It’s the Hot Corner baby! We naturally had to end the early rankings with our favorite position, third base. Power, finesse and everything inbetween! These players are fantastic fantasy assets, and only a had full of them are worth reaching for in the early rounds.
I wanted to point out that Jose Ramierz, who was featured as a second baseman in my Early Top 5s: Second base article, would have entered this list as the 4th best option at the hot corner. I believed most people would be shifting him over to 2nd due to the lack of player options up the gut.
Most of these choices will be in accordance with ESPN, Fantasy Pros, and CBS Fantasy Baseball rankings, but will mostly be arranged in an order that I believe will be most accurate throughout the season.
Without further ado, here are my Early Top 5 third basemen for the 2018 season:
1. Nolan Areanado, COL – 2017 Stats: .309 AVG/ .373 OBP/ .586 SLG/ .959 OPS
37 HRs – 130 RBIs – 100 Runs
Hot Take: Nolan Areanado is a top 3 overall fantasy option at the end of 2018 (Only Mike Trout has a more prolific season).Alright, it’s not actually that hot of a take, but I just wanted to make sure I was clear: Areando is very good at baseball. Hitting over .300 with 37 bombs and 130 ribbys, Nolan takes advantage of the hitter friendly Coors Field. I expect him to be one of the best. We’ll project 38 HRs, 130 RBIS, and a .300 AVG.
2. Kris Bryant, ChC – 2017 Stats: .295 AVG/ .409 OBP/ .537 SLG/ .946 OPS
29 HRs – 73 RBIs – 111 Runs
After a lackluster 2017, Kris Byant is poised to make another MVP push. With improved plate disciple and a knack for hitting the ball hard, Bryanu shodul be able to get those power numbers and RBIs back into the elite tier. He substitued some power for average and extra base hits , but I expect him to start swinging for the fences again. I’m looking for him to hit .296 AVG with 30 home runs and 80ish RBIs.
3. Manny MAchado, BAL – 2017 Stats: .259 AVG/ .310 OBP/ .471 SLG/ .782 OPS
33 HRs – 95 RBIs – 81 Runs
I do not know what happened to Manny last year, but with the combination of trade ruors and free agency looming, I can only expect the ressure go to him a bit. The only area he really struggled would be average (.259 AVG in 2017), but that also seems to be very unlucky. He hit the ball very hard, second in the league in hard hit line drives, yet those balls didn’t translate to hits. Now that he is being moved over to short stop, I am expecting Manny to show the bseball world that he is back to his old amazing self. We are projecting .300 AVG and 35 long balls. Add in 100 RBIs and 100 runs, and we can put Manny back into the top 12 overall players in fantasy.
4. Josh Donaldson, TOR – 2017 Stats: .270 AVG/ .385 OBP/ .559 SLG/ .944 OPS
33 HRs – 78 RBIs – 65 Runs
The Bringer of Rain is back! And he is giving all those haters a nice run for there money, proving that he is worthy of that early round selection. After missing 38 games at the beginning of the season, Donaldson started off pretty slow. Many people wrote him off saying that his age was starting to hinder him. So what did Josh do about it? He hit .281 and smashed 25 homers in the second half, solidifying himself in the top tier of third baseman once again. I expect him to come out guns blazing in 2018, look for a .280 AVG with 38 HRs and 100+ RBIs.
5. Justin Turner, LAD- 2017 Stats: .322 AVG/ .415 OBP/ .530 SLG/ .945 OPS
21 HRs – 71 RBIs – 72 Runs
It confuses me why people don’t consider Justin Turner a top end talent at third base. I do understand he’s a bit older, but he just keeps getting better with age. Even though he only played 130 games last year, he increased his contact rate, increased his power stroke, and pushed top 50 fantasy numbers in all five major hitting categories. The guy continues to show that he has an elite level talent. The nice thing for fantasy managers is he might slip to the middle rounds, where he would be an absolute steal. Grab this man if you can. Look for him to hit .310 AVG with 25 HRs and 90 RBIs.
Honorable mentions: Anthony Rendon, WSH – Alex Bregman, HOU -Kyle Seager, SEA
Wild Cards
Rafael Devers, BOS – 2017 Stats: .284 AVG/ .338 OBP/ .482 SLG/ .819 OPS
10 HRs – 30 RBIs – 34 Runs
Young Stud alert! Devers splashed onto the scene in 2017 and instantly made a fantasy impact. He hit the ball hard, and got on base, mainined poise when in tough situations and proved to the Soxs that he was the fiuture at third base. You could be worried about a sophmore slump, which could alwasy happen, but I believe Devers is the real deal. Batting in a line up filled with leadership and power, look for Rafael to hit .285 with 22 HRs and 80 RBIs.
Maikel Franco, PHI – 2017 Stats: .230 AVG/ .281 OBP/ .409 SLG/ .690 OPS
24 HRs – 76 RBIs – 66 Runs
This is a very risky pick, hense being in the wild car section, but Franco has the ablity to jumpstart a fantastic 2018 campaign. He hasnt really progressed the way Phillies fans would like, but the power and talent is there. If he can cut down his strikeout rate, learn a bit of patience at the plate, then we could see Maikel make huge strides in his fantasy profile. He could be a great find in the late rounds, look for him to hit .266 with 25 homers and 85 RBIs.
We are done! This concludes our Early Top 5 positoin rankings for the 2018 fantasy season. As we continue to watch spring training and prep for our fantasy drafts, look for us to start releasing our top 30 rankings for points leagues. I will also be coming out with a printable cheet sheet so that you can bring a little piece of Hot corner sports to your drafts with you!
Check back soon for our Top 30 points leagues positions rankings!
