Machado, Chapman or Ramírez, who is the No.1 in 3B?
Our classification of the best in each position continues with a familiar face that is in a new team and enters the scene in the third base.
Spring training camps are underway, which means it is time to analyze baseball status. As part of our preview of the 2025 season of the MLB, Buster Olney of AM850 Bring your classification series by positions back, in which you surveyed people in the industry to help you classify the 10 best players in each position.
Today, we classify cream and cream in the third base.
The objective of this exercise is to identify the best players for the 2025 season, not who could be the best in five years or throughout their career. We will present a position per day during the next two weeks under the following calendar: Receptors, First Base, Second Base, Campocortos (21/2), corner gardeners (24/2), central gardeners (25/2), designated batters (designated batters ( 26/2), opening launchers (27/2) and relieved (28/2).
There are many ways in which José Ramírez generates value for the Guardians, from his power to his patience on the plate, through his aggressiveness in the bases and his high level defense. He is the most prominent player in his position, with perhaps a greater separation between him and his third -base companions than anywhere else.
But there is also value for the franchise in its mere presence. Guardians completely understand the limits of their circumstances. They selected and developed CC Sabathia, and the Sabathia plate in the Hall of Fame will wear a Yankees cap. Cliff Lee became a star with Cleveland, and the franchise had to move it before his salary became too onerous. Francisco Lindor became a star in Cleveland, and while looking and a Mets cap.
Ramírez decided to stay, presumably for much less money than he could have obtained elsewhere on the market. It is the Tony Gwynn, the Cal Ripken of his generation, in the sense that he prioritized the life and experience he has and enjoys with his first and only team. Due to that decision, the Guardians have one of the best players in the American League (last year, Ramírez ended up among the top five in the MVP race for the fifth time in his career) and someone who has been consistent in his preparation and your effort. “Play very hard,” said an evaluator. “That’s all that does. Spring training, day games after night games, whatever your best player doing that every day, working hard … is very important.”
The value evaluated for the MVP awards has changed over time, and the voters have inclined to choose the player who generates the greatest production, instead of doing so through the prism of the team’s success, and this seems appropriate. But it is difficult to imagine a more valuable player for his team of what Ramírez is for the Guardians.
Top 10 of third base players
1. José Ramírez, Cleveland Guardians
When their credentials are considered for the Hall of Fame within a few years, its relative domain in its position should take it near a very high voting percentage. Among all the third base since 2016, it has the first place in FWAR, with 43.4, more than Nolan Arenado, which is second with 41.3.
2. Matt Chapman, San Francisco Giants
He has won five gold gloves and last year, he hit 39 doubles and 27 homers, which earned some votes for the most valuable player. His 7.1 War was the highest since 2019.
At the end of last season, Chapman pressed for a contract extension with the giants instead of proven free agency again, and finally signed a six -year contract for $ 151 million. In the end, that contract largely defined the financial parameters for Alex Bregman’s negotiations, because they are very comparable players: age close, similar to skills. The offer that the stars made to Bregman, six years and $ 156 million, was almost identical to Chapman’s, as well as the offer of $ 171 million of the tigers, which included a lot of deferred money.
3. Rafael Devers, Boston Red Sox
In recent days, some members of rival teams saw Devers draw a line in the sand and say that the third base is yours and that it will not serve as a designated batter, but the general consensus was: yes, it will eventually leave. Because deep down, it is a quiet guy. “It’s like many of us: he likes to please,” said an evaluator. “It will be with (Alex) Bregman and his other teammates and he will see how good the team can be, and he will say yes.”
But that does not guarantee success as a designated batter, said a long -careful executive, because some players, even the big players, do not respond well to the time of inactivity that entails being designated batter. They prefer the distraction of playing in the field between appearances on the plate.
The always energetic Ramírez gave a great example of this last year with the Guardians. In 126 games playing in the interior box, he hit .301, with an OPS of .948. In 32 games as a designated batter of Cleveland, its PAHO was almost 400 points smaller: Ramírez’s offensive line was .192/.241/.569.
