Eric Cross' Top 10 Third Base (3B) Dynasty Fantasy Baseball Rankings for 2025

February 18, 2025

Eric Cross' top third base (3B) dynasty fantasy baseball rankings heading into 2025. He discusses his top 3B targets for fantasy baseball dynasty leagues.

The hot corner was more lukewarm several years ago, but it's smoking hot entering 2025 with plenty of elite talent and depth as well. This might even be the most exciting infield position for fantasy right now.

I'll be continuing my positional dynasty fantasy baseball rankings series today with the third base position. All 10 players below are inside my Top 100 overall and there are another handful of third basemen that aren't far off.

For my additional dynasty fantasy baseball rankings and write-ups, check out my Patreon, where you can find my full Top 75 Third Base Dynasty Rankings. Also make sure to continue checking RotoBaller, as I'm going to be going through all positions in the coming weeks!

3B Dynasty Rankings for Fantasy Baseball

For my dynasty positional rankings article series, I'm only including players at one spot. This will primarily be where they played the most in 2024, but I'll include certain players at certain positions if they're eligible and/or it's clear they'll be at a new position in 2025. I'll make notes throughout the rankings for where certain players would rank that aren't included in my writeups below.

1. José Ramírez, CLE (Age 32)

It's not often that you see a 32-year-old at the top of any dynasty positional list, but José Ramírez has cemented himself as the alpha dog at this position until he gets a few years older or one of the names below rises up and overtakes him. If we exclude the shortened 2020 season, Ramírez has seven straight seasons of at least 23 home runs, six straight seasons of at least 20 steals, and has eclipsed 100 runs and 100 RBI four times each in the last seven full seasons.

José Ramírez is one home run away from a 40/40 season! 🐐#ForTheLand pic.twitter.com/V7ADFuPObL

— Cleveland Guardians (@CleGuardians) September 28, 2024

Yes, Ramírez is 32, but he's showing no signs of slowing down. In 2025, Ramírez once again had a zone contact rate above 90% and an overall contact rate above 85% with above-average quality of contact metrics and an elite approach. He should continue to be a fantasy stud for the next few years.

2. Rafael Devers, BOS (Age 28)

While his production tailed off late in the season, it was still another good year for Rafael Devers. The 2024 season was his fourth straight season with at least 84 runs, 34 doubles, 27 home runs, 83 RBI, and an average north of .270. We also saw Devers post a 13 percent barrel rate and 52.6 percent hard-hit rate in 2024, marking the fifth straight season with a barrel rate over 11.5 percent and the fourth straight season with a hard-hit rate above 50 percent.

I'm expecting a bigger season from Devers in 2025 as he wasn't 100 percent for the entire season and was limited to just 138 games. The Red Sox lineup should be better around him in 2025 as well with a full season of Triston Casas and the newly acquired Alex Bregman in the mix. Outside of Ramírez, Devers is as safe as they come at this position with a realistic chance to provide Top 20 value once again in 2025.

3. Austin Riley, ATL (Age 27)

On the surface, it was a down season for Austin Riley. On top of being limited to 469 plate appearances, Riley's slash line dipped to .256/.322/.461. That's a fine slash line but underwhelming for a hitter of Riley's caliber who was coming off a .281/.345/.516 slash line in 2023 and .273/.349/.528 in 2022 along with 38 and 37 home runs respectively.

But assuming we have a healthy Riley in 2025, I'm expecting him to return to his pre-2024 form as the metrics under the hood were still impressive for the most part. Riley finished in the top 20 percent of hitters in xBA, xSLG, xwOBA, AVG EV, Barrel%, Hard-Hit%, Sweet-Spot%, and bat speed. Riley even improved his zone and overall contact rates a smidge last season.

Rankings Note: Jazz Chisholm Jr. would rank here and was discussed in my Top 10 Dynasty Second Base Rankings article.

4. Junior Caminero, TB (Age 21)

There aren't many young hitters with more raw power than Junior Caminero. Even in his brief MLB tenure, Caminero has been able to showcase that power with a career 11.8 percent barrel rate and 45.1 percent hard-hit rate through his first 213 plate appearances. In Triple-A, Caminero posted an elite 56.5 percent hard-hit rate. Over a full season, flirting with 35 home runs is definitely a possibility.

Junior Caminero is raking in LIDOM and providing some electric home run celebrations 😤

Through 15 LIDOM Round Robin postseason games, the former No. 1 overall prospect is hitting .448 with a 1.285 OPS, 12 extra-base hits, and 14 RBI. pic.twitter.com/h16qWj39LB

— MLB (@MLB) January 19, 2025

Outside of the power, Caminero's contact skills have been fine and he had an 84 percent zone and 76 percent overall contact rate in Triple-A last season. Power will be the calling card here but Caminero is far from an all-or-nothing power bat and should provide a decent batting average moving forward as well. If everything clicks, we could be looking at another Austin Riley type of hitter with Top 25 overall upside.

