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These are the third base fantasy rankings for 2011. Shortstop will run later today at noon. Check out our previous first base and second base installments.

Like last year, the fantasy rankings are broken into tiers. Generally speaking, five-star players should be worthwhile in five categories and have an auction dollar value of $30 or more in your standard, mixed leagues. Four-star players should be worth at least $20 and useful in four categories, three-stars $10 and up, two-stars are more of your single-digit buys that you hope fill a hole or return some bargain value, and one-star players are, most likely, roster filler in the deepest leagues that you hope can be worth the buck you throw down on them.

This year we are listing stats like we have in the past (plate appearances, average, R, RBI, SB and HR projections from PECOTA) but are also including dollar value estimates produced by the Player Forecast Manager. In order to make these columns fit into the tables, I had to shorten them: "2L-$" is for mixed leagues, and "1L-$" is for AL- or NL-only leagues, depending on the player. The dollar values may not match up perfectly with the tiers, but those are just cases of PECOTA and I disagreeing on a player.

For reference, the dollar values were created with the PFM using standard 5×5 roto scoring, 23-player rosters—broken down as C (2) 1B (1) 2B (1) 3B (1) SS (1) CI (1) MI (1) OF (5) Util (1) P (9)—and $180 of the $260 budget allocated for hitters and $1 minimum salaries. A minimum of 20 games needed to be played at a position in the previous season to qualify (though I snuck a few brand new first basemen in). If your league uses different settings, be sure to plug them into the PFM to see what kind of differences in dollar value we are talking about—I set these to be as close to standard roster construction as possible.

Four Stars

Player

Team

PA

R

HR

RBI

SB

AVG

2L-$

1L-$

David Wright

NYN

650

87

21

81

21

.282

$23

$27

Alex Rodriguez

NYA

600

85

33

89

12

.273

$23

$25

Evan Longoria

TBA

665

87

26

90

10

.264

$20

$22

Ryan Zimmerman

WAS

650

86

24

87

3

.283

$17

$21

Kevin Youkilis

BOS

628

88

22

83

5

.285

$17

$22

Adrian Beltre

TEX

650

80

22

85

9

.276

$16

$21

Jose Bautista

TOR

708

94

36

101

7

.248

$24

$24

David Wright has the best chance of jumping into the five-star realm—he just needs to get as close to a 30/30 season as his bat and legs will allow him. That's on the upper end of his potential, though. Alex Rodriguez's September (.309/.385/.667) has me thinking his hip is feeling better, so he's back ahead of Evan Longoria, who, while excellent, doesn't have the same kind of lineup support that Rodriguez will to help boost those R and RBI totals. His park isn't as friendly for homers, either.

By the way, that's not a typo: third base starts with four-star players. This isn’t due to the dollar values listed in the table either, as I feel like PECOTA is underselling them—each of these six guys should produce about $25 worth of value. Still, if this group tops out around $25 (or a couple bucks more), they miss out on being as elite as, say, Albert Pujols or Hanley Ramirez, two players who are well into the $30 range.

Ryan Zimmerman and Adrian Beltre will both exceed the $20 threshold, and while Beltre should see his numbers drop a bit from last year, they won't decline so much that he loses his excellent value. He can thank his new home in Arlington for some of that, though he's plenty talented in a vacuum. Youkilis I discussed a bit yesterday in the first base rankings—dude has hit .308/.404/.560 the last three seasons, and his coming over to third full-time is pretty big for the position. PECOTA likes Jose Baustista. I like Jose Bautista. If the guys in front of him are on the board, though, I'm not taking Bautista over them.

Three Stars

Player

Team

PA

R

HR

RBI

SB

AVG

2L-$

1L-$

Aramis Ramirez

CHN

550

73

23

77

1

.281

$8

$16

Martin Prado

ATL

680

83

10

77

5

.294

$13

$18

Michael Young

TEX

692

83

16

78

7

.284

$14

$19

Pablo Sandoval

SFN

600

78

17

79

3

.299

$12

$19

Pedro Alvarez

PIT

600

75

24

80

3

.255

$8

$16

Mark Reynolds

BAL

600

76

31

82

12

.237

$13

$20

Casey McGehee

MIL

650

80

21

80

1

.275

$11

$17

Ian Stewart

COL

550

72

24

76

7

.263

$8

$17

Ramirez played through the first half while dealing with injuries, and after a stint on the DL came back strong to close out the season (.276/.321/.526 in the second half). If he stays healthy, he'll blow that projection away, though I understand PECOTA's conservatism given Ramirez's inability to do just that the past few seasons. Prado gets bonus points for being eligible at second and in the outfield, though he's best suited for the hot corner and the keystone. Michael Young's value depends on how often he plays. If he gets in the lineup every day in the middle infield or at DH, like the Rangers have told him he will, then he's going to be worth his projection. If they start to skimp on his playing time, though, he's not going to be worth this ranking.

