The Dynasty Guru Annual Ranking Season is upon us!  Up next, third base!  The rankings presented here are the composite rankings of all the writers at The Dynasty Guru, and after healthy debate and only a little name-calling, we are ready to share them with you. The comments below each tier are the work of the writer cited at the end of the section.  Don’t forget to check out Chris and Drew’s analysis of each position on the Join the Ranks podcast.

11 – 20

Noelvi Marte is a player that, and I know I’m not alone, is so tough for me value. 2+ years in MLB, he still drips with potential. But yet, he hasn’t put it together. Let’s rewind 3 years, but still know that in 2025 Marte will: be a) playing in Great American Smallpark, b) registering a max EV over 116 MPH, and c) burning the bases with 29 f/s sprint speeds. We’d all expected him to be the #11 dynasty player overall, right? Definitely not the #11 third basemen. But here we are, back in January 2026 and we know that yes, he flashes those tools, but they’re still only flashes. His power all but disappears against LHP (1 of his 14 homers last year was vs LHP), and he somewhat struggles against those pitchers as a whole. And when Marte got on base, he tried to steal just 13 times last year. Just a fry cry from what we hoped he’d become when he was in the Mariners org. Only 24 years old this season, Marte is hardly a set-in-stone fantasy asset. I’ll keep rostering him, hoping it’ll click for him as we will get to see his full potential. But for now, it’s still just hope.

Meanwhile, his teammate, Sal Stewart, is performing as a counterexample. Drafted out of HS in 2022, Stewart started off looking like a hit-first corner infielder. That is an archetype I am not typically bullish on. Stewart proved me wrong in 2025, though. The Reds challenged him at Double-A Chattanooga to open the season, and he dominated there and again at Triple-A Louisville before a cup of coffee with the big club in September. He hit 25 homers between all three stops and stole 17 bags. Somewhat stuck without a position and on a team with others above him in the positional pecking order, Stewart will have to continue to hit. I am not overly worried about that part, though. If he plays enough games at 3B this year, I think he’s a safe bet to surpass Noelvi in our ranks next year.

Similar to Noelvi in prospect pedigree, Royce Lewis is also lacking consistent production so far in his MLB tenure. The rough ride started as a prospect with back-to-back seasons with a torn ACL, followed by other soft tissue issues. When he finally broke through, Royce BROKE through. In his first 152 games, he hit 33 home runs. The problem is that those 152 games were over the course of 3 actual seasons. 2025 was Royce’s first with over 100 games played at the MLB level, and he played in just 106 total. And curiously, his power turned more average than plus last year. He hit 13 home runs and had a Pull AIR rate of 24.5%. He hit zero oppo tacos to boot. That big of a sell-off is concerning to me. Reaching 100+ games is good, but those were not a good 100+ games. Ultimately though, he could make an intriguing buy if you have the roster (read: IL) space to keep him. I would not want to count on Royce as my primary 3B or even CI. But with the right amount of depth, he could be a fun buy.

I think current (or maybe even 2024) Eugenio Suárez is the 90% outcome for Munetaka Murakami. And I think that’s a good thing. Suárez has been consistent as they come with big power and big swing and miss. As variable as the the top of this year’s FYPD crop is, it could make sense for a contending team to trade into the opportunity to grab Murakami as a gamble move for a big payoff. Suárez is nearing the end of a solid career. I’d pass on him in a start up for longer term players but he still has a few years of solid production in him.

The last five on this list are kinda a grab bag of sorts. All of them qualify at 3B this year (duh), but there’s a non-zero chance none of them are here next season. Addison Barger is our highest ranked out of the final five, and despite solid final numbers in 2025 (21 homers, 107 wRC+) he likely finds himself in a platoon OF situation in Toronto to open the year. He’s a solid floor play and very able to repeat those fantasy numbers again.

Matt Shaw had a mixed bag rookie year and already is at a turning point in his young career. The Cubs signed Alex Bregman, blocking Shaw for the short term at the hot corner. But likely this just expedites Shaw’s move to 2B. While Nico Hoerner is the starter now, his contract is up at the end of ’26 and there is opportunity for Shaw to float around the infield in the interim. I’m not as worried about the playing time, but the 85 MPH average EV does leave me questioning if he won’t just be a Nico redux contributor.

Finally, both Colt Keith and Marcello Mayer find themselves in similar lineup situations that improve their fantasy appeal. Neither org has better players rostered who can play 3B, so this is their gain (and yours) to add the positional flexibility. Is it long term? That’s debatable and I wouldn’t count on it for too long. But with full time gigs you can count on 15+ homers and solid averages and OBPs. Yeah that’s faint praise; not what I’d want from my starting fantasy 3B. But as a CI or depth piece, they’re reasonable players.

