Fantasy baseball third basemen #8: Eugenio Suarez
Eugenio Suarez was seen as the salary-dump, throw-in piece in the trade that also sent Jesse Winker to the Mariners, but he had the better season for the Mariners. Suarez slashed .236/.332/.459/.791, good for an OPS+ of 129. He hit 31 homers, 24 doubles, drove in 87 runs, and scored 76. The knock on Suarez is that he strikes out a ton, he led the league in strikeouts for the second time in his career with 196, but the power is real and the Mariners’ lineup is deep, so he’s primed to have another big year in Seattle.
Fantasy baseball third basemen #7: Matt Chapman
Matt Chapman struggled mightily in 2021, but he bounced back in a big way in 2022. He slashed .229/.324/.433/.757, good for a 115 OPS+. He hit 27 homers and doubles, drove in 76 runs, and scored 83. The pressure is on for him to repeat or be better in 2023 for two reasons: 1) Teoscar Hernandez was traded to Seattle, so that’s a big power bat gone from the Blue Jays’ lineup, and 2) he is a free agent after this season. If he has a big year, he will likely be the second-best free agent available, after Shohei Ohtani, of course.