The Top 10 Third Basemen for 2025

I think we all sort of understand the type of player Royce Lewis is. He is an immensely talented 3rd baseman with nearly all the tools you could ask for, and for the most part, his numbers support that. However, Lewis hasn't started and finished a whole MLB season. Throughout these top 10's, I am normally generous to players who battle injuries, as I don't think it should be held against you. That being said, We don't know if Lewis can play a full MLB season, and what kind of numbers he would put up. His 2024 numbers were okay, nothing spectacular like we have seen in the past, but still a guy you want on your team. I just can't rank him any higher than 10. I wanted to include him on the chance he is fully healthy and just puts up an MVP-type season, but there are obvious concerns here.

The case of Alex Bregman is an unusual one, especially with free agency. I think whoever is landing him is landing a top 10 thirdbaseman with a good glove and a great plate approach. Bregman does have power, but some point to his homerun totals thanks in large part to the crawford boxes. I think Bregman still has a lot to offer any type of ball club entering his age 31 season. To me he is one of the guys that still has a high floor, but also a pretty high ceiling to go hand in hand with.

I gotta have some sort of prospect-ey player on this list, you know this by now. Caminero is a former number 1 prospect in the sport, and for absolutely good reason. He often gets overshadowed by prospects that were ranked around him like Holliday and Skenes, but don't get it twisted, don't be shocked if in less than 3 years he is the consensus number 1 third baseman. For those that didn't catch a glimpse of Caminero's short 2024, let me put it simply: What if Ronald Acuna played 3B? He doesn't have quite the speed as Acuna, but I'd argue he has more pop. Now, will he develop this 2025 season? I think so, but it'll only be his age 21 season, so there is always the chance that I am a little too early on him. However, he already has the bat speed and the barrel rates, all he needs to do is make more contact and he is instantly a top 10 third baseman.

This is one of my more bold takes. I'm not as high on Machado in 2025. His numbers and underlying stats looked pretty good in 2024, so what am I seeing that doesn't make me as high on him as maybe others would be? His defense. His defense took a pretty substantial step back in 2024 in terms of his OAA and arm strength. Your hitting ability you can always salvage and get better with age, but defense isn't the same. So in my eyes, he will be a league average defender at best, which is fine. That just means that he is going to have to hit and hit well, which he can definitely do, but I just don't think as a whole package he is the same guy anymore.

Now, we don't know for sure if Jazz is going to be the full-time 3B for the New York Yankees. There is still time for them to acquire another one, or use Chisholm as a utility player. I am going to be putting him here, because I think he will most likely be their everyday third baseman for the most part. Chisholm's 2024 was pretty typical surface level Jazz numbers. Under the hood, there isn't anything too impressive, but his numbers in NY were phenomenal. a 130 OPS+ and a huge key to getting them the postseason success that they got. I think he's found his home, and a full season at Yankee Stadium will certainly help his numbers improve even from here.

Austin Riley had a bit of a down year in 2024. Easy to say it was because he missed significant time during the season, but his numbers were lesser than they usually are. The good news is, the under the hood numbers still looked great. Riley has never been a top-tier defender, nor a fast guy, but his bat has a lot of pop, and I would certainly expect with a healthy 2025, he will bounce back.

Hello Jordan Westburg. When you talk about young stars on the Orioles, you mention Henderson, Rutschman, Holliday, but now you certainly have to mention Westburg. He cemented himself in the lineup and absolutely raked. Westburg is a little older than you might assume, as he is going into his age 26 season, but I would expect a guy with his numbers to only get better.

I think you could easily make the case that Matt Chapman was the best all-around third baseman in the entire league in 2024. He was just so solid at just about everything, especially slugging and defense. He had the most WAR out of any 3B in the league, and sat with a 125 OPS+ even with a slow start to the year. Now, can he repeat this performance, or even potentially be better? I think there's a chance he could, but I would expect a similar performance, maybe with a slight decrease in numbers. Chapman has just simply been a little too inconsistent year in year out for me to trust him with a top 2 spot, because he could absolutely burn me.

I feel that with Devers, you just know what you are getting. You know he is going to slug and be an all-star, but you also know that his defense is lacking. However, of all the third baseman (outside of number 1) there is no-one I trust more to put up a very solid offensive output. It was also potentially the best season Devers has had in awhile, and he is entering that stage of his career where he could unlock a another level to his game. Not a flashy pick, but a safe pick.

And another absolutely safe pick. Do you remember the days when the debate for the best 3rd baseman was between Machado, Arenado, and Ramirez? Everyone would discredit Ramirez and chose one of the other two. Look where we are now. J-Ram is the consensus number 1 third baseman in the league and it's not particularly close in my opinion. He has all the tools, AND just simply has the best bat. If you were expecting a suprise pick at 1, then I'm sorry to dissapoint you.