The 2024 season was only the second time in the last nine full seasons that fewer than 15 third base eligible players hit 20 or more home tuns. 2025 was the third, with just nine players at the position hitting 20 or more home runs. Again health kept the number down, with Jordan Westburg, Max Muncy, Alex Bregman, Austin Riley and Yoan Moncada all failing to register 500 plate appearances, when all four would have assuredly hit 20 or more if they had been healthy, but gone are the days of the hot corner being overrun with 30 and 40 homer hitters. The position is not as deep as it once was, with question marks arriving before you are able to make it out of the top 10. There is some hope out of the younger players, with three under-25s inside the top 10 and 15 players under 30 inside the top 20, but only a few of the group look like that can be impact fantasy players at this point. There is hope that the position could become much deeper very quickly, though, as some of the elite prospect shortstop are moved off of their position due to size or team makeup (like JJ Wetherholt in St. Louis, Sebastian Walcott in Texas or Leo De Vries with the Athletics), which would push out those question marks and strengthen the group overall.

Jose Ramirez is still the golden standard at third base, but Junior Caminero and Jazz Chisholm should give him a run for his money this year. Sal Stewart and Noelvi Marte should see plenty of run time in Cincinnati, though both will probably lose their third base eligibility due to playing other positions full time (1B for Stewart; RF for Marte), with Ke’Bryan Hayes starting at the hot corner. Plus, the Blue Jays chose to go even more international at the hot corner, signing Kzauma Okamoto out of the NPB, one of the most prestigious hitters of the last eight year in Japan, as they make their bid for another World Series run.

Stats are from 2025; Age is the player’s age on opening

Ramirez is the quietest superstar in the league, perennially overshadowed by the likes of Aaron Judge, Bobby Witt Jr., Shohei Ohtani, Bryce Harper and others, even though he has been the fifth most productive offensive player since 2021 and one of only nine hitters to generate 25 or more fWAR. He has hit 20 or more home runs in every (non-Covid) season since 2017 and stolen 20 or more bases in eight out of the last nine. He stole 34 bases in 2018 and then didn’t top 30 again until the past two seasons, when he set a career-high in back-to-back seasons with 41 in 2024 and then 44 last year. Not many players set career highs in stolen bases in their age-32 season, but that’s just what makes Ramirez unique. He has led third basemen in stolen bases in each of the last three seasons, is third in home runs at the position over that time, first in runs, third in RBI and first in batting average. He is the oldest player that is the best at their position and has performed well regardless of the structure of the Guardians lineup or how well the team has performed overall. He will lose the top spot one of these years, but 2026 is not it.

Caminero led all third basemen with 45 home runs in 2025, finishing second in runs and second in RBI at the position. He became just the fourth third baseman over the last 20 seasons to hit 45 or more home runs (Jose Bautista & Alex Rodriguez each had a season with 54; Eugenio Suarez two seasons with 49) and the second youngest player to hit 45 or more in a season (the youngest: Eddie Mathews, who was 101 days younger and hit 47 way back in 1953). He has plus-plus power, with the upside to hit 50 or more home runs, if he maintains his contact gains. He struggles to life the ball, with a 38% fly ball rate (eight-and-a-half points lower than his ground ball rate) and can be prone to chasing, but should be an elite level producer for many years to come. He has never been particularly known for his prowess on the base paths, but is capable enough in this new stolen base environment that he should be able to grab 10 or more in a few seasons. He has the best shot at leaping over Jose Ramirez and taking over the number one spot, but he will be more of a three category monster, that shouldn’t hurt you in average, than a five category guy like Ramirez.

Chisholm’s first full year in New York went about as well as could be expected, outside of missing over a month of the season due to a right oblique strain. His 31 homers were a new career best, as was his 10.9% walk rate, leading to the highest on-base percentage of his career. The Yankees moved him all around their lineup, with the bulk of his season spent in the fifth or sixth spot, but he was productive no matter where they had him. Chisholm has had problems with left-handed pitchers in the past, but had his most success in 2025, posting a 106 wRC+, his first over 100, with one-fifth of his home runs coming off of lefties, while also striking out at a lower rate against them. He does have some problems, though, with poor swing decisions leading the way. His contact rate dropped back below 70%, he had his second highest whiff rate and he failed to make contact with nearly a quarter of all pitches in the strike zone. He had the third highest strikeout rate out of qualifying players at the position, but he also had the third highest walk rate and produces enough value in the four other fantasy categories, so his poor batting average (or on-base percentage, if you count that instead) doesn’t hurt nearly as much.

Machado has been one of the most consistent stars in the game since 2015, hitting 27 or more home runs in every (non-covid) season since then, rarely missing time – he has 600 or more plate appearances in 11 of the past 13 seasons and has the second most fWAR among third basemen (minimum 4000 plate appearances) since 2015. He has made quality contact throughout his, with a 12.9% (second highest of career), in 2025 and generates plenty of hard contact, with a career 47% rate and a 51.5% last season. He makes relatively smart wing decisions, even if the contact rate dropped to a career low and the whiff rate was the highest of his career in 2025. Machado will no longer challenge for home run crowns or A batting average title, but he’s not going to hurt you in any category and still hits in the middle of a very good lineup. He’s not an elite all around player like Ramirez, a power hitter like Caminero or a speedster like Chisholm, but he does more than anyone else left in the rankings.

The breakout that many fantasy players had been waiting for finally happened in 2025, with Garcia setting career-highs nearly across the board. He had a career-best in home runs, RBI, batting average, OBP, slugging, walk rate, strikeout rate, contact rate, swinging strike rate, barrel rate, fly ball rate, chase rate, zone-contact rate and wRC+. Garcia has had an average exit velocity in the top-30% for the past three seasons, but it took making more quality contact (5.6% barrel rate being a career best from someone who has a career contact rate of 85% and zone contact rate of 90.3% is kind of nuts) and finally elevating the ball 37.7% fly ball rate isn’t amazing, but it is much better than 27.4% and 30.7%, his first two full season rates. He’s always been pretty good on the base paths, having stolen 23 or more bases in all three full seasons, and his wonderful eye at the plate (combined with his elite defense) has kept him on the field, but he finally put all of his tools together and produced a great season. The Royals offense should be improved in 2026, with Isaac Collins added to the outfield in trade and (hopefully) full big league seasons from Jac Caglianone and Carter Jensen, which pushes Garcia’s ceiling even higher. Getting to bat leadoff in front of Bobby Witt Jr. is not a bad place to be and it is where Garcia should find himself far more often than not in 2026.

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Anthony Kates

I’m a husband, father and fantasy sports fanatic. I’ve been playing some fantasy sport or other since the fall of 1996, thanks to one of my childhood best friends, Brent. I enjoy watching all major sports, reading fantasy novels, watching TV shows and movies, playing video games and writing about fantasy baseball. I started at Sports Ethos in 2023, just writing one article a week and cutting my teeth in fantasy sports writing and I am now a co-lead of the Fantasy Baseball department, co-host of the Fantasy MLB Today podcast and the author of two weekly articles, our dynasty baseball rankings and a handful of random articles a year. I support the Houston Astros, Dallas Mavericks, Tennessee Titans and all things Texas Longhorns.

• AK Dynasty 300 Rankings: Shortstop
• AK Dynasty 300 Rankings: Third Base
• AK Dynasty 300 Rankings: Second Base