I just expressed my feelings towards the top eligible players at third base. I mentioned that guys like Hanley Ramirez (3B, MIA) and Miguel Cabrera (1B, DET) were changing positions as most of you already know. They will obviously be the first choices at the position; however, they won’t have eligibility until they get a few games under their belts. In the meantime if you are able to grab either of these guys for the “future” and are looking to pick up a starting 3B for the time being here is a list of players you do not want to draft.

The Third Basemen you don’t want to draft in 2012:

There is a lot of talk about how the New York Mets are bringing in the fences in order to spruce up the offensive numbers for their ball club. This will obviously help players like Jason Bay (OF, NYM) and David Wright (3B, NYM) but don’t hold your breath for season changing numbers. After the 2010 season there was a lot of promise for Wright to get back to his normal self, but then an injury slammed season in 2011 and a poor showing when he was healthy enough to take the field, has me believing he isn’t back yet. If healthy, Wright should give you a good number of stolen bases, and a decent amount of homers, but he could hit 10 – 15 homers as easily as he can hit 30. Wright no longer has Carlos Beltran (OF, STL) or Jose Reyes (SS, MIA) in the lineup to protect him or his numbers, keep that in mind when looking for runs scored and runs batted in categories.

Ryan Roberts (3B, ARI) has done next to nothing in his career up until last season. With only one other Major League season playing in more than 50 games, Roberts 19 homers and 86 runs scored were slightly inflated. Roberts was only able to drive in 65 while hitting .249 which isn’t very good at all with the playing time he saw. If a drop comes, and I am willing to bet that one will come, it will only make him and your fantasy team worse. Pass on Roberts in 2012.

Chase Headley (3B, SD) has always been a favorite of mine, until the last couple of seasons were played. He only played in 113 games last year but with nearly 400 at bats Headley was only able to hit four homers and 44 runs batted in. His average and on base percentage are promising numbers, but in a ball park that sucks up more fly balls than tornados suck up houses, Headley isn’t worth a draft pick let alone a starting position on your roster. Don’t expect to see many if any at all power numbers, the ball park won’t allow it, and the players around him won’t either.

Pedro Alvarez ((3B, PIT) may have been asked to make the trip to the big leagues a bit too early. In 2009, a combination of A+ and AA ball Pedro ripped the cover off the ball hitting 27 homers and 95 runs batted in with a .288 AVG. This was his only full season in the minors before being called up during the 2010 season. Alvarez hasn’t been given the opportunity to start on a full time basis yet so that may be a major reason for why the numbers have been so small, however, it doesn’t look like he was given enough time to develop in the minors and hasn’t been able to keep up with major league hitting. In 2011, Pedro Alvarez only hit 4 home runs in 235 at bats, driving in 19 and hitting below .200. If those numbers keep going he won’t be worth anything. I still think he has plenty of ability to turn it around, but I won’t be wasting a roster spot, or draft pick on him to find out, and neither should you.

Normally you wouldn’t downgrade a player who just hit .320 with a .362 on base percentage. But in the world of fantasy baseball, when it takes more than just one category to win your league, the following player isn’t worth a draft pick. Daniel Murphy (3B, NYM) is eligible at several positions which gives him value but don’t expect major outputs from him at any of the available positions he plays at. Murphy hits for minimal power (career high is 12 home runs,) and doesn’t drive in or score many runs. If he hits over .300 like he has done twice so far in his career he is a nice addition to your bench, but be hesitant about him being able to keep that going. If you aren’t going to let him pass on draft day, make sure you have a very reliable player as your starter.

Written by Justin Mandaro exclusively for The Fantasy Fix.
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(October 6, 2011 – Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images North America)