Dynasty Fantasy Baseball Crystal Ball - Projecting The Top 10 Third Basemen for 2029

Kevin projects the top 10 fantasy baseball dynasty third basemen going into the 2029 MLB season. His top MLB third basemen to increase their fantasy values for dynasty leagues include Maikel Garcia, J.J. Wetherholt, Sebastian Walcott, and more.

This is the fourth article of my offseason Dynasty Crystal Ball Series, where I project the top 10 players at each position for the 2029 season. In dynasty, it's important to understand the current value of players, but being able to project their value going forward is a way you can get ahead of the rest of your league mates.

We're looking at the third base position, which, like second base, is one of the weakest positions in fantasy. Could this position receive an infusion of talent in the coming years through prospects and players changing positions?

Let's take a look at how the first base position will look for dynasty in three years. A note about how I'm looking at positions for these rankings is that I'm giving my best assumption on what each player's primary position will be going into 2029, and only ranking them in one position. Check here if you missed any of the previous rankings: (Catcher), (First Base), (Second Base).

No. 10: Addison Barger, Toronto Blue Jays

Age in 2029: 29.37

One of the postseason heroes for the Toronto Blue Jays, Barger showed a lot of the upside he showed earlier this season on the biggest stage this October. In the first half of the season, he had a 125 WRC+ and 13 HRs. However, he only had an 87 WRC+ and eight HRs in the second half.

While you don't want to get too excited about postseason performances, his 188 WRC+ over 68 PAs definitely helped his dynasty value. This was also likely a huge boost to Barger's confidence after he struggled in the second half of the regular season.

Hopefully, this will carry over into a strong season in 2026. One of the potential red flags for Barger is a platoon risk, as he did struggle last season against lefties. He only had a 69 WRC+ and struck out over 30% of the time. However, I expect he'll get better against lefties with more exposure, and he showed he can hit against them in a big way in the postseason.

Addison Barger just hit the first pinch-hit grand slam in World Series history. pic.twitter.com/WUU1u3E7wC

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) October 25, 2025

No. 9: Austin Riley, Atlanta Braves

Age in 2029: 31.98

So what happened to Riley after 2023? After three straight monster seasons where he hit 33, 38, and 37 HRs, Riley has been pretty disappointing in each of the last two seasons. He missed about a third of the season in both 2024 and 2025, but he has failed to hit 20 HRs in either season.

He also only had a 103 WRC+ in 2025, the worst season of his career since 2020. Riley also struck out 28.6% of the time, his highest rate since his rookie season.

There is still some hope for Riley as he has strong quality of contact metrics, but he'll need to get back to hitting 30 HRs to be an exciting fantasy option. He doesn't run, and if his average isn't going to be a plus, only hitting 25 HRs a season isn't going to cut it for the guy who was at the top of these lists not too long ago.

No. 8: Jose Ramirez, Cleveland Guardians

Age in 2029 (Around Opening Day): 36.52

Oh, where to put a 36-year-old Ramirez? The king of the third base position in fantasy for the last decade is currently showing no signs of slowing down in his early 30s. He's coming off back-to-back 30 HR/40 SB seasons, including a 2024 season where he almost went 40/40.

There isn't a whole lot to say about Ramirez. He's a nearly perfect fantasy player. He has power, speed, and an elite approach at the plate. He's never struck out over 17% of the time in his entire career and is coming off a season where he almost walked (9.8%) as much as he struck out (11%).

I can see a scenario where contending teams will just let J-Ram retire on their teams and ride off into the sunset with him rather than trying to cash out for a younger asset. I might be doing that in the league where I have him.

No. 7: Aidan Miller, Philadelphia Phillies

Age in 2029: 24.79

Miller is going to be one of the big risers in my offseason Top 100 prospect update. He is coming off a great season in the high minors at only the age of 21. He had a 137 WRC+ with 14 HRs and 59 SBs to go along with a strong approach at the plate. He walked 15.6% of the time while only striking out 23.4% of the time. He also had a monster last couple of months.

