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Welcome to another installment of RotoBaller's midseason fantasy baseball rankings! Today we're taking a look at the hot corner, where the 3B rankings and tiers are named after Paul Thomas Anderson films.
As with my first base/Radiohead album rankings, I welcome dissent from our readers. You can find me on Twitter @amoralpanic.
Editor’s Note: You can check out all of RotoBaller’s 2015 fantasy baseball midseason rankings and analysis, which has been updated over the past few days.
More rankings: Starting Pitchers (Part 1), Starting Pitchers (Part 2), First Base (1B), Second Base (2B), Shortstop (SS), Outfield (Part 1), Outfield (Part 2), Catcher (C), Relief Pitchers (RP)
Tier 1 - Boogie Nights
Josh Donaldson
Todd Frazier
Manny Machado
Nolan Arenado
Kris Bryant
Donaldson has taken to his new home exactly as well as most expected. At the halfway point, he's been the best third baseman in baseball, and should garner serious MVP consideration. Frazier's 25 homers lead all players at the position and he's added eight stolen bases for good measure. There were some questions about Machado's maturity and health after last season, but much like fellow phenom Bryce Harper, he's silenced the doubters with a breakout season. Arenado leads the majors with 68 RBI and trails only Harper and Giancarlo Stanton in isolated power. Despite the service time shenanigans and an extended homer drought to begin his career, Bryant has lived up to the hype. It's shaping up to be one of the most exciting Rookie of the Year races in baseball history between him and Joc Pederson.
Tier 2 - There Will Be Blood
Justin Turner
Maikel Franco
Miguel Sano
Mike Moustakas
Adrian Beltre
Turner leads all third basemen with a .395 wOBA and carries eligibility at first, second, and short in Yahoo leagues. Franco has been one of the few bright spots in a predictably disastrous Phillies season, and in most years would garner serious Rookie of the Year consideration. While Sano has only recently reached the majors, he has looked completely comfortable during a blistering start and is hitting cleanup for the Twins. After a few years in the wilderness, Moustakas seems to have finally figured things out. As for Beltre, I'm just not ready to write off one of the best, most consistent producers at the position over the last several seasons after a couple of rough months.
Tier 3 - The Master
Kyle Seager
Matt Carpenter
Luis Valbuena
Evan Longoria
Matt Duffy
While Seager's numbers are down from his career year in 2014, he's still on track to reach the 20 HR plateau as he did in each of his first three full seasons. Carpenter has cooled after a sizzling start but still hits high in the Cardinals order, making him a solid source of runs in addition to batting average or OBP. Valbuena may be a complete BA sink, but he's on pace for 35 homers and 160 R+RBI. Longoria's depleted power has made him a fringe starter in shallower formats, though a resurgence wouldn't be shocking. It's tough to get a handle on Duffy. He only played 97 games above A-ball before getting called up last year. I would expect a bit of regression in the power department but he should steal more bases in the second half.
Tier 4 - Magnolia
Trevor Plouffe
Juan Uribe
David Wright
Pablo Sandoval
Yunel Escobar
Brett Lawrie
Plouffe has turned into a solid MLB regular, albeit a thoroughly unexciting fantasy option. He is on pace to set career highs in the counting stats, though. Uribe is like Jason Voorhees - he just won't die. Wright's back injury still sounds pretty scary, and he wasn't very good last year besides. This seems like a safe place to rank him. Panda's first year in Boston has been a tire fire, and it's hard to believe how many people didn't see that coming. Escobar has been a pleasant surprise for the injury-riddled Nationals, though some regression seems likely. Ditto for Lawrie, whose solid contributions this season are fueled by an unsustainable .379 BABIP. Between that and his injury history, skepticism is merited.
Tier 5 - Inherent Vice
Aramis Ramirez
Jung-ho Kang
Martin Prado
David Freese
Ramirez has been much better of late, but those awful first two months aren't easily forgotten. Kang, conversely, has slumped in recent weeks. The injury to Josh Harrison should keep him playing every day and give him ample opportunity to turn things around. Prado should be back from the DL after the break and resume being his thoroughly unspectacular self. Did you know Freese is 32 years old? That's only four years younger than Uribe, who feels like he's been around for about three decades longer than Freese.
Tier 6 - Hard Eight
Chase Headley
Jake Lamb
Josh Harrison
Headley's 2012 is quickly entering the same bizarre outlier stratosphere as Brady Anderson's 50 HR season. Moving from Petco to Yankee Stadium has done precisely nothing for his value. Lamb has decent numbers so far, but it's a small sample fueled by a sky-high BABIP and he may lose playing time going forward due to roster crunch. Harrison would have ranked one tier higher before his injury.
Tier 7 - Punch-Drunk Love
Giovanny Urshela
Nick Castellanos
Will Middlebrooks
Gordon Beckham
Conor Gillaspie
At this point, I feel pretty comfortable saying that everybody in this tier simply can't hit.
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