By Jeff Andriesse
Rotowhine.com Editor
February 4, 2008

Each week leading up to the 2008 major league baseball regular season, Rotowhine.com will dissect the top players in both the American and National League at each key fantasy position.

Top 15 Third Basemen - American League
What’s up with American League infielders? From a fantasy perspective, the AL is trotting out some plain Janes, Hanks, Caseys and Melvins at third base, much like first, second and shortstop. Overall, this looks like a position where, if you get one of the top few guys, you can really get a jump on your competition. If you want to hold your nose and take A-Rod with one of the top picks at your draft, he’ll certainly be worth it. Miguel Cabrera comes to Detroit, and many will be tempted to grab him in the second round in mixed leagues. After that, the third base landscape is littered with guys who are riding reputations based on one monster year such as Mike Lowell and Adrian Beltre; young guys with upside such as Alex Gordon and Josh Fields; and names who are sloping downward and running on fumes such as Scott Rolen, Eric Chavez and Melvin Mora. Let’s see if we can’t sit down, roll up our sleeves, ingest an entire bottle of cognac and make some sense of this.

1. Alex Rodriguez, NYY
2007 5×5 Stats: .314 BA, 143 R, 54 HR, 156 RBI, 24 SB
Age: 32 (7/27/75)
Wawa-wee-wah.
2008 Projections: .304 BA, 133 R, 51 HR, 140 RBI, 20 SB

2. Miguel Cabrera, DET
2007 5×5 Stats: .320 BA, 91 R, 34 HR, 119 RBI, 2 SB
Age: 24 (4/18/83)
He’s just 24 entering the season. He comes to an offense where he could be surrounded by Gary Sheffield, Magglio Ordonez and Carlos Guillen. He’s already one of the game’s great right-handed hitters. So you should bid with major confidence, right? Well, probably, but consider a couple of things. For one, there’s the whole “switching leagues” factor where Cabrera might need some adjustment time that will temper his final stats. Also, Detroit is more of a doubles and triples park than a homer park, so it won’t be a major step up for him from a power perspective. Still, he should easily top his run and RBI totals from last year. Probably a second-rounder in mixed drafts and a no-brainer third-rounder.
2008 Projections: .308 BA, 105 R, 35 HR, 128 RBI, 1 SB

3. Chone Figgins, LAA
2007 5×5 Stats: .330 BA, 81 R, 3 HR, 58 RBI, 41 SB
Age: 30 (1/22/78)
Unfortunately, Figgins loses his middle infield eligibility this year in most formats, but with third base still being rather weak, he’s a very solid pick. He went berserk last year, hitting nearly .400 over the second half of the season after recovering from a broken hand. He can’t possibly hit that well - he was a .267 hitter in ‘06 when was on my team, not coincidentally - but he will probably steal a lot more bases and score tons of runs if he plays a full season.
2008 Projections: .295 BA, 106 R, 5 HR, 62 RBI, 58 SB

4. Mike Lowell, BOS
2007 5×5 Stats: .324 BA, 79 R, 21 HR, 120 RBI, 3 SB
Age: 33 (2/24/74)
Lowell blew up last year out of nowhere - or did he? He basically totaled his career norms in homers and runs scored but hit .324 (31 points higher than his career best) and drove in 120 runs (15 more than he ever had and 40 more than 2006). Lowell proved himself to be a worthy No. 5 hitter behind David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez and he came up with a lot of men on base and delivered ad nauseum. While he is aging, he is doing so more than gracefully. He’s a real pro who will be a solid mid-round third base pick in fantasy leagues this year.
2008 Projections: .301 BA, 87 R, 22 HR, 97 RBI, 3 SB

5. Alex Gordon, KC
2007 5×5 Stats: .247 BA, 60 R, 15 HR, 60 RBI, 14 SB
Age: 23 (2/10/84)
Gordon has long been considered one of the top prospects in baseball. Yes, it is true that a Royal hasn’t been reliable fantasy performer since the days of George Brett, that has to change some time. Gordon could break out in a big way this year and offers more upside than the rest of the players on this list. Why not take a chance in the mid-to-late rounds if he’s available?
2008 Projections: .282 BA, 75 R, 21 HR, 77 RBI, 16 SB

6. Adrian Beltre, SEA
2007 5×5 Stats: .276 BA, 87 R, 26 HR, 99 RBI, 14 SB
Age: 28 (4/7/79)
Fantasy owners throughout the world have been drafting Beltre in recent years hoping they would be the one who would get his 2004 year (.334-48-121). It hasn’t happened in Seattle. He was actually darn good last year. Our guess is Beltre continues to be a tease and takes a minor step back.
2008 Projections: .266 BA, 83 R, 23 HR, 84 RBI, 13 SB

