Early Fantasy Baseball Third Base Rankings: Bobby Witt Jr., Carlos Correa, Alec Bohm

Either you are living under a rock, or you happened to go to sleep like a normal human last night. And then, you woke up to the news that Steve Cohen and the New York Mets have inked Carlos Correa to a 12-year, $315 million contract overnight. This is absolutely bonkers in the baseball world. And with Francisco Lindor entrenched at shortstop already, that means we have an additional third baseman to consider for 2023. This is exciting news for the hot corner, as it gives us about 10 guys worthy of trusting at this position heading into the new year. After that, you’re dealing with some unsavory names to round out your fantasy baseball rosters. Let’s dig in and see where Carlos Correa will slot in at the hot corner, shall we?

1. Jose Ramirez (3B – CLE)
2. Bobby Witt Jr. (3B, SS – KC)
3. Manny Machado (3B – SD)
4. Rafael Devers (3B – BOS)
5. Austin Riley (3B – ATL)

Currently, Bobby Witt Jr. is one of my favorite first-round targets. The flexibility he offers due to 3B/SS eligibility is golden in the later stages of your draft. In baseball, 20/20 players don’t grow on trees…and they certainly don’t exist in plentiful supply at third base.

I added the space between the first two and the next three because the top two are actually impact players in the speed categories. With Machado and Devers, the best you’re hoping for is chip-in speed. Riley has two career steals and just five stolen base attempts over his 450 MLB games played. This is strange because he has the best sprint speed of the trio (61st percentile). At any rate, you’ll be happy with any of these top-five bats at the hot corner. All are almost assured plenty of power and counting stats given their team contexts, roles, and track records. If you went with Riley’s power over Devers, I couldn’t fault you. Riley could lead this position in power and I wouldn’t blink. That, and his team context is much more favorable than Devers’, as the Red Sox have largely been idle this offseason.

6. Nolan Arenado (3B – STL)
7. Carlos Correa (SS – NYM)
8. Alex Bregman (3B – HOU)
9. Gunnar Henderson (3B – BAL)

Carlos Correa has an ADP of 121.67 over the 39 Draft Champions drafts so far this year. But that’s as a shortstop. You can safely expect his ADP to rise in a hurry due to the impending third base eligibility. I would say he is easily a top-100 pick now, if not more.

Alex Bregman is a career .277 hitter who should bat around .260 with 25-homer power and loads of counting stats. There’s a safety there that just doesn’t exist afterward. I expect he and Correa to be drafted in similar territory moving forward, and the two have a lot of similarities. Four-category hitters who offer no speed, but exist in great offensive team contexts. For reference, Bregman’s early ADP is 87.15.

Gunnar Henderson can run, as last year’s 29.1 ft/s sprint speed attests (91st percentile). A former shortstop, Henderson has all the tools to be a plus defender at the hot corner for years to come. He maneuvered through three levels in 2022, beginning at Double-A. Across those three levels, he accumulated 23 home runs and 23 stolen bases. He did this over 146 games, and he never batted below .259 or posted an OBP below .348. He struggled against left-handed pitching over his 34-game MLB debut, but he still managed a double-digit walk rate in the split – and at just 21 years old, he has room to grow. I don’t love spending a lot of draft capital on young players, so my lean would be to Correa or Bregman in this area. But Henderson does ooze upside and the Baltimore lineup is improving.

10. Ke’Bryan Hayes (3B – PIT)
11. Alec Bohm (3B – PHI)
12. Max Muncy (2B, 3B – LAD)

Hayes is one of the last guys I like to offer any form of a floor at third base. Last year’s home run total of seven was a major disappointment, but his 20 steals were excellent no matter how disappointing the home run count was. Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but this is a launch angle issue. Hayes makes plenty of hard contact (84th percentile), but his 3.9% barrel rate from 2022 was in the 13th percentile. Still, he’s an impact player in the speed category at a weak third base position. That makes him relevant.

Max Muncy and Eugenio Suarez are being drafted one pick apart in early drafts, but I prefer Muncy given his consistently lower strikeout rates and more hard contact. But me, I’m waiting until 20 picks or so after both of them are drafted, and I’m taking Alec Bohm. It’s dicey territory for a third baseman already if we’re being honest. So I may as well chase some upside.

I like Bohm’s batting average floor and contact ability. He’s a career .277 hitter, and last year he batted .280 with a minuscule 17.4% strikeout rate. Any time a hitter raises his swing rate and improves his contact rate, I’m paying attention. Still just 26 years old, Bohm has room to grow. His .290 xBA (98th percentile) from last year was stellar, and his quality of contact numbers are all above average. I’ll bite.

13. Jose Miranda (1B, 3B – MIN)
14. Eugenio Suarez (3B – SEA)
15. Matt Chapman (3B – TOR)

These three round out my top 15. I’m a Matt Chapman fan in real life, and I think his power is bankable. However, that average is a sinkhole you’ll have to account for during your drafts. And you know he’s going to play every day due to his glove, so your bottom line is going to feel every bit of that batting average sink. I’d prefer to draft Chapman later than to pay more for Muncy or Suarez. However, my real preference is to take shots on guys like Bohm or Miranda when the position gets murky. Like Bohm, Miranda offers a blend of batting average with the promise of power, and I prefer to not take on the batting average risks when I can avoid doing so.

After these 15, I’m a fan of Josh Rojas. I like his on-base skills and his 2B/3B eligibility – though I’ll confess to preferring him as a middle infield option. What say you all? Who do you like that isn’t inside the top 15? Let me know who I missed! You can find me on Twitter @HeathCapps. I love a good haggle.

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