5. Jordan Westburg, BAL (Age 26)

A broken hand limited Westburg to 447 plate appearances last season, which is a bummer as Westburg was pacing at around 85 runs, 26 home runs, 90 RBI, and 10 steals. But the silver lining here is that Westburg's perceived value was kept in check to some degree and you can still acquire him for more of a back-end Top-100 price tag.

Westburg does a lot of things well and the sum of the parts is a Top-50 caliber fantasy asset. The contact skills were fine with an 83 percent zone and 74 percent overall contact rate along with an 11.8 percent barrel rate, 91.1 mph AVG EV, 46.1 percent hard-hit rate, and 91st percentile sprint speed. Westburg finished 2024 ranking in the Top-24 percent of hitters in xBA, xSLG, xwOBA, AVG EV, Barrel%, Hard-Hit%, and Sweet-Spot%. He's one of my favorite dynasty targets this offseason at any position.

6. Manny Machado, SDP (Age 32)

You aren't going to find many more consistent hitters than Manny Machado, especially among the top hitters in the league. In all 10 of Machado's MLB seasons, he's had an average exit velocity north of 90 mph and a hard-hit rate above 41 percent. He's also never had a strikeout rate higher than 20.7 percent.

In 2024, Machado hit 29 home runs which was his ninth straight season with at least 28 home runs, and also exceeded 85 RBI for the 10th straight season. Yes, he's 32 and will probably start declining at some point (everyone does), but that time doesn't appear to be soon. Machado is a great target for any contending dynasty team.

7. Royce Lewis, MIN (Age 25)

Determining where to rank and value Royce Lewis is becoming increasingly difficult. The upside is an early-round talent and we've seen that upside in glimpses, but only in glimpses. Lewis has smacked 33 home runs in his first 605 plate appearances but continues to be limited by injuries which cause many to label him as injury-prone or a major durability red flag. We also saw Lewis' average exit velocity drop by 3.1 mph and hard-hit rate drop by 4.3 percent in 2024, but how much of that was due to him battling through injuries?

Given his near-average contact rates and power upside, Lewis could be a .260/30 bat annually if he can stay healthy. But at the same time, we don't know if that can happen or how much speed he'll provide along the way. I'm high on Lewis' talent in general, but the term "Buxton 2.0" has snuck into the back of my mind. It's still far too early to apply that term, but it's a possible outcome here. For now, I've dropped Lewis down my rankings a bit until he can prove he can stay healthy for a full season.

8. Mark Vientos, NYM (Age 25)

It was a big breakout season for Mark Vientos in 2024. In just 454 plate appearances, Vientos swatted 27 home runs with a .266/.322/.516 slash line. Vientos has always been known for his power and that power was impressive last season with a 14.1 percent barrel rate, 91.2 mph AVG EV, and 46.6 percent hard-hit rate. With his quality of contact and lineup spot, a 30/100 season is certainly possible in 2025.

Mark Vientos has been one of the biggest waiver wire gems of the 2024 season.

This is his 17th HR in his last 67 games dating back to May 18th.pic.twitter.com/nb4XEGQ6uW

— Eric Cross (@EricCrossMLB) August 15, 2024

However, Vientos struck out at a 29.7 percent clip last season with a 15.9 percent SwStr rate, 78 percent zone contact rate, and a 68 percent overall contact rate. He's probably more of a .250-.260 hitter moving forward, but you'll take that if it's coming with at least 30 home runs and plenty of RBI. The contact limitations will likely keep Vientos from jumping into the Top-5 at this position, but he could stick as a back-end Top-10 option moving forward.

9. Matt Shaw, CHC (Age 23)

With Isaac Paredes now in Houston, the hot corner in the Windy City is wide open for Matt Shaw to step in this season. In 523 plate appearances last season, Shaw slashed .284/.379/.488 with 21 home runs, 31 steals, an 11.9 percent walk rate, and an 18.2 percent strikeout rate. Shaw did most of his damage over his final 94 games, slashing .306/.384/.525 with 18 home runs and 24 steals following an underwhelming first five weeks of the season.

No single tool for Shaw stands out, but he's above average across the board offensively. Shaw recorded an 86.4 percent zone and 74.3 percent overall contact rate in Triple-A last season while having a hard-hit rate of around 40 percent. The upside is a .270/20/20 type and an annual Top-10 third baseman.

10. Alex Bregman, BOS (Age 30)

After spending nine seasons with Houston, Alex Bregman tested the free agency waters and wound up signing with the Boston Red Sox. While his quality of contact metrics haven't stood out, Bregman has three straight seasons with at least 23 home runs and five seasons with at least 20 home runs in the last six full seasons. The only season in that span when he didn't have 20 home runs was in 2021 when he hit 12 in 91 games.

There were some concerns that Bregman's profile wouldn't fit well in his new home ballpark when the offseason began, but landing in Boston is one of the best-case scenarios for his short-term value. Bregman continues to be an elite source of contact and approach with eight straight seasons with a zone contact rate above 90 percent, an overall contact rate above 85 percent, and a strikeout rate below 16 percent. I'd like to know what happened to his walk rate last season though.

If you enjoyed these rankings and want to see additional rankings, analysis, and more, check out Eric's Toolshed Fantasy Patreon.

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