I truly believe 2026 is the year, we see Miller. He's, in my opinion, one of the best the Phillies have had in a while.

His final 187 PA:
.356/.492/.596 (1.088 OPS)
23 XBH
18.2 BB%
17.1 K%
205 wRC+
22 SB (59 on the year)https://t.co/c2sjOaITKl

— Joseph Cammisa (@jcammisabsbl) November 11, 2025

With Trea Turner locked up long-term to play shortstop, there is speculation that the Phillies could trade Alec Bohm to open up third base in the short term for Miller. Regardless, he should be a fixture in the Phillies lineup going forward as they really need an injection of youth.

No. 6: Colson Montgomery, Chicago White Sox

Age in 2029: 27.08

Hand up- I was totally out on Colson Montgomery as a prospect prior to him making his MLB debut in 2025. To be fair to me, he was extremely bad over his last two seasons in the minors. In 2024, he had a 80 WRC+ in Triple-A while striking out 28.6 percent of the time and was even worse in 2025. He had a 78 WRC+ while striking out 33.0 percent of the time in the minors. How was this guy going to be able to hit major league pitching if he was striking out this often in the minors?

Well when the White Sox brought Montgomery back to the complex for a reset, they did some magic on him because he was suddenly ready to be a very good major league hitter. In about half a season on the South Side, Montgomery hit 21 HRs with a 129 WRC+ while cutting his K-rate to 29.2 percent. This was a shocking development for a young player who had struggled so immensely in the minors to come up to the majors and have so much success.

I do have some concerns about Montgomery's hit tool giving him problems as major league pitchers learn to attack his weaknesses but you can't fake the power upside he possesses. I'm not going to go crazy and say he'll definitely be a 40+ HR bat since he hit 21 in under half a season but being a regular 30+ HR bat feels not only possible, but likely.

Originally when I was doing my lists, I had Montgomery at shortstop as he was solid there defensively. However, the Pope pulled some strings and helped the White Sox win the 2026 Draft Lottery. The current consensus top player is Roch Cholowsky, a college shortstop. If the White Sox end up drafting him, I imagine either he or their 2025 first rounder, Billy Carlson, will be pushing Montgomery to the hot corner by the time 2029 rolls around.

No. 5: Jordan Westburg, Baltimore Orioles

Age in 2029: 30.10

There was a lot of excitement for Westburg after his 2024 season, in which he had a 124 WRC+ and 18 HRs in 107 games. He had a very similar season in 2025, and there seems to be far less excitement for him. He had 17 HRs in 22 fewer games, with basically the same average and OBP and a similar K-rate.

I think Westburg is a really good buy-low candidate right now because I think the sentiment around him as a player has maybe lowered a bit despite him not being much worse in 2025, just injured. However, I do wonder if there is a next level that he can take his game.

He seems like a solid .260-.270 hitter with mid-20's HR power. If he hits for more power or starts to run a bit, he could make his way higher on this list. He has only stolen 11 bases in his major league career and didn't run much in the minors despite having an 89th percentile sprint speed.

No. 4: Maikel Garcia, Kansas City Royals

Age in 2029: 30.10

Fantasy players have been hoping for a Garcia breakout for each of the last few seasons, and it finally occurred in 2025. Garcia has always had elite bat-to-ball skills, solid quality of contact metrics, and good speed. However, he finally put it all together in a great fantasy season.

Garcia had a 121 WRC+ with 16 HRs and 23 SBs. Along with his career high in HRs, he also had the best plate approach of his career. He struck out at a career low 12.6% of the time while walking at a career best 9.3% of the time.

Garcia's profile isn't the sexiest, but he should give you solid production for years at a position where it may be hard to find quality production.

No. 3: J.J. Wetherholt, St. Louis Cardinals

Age in 2029: 26.54

In a draft class filled with fast-rising college players who reached the majors and a stud high schooler who is now the top prospect in baseball, Wetherholt kind of flew under the radar by "only" being an awesome hitter in the high minors in his debut professional season.