I still have faith in Pablo Sandoval. Somewhere inside the Panda is a guy who can hit .300 with solid power; hopefully the weight he shed this winter sets that hitter free. The Pittsburgh lineup isn't great from top to bottom, but the top and middle looks good—Alvarez will benefit from his placement within that impressive young group. Mark Reynolds is going to kill you in batting average—that's a given. But 30 homers with some steals is a big deal, and chances are good he'll have better R and RBI totals than those above (though not by much). Casey McGehee is a decent hitter in a great lineup, and because of this, he'll put together a fantasy season better than what he would be capable of for many other teams. Ian Stewart, if he plays, will easily be worth this three-star rating. If the Rockies jerk him around like they have Chris Iannetta, though, then come next winter we'll all be wondering why he was listed here.

Two Stars

Player

Team

PA

R

HR

RBI

SB

AVG

2L-$

1L-$

Scott Rolen

CIN

560

68

14

64

5

.268

$1

$13

Edwin Encarnacion

TOR

615

78

28

83

3

.256

$11

$18

Juan Uribe

LAN

675

76

21

80

4

.249

$8

$15

Chase Headley

SDN

600

68

12

60

8

.252

$0

$12

Omar Infante

FLO

650

75

6

63

8

.288

$6

$16

Mike Aviles

KCA

578

66

10

65

11

.281

$6

$16

Danny Valencia

MIN

550

63

8

60

1

.273

-$3

$11

Miguel Tejada

SFN

644

70

11

66

4

.269

$3

$13

Scott Rolen was worth almost $11 last year—PECOTA sees a pretty steep fall for him here. I don't agree with it entirely, though I'm obviously skeptical about another 2010 out of him given I'm placing him in this tier. Jason Collette loves him some Edwin Encarnacion, but I'm having a hard time getting excited. I'm outnumbered by PECOTA and Collette, so if you're with them on E5, consider him a three-star player. Uribe will give you better R, RBI, and HR numbers than a lot of third basemen, but he's not going to excel anywhere, and hits for a low batting average. Chase Headley is projected for $0 and just eight steals—he has 10 and 17 the past two years, and given San Diego's new (as of 2010) baserunning policy (in a nutshell: do lots of it) he's going to end up closer to his 2010 total than the projected one above. That will kick him up a few bucks and into the two-star range.

Omar Infante's eligibility at multiple positions makes him intriguing, though he may be miscast as a starter except in NL-only leagues. He's a great value buy for a middle or corner infield slot—ditto for Aviles. Danny Valencia is a guy both I and Rob McQuown dig, which is why he's in this tier despite a negative dollar value projection. Miguel Tejada will be shortstop and third base eligible, and I can't imagine him producing less value than he did last year, considering how terrible he was in the first half with Baltimore.