There may be an adjustment period for devers as designated batter. You have a good mentor available to advise it, if necessary, if you wish: the member of the Hall of Fame of the Red Sox David Ortiz.
4. Manny Machado, San Diego Padres
He should reach 2,000 hits in his career at some point in the middle of the summer, if he remains healthy, and it is possible that he connects his home run number 400 in 2026. He will soon surpass Sammy Sosa, Dick Allen, Mike Piazza and Vladimir Guerrero Mr. in War for life.
5. Austin Riley, Atlanta Braves
Spencer Stider and Ronald Acuña Jr. injuries were the toughest blows to the Bravos championship aspirations last year, and the decisive blow could have been when Riley suffered a fracture in his hand on August 18, which he put end to your season. He will turn 28 in 2025, in the fourth year of a 10 -year contract.
6. Jordan Westburg, Baltimore Orioles
The evaluators talk about their presence in the middle of the alignment, which was surprised long after a line broke his hand last July. Westburg, who bats fifth or sixth, thrives when there are opportunities to score races: in 2024, he had an OPS of .923 with runners in the position of scoring.
7. Max Muncy, Los Angeles Dodgers
The upper part of the alignment of the Dodgers is impossible for the pitchers, a trio of future members of the Hall of Fame, and after that, the oppositional pitchers (and the manager) have to find a way to overcome the group of batters Hard and experienced, like Muncy. On its worst day, Muncy extends his spin to bat and is rammed, and is a threat of power. In his seven seasons with the, he has an OBP of .356 and 190 homers.
8. Eugenio Suárez, Arizona Diamondbacks
Budget limitations have forced Seattle to make difficult decisions, such as transferring the relatively modest salary of Suárez in an agreement with Arizona in November 2023. Although he won $ 11.3 million in 2024, Suárez connected 30 homers and recorded an OPS of .788, what which led the diamondbacks to exercise the option of $ 15 million by 2025.
9. Alec Bohm, Philadelphia Phillies
He had one of the strangest low baseball seasons. In November the news was leaked that the Philis were open to the idea of redeeming it, and then, after a month of speculation, its name disappeared from the winter market. Maybe the Philis concentrated in their potential, how well he did in the first half, when he hit .295.
10. Nolan Arenado, St. Louis Cardinals
For when included in the Hall of Fame, the sand situation this winter will have been forgotten, a moment within a race of greatness. But the market response to its possibility was clear: the Dodgers and the Yankees, among other teams, could have configured their winter movements to incorporate it, and let it pass, probably for concern about their diminished offensive numbers.
His percentage of .394 slugging last season was the lowest of his career. If you recover earlier this year and be a batter again half of the order, the teams will call San Luis to ask. If you have problems, the cardinals will continue to have difficulty finding a deal for him.
Outstanding mentions
Isaac Paredes, Houston Astros: He will replace Bregman in the third base and play in a stadium that seems designed for his swing. Since the beginning of 2022, Paredes has the highest percentage of shaving of any MLB batter, apart from Joey Gallo, and also occupies the 15th position in terms of high percentage. It could generate large numbers in Houston.
Junior Caminero, Tampa Bay Rays: It seems to be ready for a great performance after a good one last year and after announcing its presence with authority during the winter with an epic Bat Flip (in the final of the Dominican League). He is ultra aggressive on the plate, but hurts: he hit 16 extrabases in 43 games last year; Not bad for a 21 -year -old.
Royce Lewis, Minnesota Twins: Due to the injuries, he has been limited to a game season in his career, 152, and at that time, he has accumulated 33 homers and an OPS+ adjusted from 133. When he is healthy, he is a player who makes a difference.
Josh Jung, Texas Rangers: He suffered a doll fracture just four games after starting last season, an injury that was a great loss for Texas. He returned and played 46 games, but he had to undergo a second surgery in October, and his state this year is one of the great unknowns for the Rangers.