Other than not getting the call to the majors, Wetherholt's 2025 season was pretty perfect. He had a 154 WRC+ between Double-A and Triple-A to go along with 17 HRs and 23 SBs. He walked (14.5%) almost as much as he struck out (14.7%), and he got to even more power when he got the bump to Triple-A. He hit 10 of his 17 HRs at the level, and his ISO jumped from .166 to .249.

JJ Wetherholt is named IL top prospect - could easily hit the ground running next opening day with this type of hit toolhttps://t.co/H5L0ORNHTQ https://t.co/cAKA4gGytK pic.twitter.com/KtUmylATX9

— Prospect Savant (@ProspectSavant) September 28, 2025

Wetherholt has nothing left to prove in the minors and has a chance to break camp in St. Louis next season. There has been speculation that playing time could be opened up for him by the Cardinals trading Nolan Arenado this winter. Masyn Winn has been a very good defensive shortstop, so Wetherholt will likely get bumped to third, which would make for a very exciting young right side of the infield.

No. 2: Sebastian Walcott, Texas Rangers

Age in 2029: 23.03

Everyone who knows me knows that I'm the conductor of the Walcott hype train. While he didn't have the monster season in 2025 that I was hoping for, there were a lot of things that still gave me a lot to be excited about. He only had a 110 WRC+ with 13 HRs and 32 SBs, but he did all of this as a 19-year-old in Double-A.

He also drastically improved in the biggest aspect of his game that needed improvement- his plate approach. He cut his strikeout rate by six points from 2024 down to 19.6% while increasing his walk rate up to 12.7%. He also finished the season extremely strong, a pattern for him in which he struggles a bit at new levels and really turns it on after he's settled in.

Sebastian Walcott in his last 20 games:

.338 AVG
.929 OPS
16 BB | 12 K
166 wRC+

The 19-year-old has found it in Double-A👀 pic.twitter.com/AliYeJhgow

— The Call Up | An MLB Prospect Podcast (@The_CallUpPod) September 12, 2025

Walcott has some of the best raw power in the minors: Fangraphs has it at 60 current/80 future. He needs to become more consistent in getting to hit game power, but I expect that to happen as he matures. Remember- he is only 19 years old in the upper minors. A little more consistency and maturity will turn him into a future fantasy monster.

In terms of why I have him at third when he has played a lot of shortstop in the minors, I kind of went back and forth here. If the Rangers trade Corey Seager, Walcott is the obvious future in Texas at the position. However, if they don't trade him, I think they'll have Walcott focus on one position (third) while he adjusts to being a major league hitter. They have a utility player like Josh Smith fill in the gaps for Seager at short when he goes on his yearly stints on the injured list.

No. 1: Junior Caminero, Tampa Bay Rays

Age in 2029: 25.72

Caminero was one of the easier picks to be at the top of his position for dynasty in 2029 when I was doing these rankings. The young slugger was one of the most exciting prospects in baseball, and he fully lived up to the hype this season.

Caminero had 45 HRs with a 129 WRC+ while only striking out 19.1% of the time in 2025. His quality of contact metrics was also very strong.

One of my favorite aspects of Caminero's profile is that he swings so hard (tied with Oneil Cruz for fastest average swing speed), but it hasn't come with a strikeout issue. He and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. are the only players in the top ten of the league in this metric that aren't striking out over 20% of the time.

There is some worry with Caminero regarding the Rays moving back to the Tropicana Field after this season at George M. Steinbrenner Field, given he was much better at home this season. However, although he had a much better average at home, he actually hit more HRs on the road in 2025, so I don't think he'll have an issue hitting HRs wherever he plays, and I'm betting on that average not being a big issue.

Honorable Mentions

• Matt Shaw, CHC
• Manny Machado, SD
• Alex Bregman, FA
• Noelvi Marte, CIN
• Royce Lewis, MIN

Third Basemen I'm Projecting At Another Position

• Sal Stewart, CIN (1B)
• Cam Smith, HOU (OF)
• Rafael Devers, SF (DH)
• Isaac Paredes, HOU (1B)

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