One Star

PLAYER

TEAM

PA

R

HR

RBI

SB

AVG

2L-$

1L-$

Chipper Jones

ATL

519

69

15

58

4

.278

$1

$13

Jose Lopez

COL

565

65

14

69

4

.275

$2

$14

Chris Johnson

HOU

600

68

17

74

2

.266

$4

$14

Placido Polanco

PHI

610

68

6

59

5

.282

$0

$13

David Freese

SLN

550

66

17

65

2

.268

$1

$13

Jhonny Peralta

DET

600

68

13

63

2

.255

$0

$12

Kevin Kouzmanoff

OAK

550

60

14

61

1

.247

-$4

$10

Melvin Mora

ARI

532

60

11

55

5

.259

-$4

$10

Brandon Inge

DET

564

60

14

55

5

.227

-$6

$10

Casey Blake

LAN

550

63

14

58

3

.248

-$3

$9

Brent Morel

CHA

350

40

9

42

7

.273

-$12

$8

Mark Teahen

CHA

410

47

9

43

5

.258

-$12

$8

Ty Wigginton

COL

392

48

14

49

2

.268

-$7

$8

Matt Dominguez

FLO

525

57

13

56

0

.239

-$8

$7

Alberto Callaspo

ANA

403

45

4

39

3

.272

-$15

$6

Wilson Betemit

KCA

348

41

11

41

1

.247

-$16

$6

Maicer Izturis

ANA

325

36

3

29

9

.263

-$18

$6

Jayson Nix

CLE

300

34

10

35

6

.238

-$17

$6

Jorge Cantu

SDN

380

43

9

41

1

.255

-$16

$4

Jeff Baker

CHN

314

37

8

36

2

.267

-$17

$4

Nick Punto

SLN

405

39

0

25

12

.232

-$20

$3

Eduardo Nunez

NYA

160

17

2

16

5

.269

-$32

$2

Lonnie Chisenhall

CLE

200

22

5

23

0

.251

-$30

$2

Felipe Lopez

TBA

151

17

2

13

3

.257

-$33

$1

Brandon Wood

ANA

150

16

5

17

1

.230

-$33

$1

Craig Counsell

MIL

249

26

2

19

3

.239

-$29

$0

Miguel Cairo

CIN

200

20

2

17

4

.251

-$32

$0

Wes Helms

FLO

267

27

3

22

1

.232

-$30

$0

Kevin Frandsen

SDN

226

23

3

19

2

.239

-$31

$0

Mat Gamel

MIL

157

19

5

18

1

.255

-$32

$0

Brooks Conrad

ATL

165

18

6

19

2

.227

-$32

$0

It pains me to see Chipper Jones with just the one star, but he's a better player in real life thanks to his on-base skills than he is at fantasy at this point, especially since it's a given he won't play a full season. Jose Lopez, if he were guaranteed to play in Colorado every day, would be more appealing than this, but they have roughly 37 third basemen and second basemen on the roster as of right now. Chris Johnson is getting a lot of love for his 2010 debut, but PECOTA and I agree that it's going to be pretty funny when his BABIP falls back to where it should be this year. Placido Polanco doesn't do much more than contribute to batting average (though he doesn't do much of that anymore). If this were a more powerful Phillies' lineup, I would be tempted to bump him to two stars. David Freese hit well before his injuries last year, though not so well that I would want to start him over the strong group of third basemen in front of him. In an NL-only league, though, you can't go wrong with Freese if you can get him for a low price. Jhonny Peralta has shortstop eligiblity as well, but even that combination isn't so great unless you're in an AL-only format (or a league that requires middle and corner infielders, and you just want to avoid the guys underneath him). Kevin Kouzmanoff was unlucky enough to be dealt from the bane of his existence, Petco Park, to one of the few teams that has a park anywhere near as horrible for hitters. It looked like he was going to escape this winter, when the Athletics were after Beltre and acquired Encarnacion, but he wasn't so lucky.

There are not a whole lot of interesting names at this stage after the first few—Matt Dominguez hasn't been impressive in the upper levels of the minors yet, so expecting him to do much in the bigs right now is asking a lot. Wilson Betemit probably won't see a ton of playing time, given that Mike Aviles is a solid third baseman and Mike Moustakas is coming up behind the both of them. Lonnie Chisenhall is intriguing if he gets more playing time than he is forecasted for here—50 R, 10-15 HR and 50 RBI would be a solid get for the price you'll pay.Things got ugly fast. Mora is useful in deep leagues if he's playing every day. Brandon Inge is never going to help you in batting average, but in an AL-only at a corner infield slot, he has his uses. Casey Blake needs to grow a more powerful beard if he wants to escape this realm. Brent Morel and Mark Teahen are fittingly projected for the same value by the PFMCraig Brown approves.

The rest of this list is pretty hopeless, unless Jason Bartlett or Orlando Hudson goes down in San Diego and Kevin Frandsen gets a chance to step in. I would say something about Brandon Wood finally breaking out, but I've watched him play baseball, so I can't write that with a straight face. Mat Gamel would be useful if the Brewers let him play, but they seem to be doing anything they can to avoid doing just that. Brooks Conrad has been replaced by the rich man's version of Brooks Conrad, Dan Uggla. I know he had his troubles on defense, but I've always had a soft spot for Conrad, and was glad to have him on my NL-only squad last year.

Thank you for reading

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yankeehater32
2/18
Thanks for pointing this out--somewhere between transferring data from Excel to Word, I lost my Chipper Jones and Chris Johnson rows. I specifically remember being sad that Jones wasn't worth much (given I used to rank him five stars back when he was still excellent) and laughing at Chris Johnson because people are taking him very early in drafts, and he's not good.

I'll fix those missing players right now.
yankeehater32
2/18
Wow, it looks like a few of the guys I had at the top of one star are missing. The table paste skipped the first handful of players I had at the top of the position. No wonder the first one star option was so depressing.
yankeehater32
2/18
Fixed! Sorry about that everyone.
Pluthero
2/18
So...Chris Johnson < Brooks Conrad?
jmoore
2/18
Wow, Chipper Jones doesn't even make one-star status. Not saying I want him on my fantasy team but as a Braves fan that's fairly depressing.
eweather78
2/18
Surprising to see Chipper Jones and David Freese are left out, given how abysmal the one-stars are. Also, the 0.264 AVG for Evan Longoria seems like a harsh regression from his career performance.
kenneff
2/18
Polanco?
hessshaun
2/18
I don't see Polanco on here either?
yankeehater32
2/18
He's there now. I lost the whole beginning of the one star tier at some point in the process.
bravejason
2/18
The Chipper Jones fan club says there ought to be a rule that future Hall of Famers can't have a status lower than three stars.
yankeehater32
2/18
I am honestly upset that I have to put him where I did. I want Chipper Jones to hit forever!
everettcase
2/18
PECOTA seems extremely low on Longoria's batting average... that'd be the lowest of his entire professional career in his age-25 season! What gives?
padresprof
2/18
The PECOTA system generates underestimations of Longo's performance annually. Last year PECOTA predicted .264 (instead of the actual .294) and a WARP of 4.6 (not the actual 8.2). Maybe PECOTA doesn't like his commercials or his single-guy lifestyle. (PECOTA to Longo, "Looking into my crystal ball, I see many young ladies, STD and a paternity suit in your future.)
roadawg
2/18
My guess on Longoria is his very high BABIP (.336) from last year which was 25 points higher than his average BABIP (.311) from his two previous years. Maybe PECOTA is projecting for him to return to the mean with his BABIP which would make his .294 BA from last year drop to the .270 range. There is also an uptick in his FB% and downtick in his GB% from 2009 to 2010, which could also add to the low BA projection.

