We’re bearing down on the end of another calendar year. To most people, December signifies holidays, the onset of winter, and the stretch run of football season. To me – along with Brad Johnson, Nick Mariano, and Max Petrie – it means it’s time for the first round of 2016 fantasy baseball rankings. As we move closer to the start of spring training, our other baseball writers will get in on the fun.

Perhaps at that point, we’ll have less of a consensus at third base. As it stands, there aren’t many players who inspire a wide range of opinions at the position. Obviously a lot can happen between now and the start of draft season, but our initial rankings are remarkable in their similarity. You have to go halfway down the list to get to the first player (Matt Duffy) whose high and low ranks are separated by more than three spots.

As a programming note, this first round of rankings were originally compiled on December 6th. Time, tide, and transactions wait for no man, and trades or signings in the interim may not be reflected in our opinions below. That said, Todd Frazier and Brett Lawrie's valuations likely didn't change much as a result of them being dealt. Anyway, let's get down to business.

Editor's Note: Be sure to also check out all of our 2016 fantasy baseball rankings articles. We have rankings and tiers across all positions, for MLB prospects, and for dynasty/keeper leagues.

2016 Fantasy Baseball Rankings: Third Base

Third base is a fairly deep position, thanks in large part to the influx of young talent at the hot corner in recent years. Four of the players we ranked in the top five are under 25 years old, and Adrian Beltre is the only player in the top 12 who is over 30. On the heels of probably the best rookie class in history, baseball is as much of a young man’s game as it has ever been – and third base is perhaps the clearest example.

Our individual top 10 rankings contained all of the same players with the exception of Brad; he had Matt Carpenter just ahead of Maikel Franco, whom the rest of us ranked 10^th. There was some debate about who should be considered top dog at the position, though. Brad and Nick gave their top spots to reigning AL MVP Josh Donaldson, while Max backed Nolan Arenado. After significant waffling, I went with Kris Bryant over Donaldson and Manny Machado.

Bryant was the unanimous choice for NL Rookie of the Year in 2015, and that was after going the first 20 games of his career without a home run. Given his 80-grade power, that seems unlikely to happen again. You could argue that his 30.6% whiff rate and .378 BABIP portend some regression in the batting average department. I expect the strikeouts to come down to a more palatable level as Bryant continues to adjust to big-league pitching. The BABIP will likely drop a bit as well, but Bryant’s batted ball profile as a rookie, speed on the base paths, and history of high BABIP marks in the minors suggest that decline won’t be pronounced enough to tank his average.

Considering the level of general agreement at the top of our respective rankings and the quality of the options in the first few tiers, it probably wouldn’t be hard to talk any of us into moving the big names up or down a spot or two. Where things get a bit more interesting is in the middle to bottom portion of the list.

As mentioned, Duffy is the first major point of contention. I’m the bear on him at 19, with Max placing him 13^th – ahead of Matt Carpenter, Mike Moustakas, and Justin Turner among others. It’s tough to know what to make of Duffy, quite frankly. He was an 18^th round draft pick and never all that highly regarded as a prospect. Kiley McDaniel and John Sickels, generally my go-to sources for prospect analysis, both viewed him as closer to a utility guy or second division starter than the five-win player he was as a rookie. He was rushed through the system and logged only 417 plate appearances above A-ball, so we don’t have a ton of minor league data to draw upon. Ultimately, there are enough other options at third base to make me comfortable being a Duffy skeptic until he shows 2015 wasn’t a fluke.

Right behind Duffy in our composite rankings is Jake Lamb. This time, I’m the highest at 16, with Brad slotting him in at 25. The Diamondbacks do still have some roster crunch going on between the outfield and third base, and they’re paying Yasmany Tomas too much to let him rot on the bench. That casts some doubt on how much playing time Lamb will get, but he looks like a better player to me. He’s certainly a better defender, and his generally excellent MiLB numbers suggest some growth potential at the plate.

As far as Pablo Sandoval is concerned, I’m surprised no one else ranked him outside the top 20. A dead cat bounce may be in the offing, but his walk rate and ISO have been steadily trending downward since 2012. Here’s his average 5x5 production over that time: .271, 13 homers, 55 runs, 65 RBI, and one-quarter of a stolen base. He’s perpetually out of shape, currently battling pneumonia, and coming off one of the worst seasons by any regular in recent memory. In the words of JFK, “Um, er, ah…”

Next up in our rankings series is the outfield, to be published tomorrow and Monday. Those rankings weren’t nearly as harmonious. Stay tuned.

Third Base Rankings for 2016 Fantasy Baseball

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