The World Series is about to kick off, and we are nearing the final chapter in the 2025 MLB season. While we’re excited about the Dodgers and Blue Jays matchup, we’re also taking the time to look back at the season that was and review what we learned from a fantasy perspective and how we can apply it to next year.
In the last couple of weeks, we’ve been breaking down the standout seasons, the breakout candidates, the prospects to know, and our early 2026 rankings. We started with catcher, then headed over to first base, and then second base, and shortstop, and closers. Then, last week, I turned my attention to starting pitching, and I will put out a Top 150 Starting Pitchers ranking after the World Series. I’m also doing a presentation at First Pitch Arizona on finding common traits in the top 25 starting pitchers, so there will be more starting pitcher content coming from me soon.
2025 POSITION BREAKDOWN: THIRD BASE
🎙️ STATE OF THE POSITION
In 2025, just seven third basemen earned at least $10 in value, according to FanGraph’s Player Rater. That’s in comparison to 17 first basemen, 15 shortstops, 13 catchers, and eight second basemen. So there is a case to be made that third base is the shallowest position in fantasy baseball. Of course, some of the players who didn’t hit double digits in value are consistent veterans who dealt with injuries this season, like Alex Bregman, Austin Riley, Isaac Paredes, Matt Chapman, and Max Muncy, so your true feelings on the third base position will depend on how much belief you have that those veterans can bounce back to their previous levels.
On the flip side of the aging curve, there were a few young third basemen who took major strides in 2025 and could produce an influx of talent at the position if they take another leap in 2026. We, of course, got the emergence of Junior Caminero, who finished as the second-ranked third baseman in fantasy after hitting 45 home runs. We also saw Addison Barger force his way into the Blue Jays lineup, Lenyn Sosa emerge as a consistent producer for the White Sox, Ernie Clement back up his solid work in 2024, and Maikel Garcia settle in as a potential 20/20 threat at the top of the Royals’ lineup. All of them finished inside the top 15 at the position, according to the Player Rater, and could push to be fixtures in the years to come.
🏆 2025’s Top Ten Third Basemen
1. Jose Ramirez (Guardians)
.283/.360/.503, 30 HR, 103 R, 85 RBI, 44 SB
At this point, nothing is surprising here. Ramirez has been the top third baseman in baseball for a while and doesn’t show any signs of letting up at age 32. This season, he swiped a career-high 44 bases and hit at least 29 home runs for the fourth time in the last five seasons. He has maintained his tremendous contact approach at the plate, but has made minor adjustments as he has gotten older: pulling the ball slightly more, chasing outside of the zone slightly less, and being a bit more selective in what pitches he tries to attack. Despite concerns about the lineup around him, he scored over 100 runs for the second year in a row, and if young players like Chase DeLauter, Kyle Manzardo, and CJ Kayfus can take a step forward in 2026, then his RBI totals could rise back up again as well.
2. Junior Caminero (Rays)
.264/.311/.535, 45 HR, 93 R, 110 RBI, 7 SB
Caminero was the breakout star at the position in 2025. After a slightly disappointing 43-game sample size at the big league level in 2024, Caminero came into this season as the clear starter at the hot corner in Tampa Bay. He took a little while to get going, and then struggled a little bit in the middle of the season, but he ended on a tear, hitting .282 with 22 home runs and 50 RBI over the final 63 games of the season. As many Rays hitters do, Caminero leaned into a more pull-centric approach, increasing his pull rate by 10% in 2025. He also chased outside of the zone far less and made more contact overall. While some of his success could be attributed to playing his home games in a minor league park, his batted ball data and overlays suggest that he would have hit 42 home runs in Tropicana Field, so we shouldn’t expect much regression in 2026.
40-HOMER SEASON for Junior Caminero! pic.twitter.com/N6U3ABmKTi
— MLB (@MLB) September 3, 2025
3. Eugenio Suarez (Free Agent)
.228/.298/.526, 49 HR, 91 R, 118 RBI, 4 SB
Suarez put up another monster season in Arizona and was fifth in all of baseball with 49 home runs. He maintained elite barrel rates and exit velocities while raising his fly ball rate to a career-high 50.4%. He also swung and missed more than he ever has and chased outside of the zone more than he ever has, which led to his batting average decrease. It does seem to be an approach that works for him, so I’d expect it to continue next year, but that also means a lot of his fantasy value hinges on where he signs. After being traded to Seattle, he hit .189/.255/.428 with 13 home runs in 53 games, so he has to land in a good ballpark for us to feel confident about drafting him near this level of production.