With all that said I don't think he will hit below .275, however, 10 points in BA is an easy swing either way with just the luck factor included.
moonlightj
2/18
I am putting my money where my mouth is and targeting Encarnacion in any league possible. I wrote him up several times this off-season before coming here http://dockoftherays.com/?s=encarnacion
pobothecat
2/18
Problem with Encarnacion is --- fantas-tically speaking --- is the vast months of utter uselessness he gives you. Sure, it's a wonderful five-days in June when he suddenly explodes for 13 dingers (avg distance 582 feet). I'm just not a strong enough person to wait.
pobothecat
2/18
(Also --- heard Jose Bautista say last night on MLBNet that he's getting ready to play 3B this year. Where are we thinking EE gets 615 ... count 'em, 615 ... PA's from?)
moonlightj
2/18
Looking for E5 to get most of his PAs at DH and a 1B platoon situation if Lind suffers vs LHP as badly as he did last season.

I heard last year that if the Jays brought him back, it would not be to play 3B but a 1B/DH combo.
rawagman
2/18
You heard correct.
Olinkapo
2/19
Do you think E5 will squeeze his way into 20-ish games at third base this season? Not starts or full games necessarily, just appearances?
moonlightj
2/19
I doubt he sees 20 games at 3B this season. The club was extremely displeased with his efforts over there last year.
flyingdutchman
2/18
Where would Figgins be?
yankeehater32
2/20
Sorry--Figgins was at 2B, and I rated him two stars. The tiers are the same across positions, so Figgins is a two star no matter where you play him.
maxdelrey
2/18
What about Michael Cuddyer?
yankeehater32
2/20
Cuddyer is a two-star player. I rated him at first (he qualified there, but not 3B last year), but the ratings are equal across positions.
ScottBehson
2/20
Chipper's better than a 1 star performer. When he is healthy, he'll hit. When he's hurt, you play someone else.
yankeehater32
2/20
Questionable, at this point. He was worth negative dollars last year because of all the missed time and a line that was mostly OBP-fueled. He's better in real life than in fantasy at this stage between the missed time and the low power numbers.
Olinkapo
2/20
In a standard 5x5, I think 1-star is about the right projection.

In a weekly lineup league especially, especially, Chipper is a giant headache, and has been for several years.

In a league that uses OBP, you could bump him up a tier methinks.
FLeghorn
2/21
I'm not sure how the Rockies have been 'jerking around' Ian Stewart--kid played a fair amount of 3b last season, aside from when he was injured, or was being platooned with Mr. Magic Melvin Mora on occasion. He, like the long-loved Ianneta, simply aren't delivering at the level that has been expected of them. I'm always fascinated by people who never actually watch these guys who constantly say that the big dummy Tracy won't play them. He does play them. They don't produce. Stewart's almost useless against lefties, and he strikes out a ton. He, like Ianetta, has massive pop when he connects, but there's the rub. He just doesn't do it that often. Considering how, on BP, all Rockies players are considered home-field flukes not worthy of carrying the jock of a Pawtucket Red Sock, I'm fascinated by the way in which this canard keeps being allowed to flourish. These guys are getting the chances; they aren't producing.
I'd mention that I like both players a lot, and as a Rox fan hope to god that they do figure it out, but the evidence is beginning to stack up against them.
shamah
2/21
Question - you justify A-Rod above Longoria because the Yankees' lineup means A-Rod should have more R and RBI opportunities than Longoria. Fair point. But your projection has Longoria scoring more runs and RBIs than A-Rod. Don't disagree with ranking A-Rod ahead of Longoria, just seems that the justification makes no sense in light of the data.
yankeehater32
2/22
These are my rankings, not PECOTAs. If I blindly followed the output of this or any projection system, I wouldn't be doing anyone, including myself, any favors.