Fantasy baseball third basemen #2: Nolan Arenado
What can I say about Nolan Arenado that hasn’t been said? The guy’s a stud. The righty slashed .293/.358/.533/.891, which was an OPS+ of 154. He hit 30 homers, 42 doubles, drove in 103 runs, and scored 73. He finished third in NL MVP voting and he won the Gold Glove and Silver Slugger for third basemen. This is his fifth season where he’s finished in the top eight of MVP voting and won those two awards, and he’s won the Gold Glove every season he’s played, which you love to see if your league has assists as a scoring category.
Fantasy baseball third basemen #1: Manny Machado
As incredible as Arenado was last year, Machado was even better, so he gets the top spot on this year’s fantasy baseball third basemen rankings. He hit .298/.366/.531/.898, good for an OPS+ of 159. He slugged 32 homers, 37 doubles, drove in 102 runs, and scored 100. He finished second in MVP voting, just ahead of Arenado but behind Paul Goldschmidt. Machado still received several first-place votes, and he was more-than deserving with the career year he had. He got a lifetime contract extension from San Diego, so expect more of the same from the future Hall of Famer.
How would you rank your top fantasy baseball third basemen? Let us know in the comments.