4. Manny Machado (Padres)
.275/.335/.460 27 HR, 91 R, 95 RBI, 14 SB
Aside from Jose Ramirez, there might not be a more consistent player at the third base spot. Machado has hit at least .275 in five of his last six seasons. He has at least 27 home runs in each of the last five years and has driven in at least 91 runs and scored at least 75. With the Padres’ lineup, and himself, healthier this season, he scored 91 runs, which was his most since 2022. His barrel rate also jumped to 12.9% as he traded some groundballs for fly balls. There may not be anything sexy about taking Machado in your drafts, but you know what you’re getting, and there’s no reason to suspect that will change in 2026.
5. Rafael Devers (Giants)
.252/.372/.479 35 HR, 99 R, 109 RBI, 1 SB
Devers finished as the 5th-ranked first baseman as well this season, but he will not be third base eligible next season, so that’s something we need to take into account. The veteran took issue with the way the Red Sox handled signing Alex Bregman this offseason and then had no desire to patch things up with the front office, so he was shipped out of town mid-season to San Francisco, where he slowly worked himself into a role as the team’s first baseman. That’s a role he figures to occupy for much of the 2026 season, but the bigger question is what impact Oracle Park will have on him. Devers was somebody who often went to the opposite field in Boston, using the Green Monster to his advantage, so he struggled initially when he had to change his approach in San Francisco. Overall, Devers hit .236/.347/.460 with 20 home runs in 90 games with the Giants, striking out 29.4% of the time and pulling the ball 45% of the time, which is 8% higher than his career average. He did make tons of hard contact, but there are some questions about whether or not the 29-year-old can shift his approach so drastically and maintain his .276 career batting average while playing in San Francisco.
6. Jazz Chisholm Jr. (Yankees): .242, 31 HR, 75 R, 80 RBI, 31 SB
7. Maikel Garcia (Royals): .286, 16 HR, 81 R, 74 RBI, 23 SB
8. Lenyn Sosa (White Sox): .264, 22 HR, 57 R, 75 RBI, 2 SB
9. Ernie Clement (Blue Jays): .277, 9 HR, 83 R, 50 RBI, 6 SB
10. Zach McKinstry (Tigers) .259, 12 HR, 68 R, 49 RBI, 19 SB
📈 2026 Breakouts
Matt Shaw (Cubs)
I still believe in Shaw’s talent and will be looking at him as a post-hype player next season. He struggled in his initial at-bats in the big leagues and was sent back to the minors, where he tweaked his approach and his swing a little bit to adjust for how MLB pitchers were attacking him. He returned to hit .258/.317/.522 in 61 games over the second half of the season with 11 home runs, 29 runs, 29 RBI, and six steals. While those numbers don’t set the world on fire, it was enough to make him the 9th-ranked third baseman in fantasy over that stretch. The 23-year-old produced at every level of the minor leagues and was one of the top prospects in baseball coming into the season. We should expect the necessary adjustments in the offseason to help him make the level of contact he did in the minors. Maybe he’ll start using the whole field more and curtail some of the pull-happy approach we saw in the big leagues, but Shaw has legit five-category upside, and the Cubs should have a playoff-caliber lineup around him, which will make him even more enticing.
Kazuma Okamoto (Japan)
We got word a couple of weeks ago that the 29-year-old Okamoto will be posted for MLB teams to sign this offseason. He now immediately becomes one of the top corner infielders on the free agent market. Last season, he slashed .327/.416/.598 with 15 HR in 69 games in Nippon Professional Baseball. Okamoto has quick hands and plus bat speed, which leads to a decent amount of pull-side power and should allow him to transition to facing higher velocity MLB pitching. He has a .277 career batting average in 11 seasons in the NPB while also sporting a .361 on-base percentage, so his plate discipline has also been tremendous over his professional career. While fellow Japanese star Munetaka Murakami gets more attention, Okamoto has been a more productive hitter and has shown the ability to handle velocity, which is something Murakami has struggled with. Okamoto is also a solid defender at both third base and first base and figures to see massive interest from multiple MLB teams this offseason.