7. Eric Chavez, OAK
2007 5×5 Stats: .241 BA, 43 R, 15 HR, 46 RBI, 4 SB
Age: 30 (12/7/77)
Remember Eric Chavez? He used to be good for around .275 with 30 and 100. Times have changed, as he has had shoulder and back surgery in the last year. Not too promising. Nevertheless, Chavez is expected to be ready for the season and would be a welcome comeback player for fantasy owners reaching for options at the hot corner late in their drafts.
2008 Projections: .279 BA, 80 R, 26 HR, 74 RBI, 2 SB

8. Hank Blalock, TEX
2007 5×5 Stats: .293 BA, 32 R, 10 HR, 33 RBI, 4 SB
Age: 27 (11/21/80)
Blalock actually came close to returning to form at the end of last year, a good sign that he might be healthy. If a full season is in the works, you are looking at a good late value at this position.
2008 Projections: .278 BA, 73 R, 19 HR, 78 HR, 3 SB

9. Josh Fields, CWS
2007 5×5 Stats: .244 BA, 54 R, 23 HR, 67 RBI, 1 SB
Age: 25 (12/14/82)
It makes sense to get excited about Fields, a possible sleeper with excellent power potential. If and when Joe Crede gets traded, Fields does indeed become someone to keep an eye on. We just hate his 125 Ks in 373 at bats and weak batting average. He’s a couple of years away from hitting his stride.
2008 Projections: .252 BA, 70 R, 28 HR, 73 RBI, 0 SB

10. Casey Blake, CLE
2007 5×5 Stats: .270 BA, 81 R, 18 HR, 78 RBI, 4 SB
Age: 34 (8/23/73)
When Blake is on one of his hot streaks, he jumps out at you and you inevitably wonder why you didn’t even consider drafting him. But when he’s in one of his slumps, you totally forget about him. Blake is known for stretches that will totally dampen his final totals. Don’t waste your time on him in mixed leagues.
2008 Projections: .263 BA, 77 R, 17 HR, 75 RBI, 5 SB

11. Scott Rolen, TOR
2007 5×5 Stats: .265 BA, 55 R, 8 HR, 58 RBI, 5 SB
Age: 32 (4/4/75)
Shoulder injuries have rendered the once mashing Rolen a singles hitter, but he moves to Toronto where he could benefit from a change of scenery. He’ll need to get at least 500 at bats to be any kind of fantasy contributor, though. And that would require the aging, brittle Rolen to stay healthy.
2008 Projections: .276 BA, 66 R, 16 HR, 70 RBI, 2 SB

12. Melvin Mora, BAL
2007 5×5 Stats: .274 BA, 67 R, 14 HR, 58 RBI, 9 SB
Age: 36 (2/2/72)
Mora has really plummeted in recent years. He’s still a good fantasy guy when streaking, but at the end of the year he just doesn’t add up any more. Baltimore appears to be rebuilding. It wouldn’t shock us to see Mora get traded midseason to a contender who needs a right-handed bat.
2008 Projections: .279 BA, 56 R, 13 HR, 55 RBI, 7 SB

13. Evan Longoria, TB
2007 5×5 Stats: N/A
Age: 22 (10/5/85)
Longoria is one of the game’s best young prospects, but he’s never played a major league game. He might not start the year in the bigs, but he’s a good bet to come up early, especially with the Devil Rays rather thin on infield talent. A nice sleeper pick, especially in AL leagues.
2008 Projections: .270 BA, 66 R, 14 HR, 60 RBI, 1 SB

14. Joe Crede, CWS
2007 5×5 Stats: .216 BA, 13 R, 4 HR, 22 RBI, 0 SB
Age: 29 (4/26/78)
Crede had back surgery last year, will be 30 in April and is as good a candidate to get traded as any player on this list. We aren’t entirely sure where he’ll end up or how many at-bats he’ll accumulate by the end of the year, but we’re pretty sure he isn’t worth drafting.
2008 Projections: .246 BA, 59 R, 15 HR, 50 RBI, 0 SB

15. Mike Lamb, MIN
2007 5×5 Stats: .289 BA, 45 R, 11 HR, 40 RBI, 0 SB
Age: 32 (8/9/75)
Lamb, a platoon player his whole career, enters the season as the leader for the starting job at third base in Minnesota. Lamb can hit, but he’s never had 400 at bats in a season. We aren’t ready to anoint him a full-time guy just yet, especially with Brendan Harris likely to act as a super utility guy and play third base against lefties.
2008 Projections: .283 BA, 57 R, 9 HR, 49 RBI, 0 SB

Coming Thursday (Feb. 7): Greg Fox breaks down the Top 15 National League third basemen.