(Chris Knock)

21 – 30

Jordan Lawlar and Caleb Bonemer are the two prospects in this tier.  They’re largely notable for how they are going in opposite directions.  Lawlar has been on the big board forever.  And he had one of the worst major league debuts in history, hitting .182/.257/.288 with a 35.1% strikeout rate.  When you play like that you set off the big K-rate alarm and the “K” stands for Kelenic.  Arizona seems fixated on blocking him, trading for Eugenio Suárez in 2023, extending Geraldo Perdomo in 2025, and trading for Nolan Arenado heading into 2026. When there’s an injury or an opening, the Diamondbacks seem quick to call up Tim Tawa or Blaze Alexander instead.  Still, the word is that Lawlar will get a shot at center with Jake McCarthy headed to Colorado, Alek Thomas never quite breaking out, and the other options looking pretty iffy.

Meanwhile Bonemer is a consensus top 60 prospect everywhere after being taken forty-third overall in the 2024 draft.  He’s the exciting new thing with the Greatest Nickname in Baseball.  Last year, Bonemer hit 12 home runs and stole 29 bases in 107 games, making his way to High-A Winston-Salem.  He should make it to, if not through Double-AA Birmingham next year, putting him in line to debut as early as age 21.  That said, as with Lawlar, his team keeps blocking the way.  The White Sox’s infield is full of young and at least marginally interesting players who could make their way to third base.  Then they added Japanese import Munetaka Murakami, although whether he can play third base in the States remains to be seen.  And Miguel Vargas (more below) can play third base.  And so can Lenyn Sosa.  And so can Curtis Mead.  And so can Brooks Baldwin.  In a well-run organization, this wouldn’t be a problem.  Bonemer has a lot more talent.  But we’re talking about the White Sox here.

Speaking of Miguel Vargas, it’s been quite the roller-coaster ride.  At one time, he was one of the top prospects in the Dodgers system. In 2023, MLB had him ahead of Gavin Stone, Ryan Pepiot, Andy Pages, and Michael Busch, praising his ” elite bat-to-ball skills.”  Then he debuted and flamed out like Lawlar.  In his first three seasons, his batting average was a pathetic .170, .195, and .165.  It was generally agreed that the saddest thing about the worst team of all time were the pictures of Vargas looking like he never really returned from the Western Front.  This year, thanks to an increase in BABIP and a decrease in his strikeout rate, he brought that batting average up to .234 and got into same game power with 16 home runs.  Vargas will be useful to you like a Willi Castro type.  He should provide league-average offense while being eligible at first, third, and outfield this year.

Brett Baty had his big breakout, At age 25, he finally went from a consistently below average player across the board to a solidly above average player who can now play second and third base.  As a reward, the Mets have absolutely buried him, trading for Marcus Semien and signing Bo Bichette to play his main positions.  Maybe he fights off Mark Vientos at first base?  Not if newly signed Jorge Polanco has anything to say.  If he plays, he should be fair-to-good.  If he doesn’t, he’ll waste your roster spot.  It’s enough to drive you Baty.

I was the high man on Max Muncy (LAD).  His story is as clear as his newly improved vision.  After he started wearing glasses, he hit .268/.406/.563.  The only problem is that he was plagued by other injuries and limited to just 72 games after the correction and swing change.  Even then his 19 home runs placed him 7th in all of baseball for home runs hit while playing third base this year. If he plays a whole season at that level, he’s a slightly better Juan Soto (.263/.396/.525) without the steals.

Kazuma Okamoto came from Japan.  Everyone seems to agree he has a lower ceiling than Munetaka Murakami but does not have the same risk of striking out so badly that he’s out of the league by next year.  The Blue Jays suddenly seem savvy, so maybe there’s something here?  I’ve seen one NPB game.  It’s great.  It’s like a college football experience.  But the individual players?  I do not know.  The general rule with Okamoto seems to apply:  They’re huge bargains before they actually sign and then can go any way when they actually play.

As I wrote in the risers/fallers column, Alec Bohm slipped from a little bit above average to a hair above average as he increased his hard hit and ground ball percentage to prop up his average and decrease his slugging.  Maybe he got into Max Kepler’s steroids?

In my draft-and-hold leagues, I loved to throw a flier on Josh Jung because third base depth is shallow and I figured, “If he plays, he hits.”  It was like a junior Royce Lewis profile and it provided junior Royce Lewis results.  This was the healthiest that Jung has ever been and it was the worst production he’s ever had.  The power that was supposed to be his calling card simply was not there.

Because I’m such a terrible nickname fiend, I really only care about Connor Norby because I want someone to announce, “He just put that ball into Norbit!”  He’s one of the many castoffs in the Marlins’ island of misfit toys 40-man roster.  After another year or two, it should be clear whether he is capable of translating his minor league success into anything.  Right now, he looks like a very replaceable piece.

Brooks Lee feels like a guy who should be a solid utility player.  But right now, he isn’t.  His Savant sliders show him way behind on everything but striking out.  Whatever he did in the minor leagues to get his BABIP up by 100 points is probably the starting point for any hope of long-term value.  For now, he has short-term value because the Twins simply do not have anyone else to play shortstop.  Retreads Videl Brujan and Orlando Arcia could theoretically push him.

(Bob Kelly)