Kazuma Okamoto's three-run blast gives Japan a four-run cushion!#WorldBaseballClassic pic.twitter.com/8Cy6WuVFHm
— World Baseball Classic (@WBCBaseball) March 16, 2023
Noelvi Marte (Reds)
It was a rollercoaster year for Marte. The former top ten prospect began the year in the minors before a brief call-up in April, in which he didn’t register a single at-bat. He was then called back up later in the month, only to strain his oblique at the beginning of May. The 23-year-old then returned on July 4th and was tremendous for the next two months, hitting .286/.325/.500 with nine home runs, 27 RBI, and three steals in 49 games. However, his production tapered off in September, potentially from fatigue or the struggles of moving to the outfield. Still, even with those September struggles, he was the 11th-ranked third baseman over the second half of the season. He’ll be just 24 years old next season, in what could be his first full year in the big leagues. He should open the season as the starting right fielder in Cincinnati with multi-position eligibility in one of the best hitters’ parks in baseball. A top ten finish at the position is well within reach.
📝 2026 Prospects To Know
Sal Stewart (Reds)
Yes, another Reds third baseman, but Stewart is part of the reason that the Reds began playing Marte in the outfield late in the 2025 season. The 21-year-old hit .309/.383/.524 with 20 home runs, 80 RBI, and 17 steals across 118 games in Double-A and Triple-A in 2025. He posted elite exit velocities and showed a good feel for the barrel with just a 10% swinging strike rate and 80% contact rate overall. His approach has always been solid, and the power gains he made in 2025 seem real. He has played multiple positions on the infield, but with Christian Encaracion-Strand not emerging as a consistent threat, the Reds could go into 2026 with Spencer Steer at first base and Stewart at third base, and his bat would be ready to make him an impact rookie.
Marcelo Mayer (Red Sox)
Despite being a middle infielder for his entire minor league career, the Red Sox had to call Mayer up and play him at third base when Alex Bregman landed on the IL with a quad injury. The 22-year-old handled himself well at the hot corner and could emerge as an option to begin 2026 as a starter there if the Red Sox don’t go out and acquire a replacement for Bregman or don’t bring Bregman himself back. Mayer only hit .228/.272/.402 in 44 big league games, but we had seen power growth from him in the minors in 2025, and his 9.2% barrel rate with the Red Sox suggests strong quality of contact. We saw a noticeable drop in his pull rate at the MLB level, but whether that has to do with adjusting to velocity or a conscious approach with the Green Monster in left field remains to be seen. What we do know is that Mayer is an elite prospect with tremendous feel for contact and an advanced approach at the plate. That tends to carry over at all levels.
Jordan Lawlar (Diamondbacks)
With Eugenio Suarez gone, next year may finally be the time for Jordan Lawlar. The 6th overall pick in the 2021 MLB Draft, Lawlar has continued to produce in the minor leagues but has not gotten a chance to play consistently at the big league level. In 2025, he hit .313/.403/.564 in 63 games at Triple-A with 11 home runs, 52 runs, 50 RBI, and 20 steals. He has legitimate five-category upside, which is why MLB Pipeline ranks him as the 7th-ranked prospect coming into the 2025 season. Let other people be worried about his struggles in his brief MLB appearances and bank on his post-hype production in 2026.
🔮 2026 Top 12 Third Baseman
1. Jose Ramirez: There’s just no argument for anybody else. He does it every year.
2. Junior Caminero: He will no longer play in a minor league park, and he doesn’t steal much, but he’s a phenomenal hitter.
3. Jazz Chisholm: The batting average won’t be good, but he’s a legit 30/30 or 40/40 threat, and that’s great for fantasy.
4. Manny Machado: Just continues to produce solid value year in and year out. Not a sexy pick but a reliable one.
5. Austin Riley: Injuries crushed his production in 2025. The underlying metrics still suggest the power upside is as present as ever.
6. Eugenio Suarez: Hard to bet against a guy coming off a 49 HR season, but we really need to see where he signs this offseason.
7. Isaac Paredes: We knew the pull-side power would play in 2025, and it did. His hamstring injury just sapped his value this season.
8. Maikel Garcia: No longer multi-position eligible, which is a bummer, but gives you great speed at third base.
9. Matt Chapman: His plate discipline improvements carried over into 2025 as well. Batting average won’t be super high, but he’s valuable.
10. Matt Shaw: Was the 9th-ranked 3B in the second half. He has power and speed and could break out in 2026.
11. Royce Lewis: It’s always about health, right? We know what he’s capable of when he’s on the field.
12. Jordan Westburg: I was a believer in Westburg coming into 2025, but injuries and a down year for Baltimore crushed that. Maybe 2026 is the year?
