – note he started slow at every level
12. Aramis Ramirez – where he signs could change this slightly

Pedro Alvarez is a possibility but I need to see it (after being burned last year). But I think the talent is there despite Pittsburgh mismanaging him.

Lonnie Chisenhall will continue to develop in 2012 but not sure his stats will be good enough to crash this list.

First basemen and third basemen who didn’t make the top twelve in their respective categories (in no particular order) are Martin Prado, Mark Reynolds (good power, terrible average), Freddie Freeman, Gaby Sanchez, Chipper Jones, Ike Davis, Derrek Lee, Carlos Lee, Scott Rolen, Mark Trumbo, Carlos Pena, and James Loney (assuming that was a blip on his behavior resume).

Next week we will look at middle infielders.