Spring training camps are underway, which means it's time to look at the state of baseball. As part of our 2025 MLB season preview, ESPN's Buster Olney is bringing back his positional ranking series, in which he surveyed those around the industry to help him rank the top 10 players at every position.
Today, we rank the best of the best at third base.
The objective of this exercise is to identify the best players for the 2025 season, not who might be best in five years or over their career. We will roll out a position per day over the next two weeks. Here's the rest of the schedule: catchers, first basemen, second basemen, shortstops (Feb. 21), corner outfielders (Feb. 24), center fielders (Feb. 25), designated hitters (Feb. 26), starting pitchers (Feb. 27) and relievers (Feb. 28).
There are so many ways in which José Ramírez generates value for the Guardians, from his power to his patience at the plate, to his aggressiveness on the bases, his high-end defense. For all of that, he is the preeminent player at his position, with perhaps a greater separation between him and his third base peers than at any other spot.
But there is also value for the franchise in his mere presence. The Guardians fully understand the limits of their circumstances. They drafted and developed CC Sabathia, and Sabathia's plaque at the Hall of Fame will bear a Yankees cap. Cliff Lee became a star with Cleveland, and the franchise had to move him before his salary became too onerous. Francisco Lindor became a star in Cleveland, and as he searched for the most money and the biggest stage -- a prerogative he earned -- he moved to New York, and some day, there might be a Hall plaque with his image, and a Mets cap.
Ramírez chose to stay, presumably for far less money than he could've gotten elsewhere on the open market. He is the Tony Gwynn, the Cal Ripken of his generation, in that he prioritized the life and experience he has and enjoys with his first and only team. Because of that decision, the Guardians have one of the very best players in the American League (last year, Ramírez finished in the top five in the MVP race for the fifth time in his career) and someone who has been nothing but consistent in his preparation and his effort. "He plays his ass off," one evaluator said. "That's all he does. Spring training, day games after night games, whatever. To have your best player doing that every day, grinding ... so important."
The value assessed for MVP awards has shifted over time, with the voters moving toward picking the player who generates the most production, rather than through the prism of team success, and this seems appropriate. But it's hard to imagine any player more valuable to his team than Ramírez is to the Guardians.
Top 10 third basemen
1. José Ramírez, Cleveland Guardians
When his Hall of Fame credentials are considered years from now, his relative dominance at his position should carry him close to a very high voting percentage. Among all third basemen since 2016, he ranks first in fWAR, with 43.4 -- more than Nolan Arenado, who is second at 41.3.
2. Matt Chapman, San Francisco Giants
He has won five Gold Gloves, and last year, he had 39 doubles and 27 homers, drawing some down-the-ballot MVP votes. His 7.1 WAR was his highest since 2019.
Late last season, Chapman pushed for a contract extension with the Giants rather than testing free agency again, and he eventually signed a six-year, $151 million deal. In the end, that contract largely defined the financial parameters for Alex Bregman's negotiations, because they are very comparable players -- close in age, similar in skill sets. The offer that the Astros made to Bregman, six years and $156 million, was almost identical to Chapman's, as was the Tigers' $171 million offer, which included a lot of deferred money.
3. Rafael Devers, Boston Red Sox
As some rival staffers watched Devers draw a line in the sand in recent days and say third base is his, and that he won't serve as a designated hitter, the broad consensus was: Yes, he will eventually move. Because at heart, he's an easy-going guy. "He's like a lot of us -- he likes to be liked," one evaluator said. "He's going to hang around with [Alex] Bregman and his other teammates and he's going to see how good the team could be, and he'll say yes."
But that doesn't guarantee success for him at designated hitter, a longtime executive noted, because some players, even great players, do not respond well to the downtime that comes with being a DH. They prefer the distraction of playing in the field between plate appearances.
The always energetic Ramirez provided a great example of this last year with the Guardians. In 126 games playing the infield, he batted .301, with a .948 OPS. In 32 games as the Cleveland DH, his OPS was nearly 400 points lower: Ramirez's slash line was .192/.241/.569.
There might be a period of adjustment for Devers at DH. He has a good mentor available to counsel him, if needed, if wanted -- Red Sox Hall of Famer David Ortiz.
4. Manny Machado, San Diego Padres
He should reach 2,000 hits for his career sometime in the middle of the summer, if he stays healthy, and it's possible that he'll hit his 400th homer in 2026. He'll soon pass Sammy Sosa, Dick Allen, Mike Piazza and Vladimir Guerrero Sr. in career WAR.
5. Austin Riley, Atlanta Braves
The injuries to Spencer Strider and Ronald Acuña Jr. were the heaviest body blows to the Braves' championship aspirations last year, and the knockout punch might have been when Riley sustained a broken hand Aug. 18, which ended his season. He turns 28 in 2025, in Year 4 of a 10-year contract.
6. Jordan Westburg, Baltimore Orioles
Evaluators talk about his presence in the middle of the lineup, which was badly missed after his hand was broken by a fastball last July. Hitting fifth or sixth, Westburg thrives when there are run-scoring opportunities: In 2024, he had a .923 OPS with runners in scoring position.
7. Max Muncy, Los Angeles Dodgers
The very top of the Dodgers' lineup is impossible for pitchers, a trio of future Hall of Famers, and after that, opposing pitchers (and managers) have to figure out a way to get through the group of tough, experienced hitters, such as Muncy. On his worst day, Muncy extends at-bats and gets on base, and is a power threat. In his seven seasons with L.A., he has a .356 OBP and 190 homers.
8. Eugenio Suárez, Arizona Diamondbacks
Budgetary constraints have forced Seattle to make tough decisions, such as moving Suárez's relatively modest salary in a deal with Arizona in November 2023. While making $11.3 million in '24, Suárez hit 30 homers and posted a .788 OPS, prompting the Diamondbacks to pick up the $15 million option for 2025.
9. Alec Bohm, Philadelphia Phillies
He had one of the stranger offseasons in baseball. Word filtered out in November that the Phillies were open to the idea of trading him, and then after a month of speculation, his name disappeared from the winter market. Maybe the Phillies focused on his potential, on how well he did in the first half, when he batted .295.
10. Nolan Arenado, St. Louis Cardinals
By the time he's inducted into the Hall of Fame, Arenado's situation this winter will be long forgotten, a moment within a career of greatness. But the response of the market to his possibility was clear: The Dodgers and Yankees, among other teams, could have configured their winter moves to add him, and they passed -- probably out of concern for his diminished offensive numbers.
His slugging percentage of .394 last season was a career low. If he rebounds early this year and gets back to being a middle-of-the-order hitter, teams will call St. Louis to inquire. If he struggles, the Cardinals will continue to have difficulty finding a deal for him.
Honorable mentions
Isaac Paredes, Houston Astros: He takes over at third base from Bregman and will play in a ballpark that seems as if it were designed for his swing. Since the start of 2022, Paredes has the highest pull percentage of any MLB hitter other than Joey Gallo, and he also has the 15th-highest rate of fly balls. He could generate big numbers in Houston.
Junior Caminero, Tampa Bay Rays: He seems poised for a breakout after a good showing last year, and after he announced his presence with authority over the winter with an epic bat flip. He's ultra-aggressive at the plate, but he does damage -- he had 16 extra-base hits in 43 games last year; not bad for a 21-year-old.
Royce Lewis, Minnesota Twins: Because of injuries, he has been limited to a season's worth of games in his career, 152, and in that time, he has accumulated 33 homers and an adjusted OPS+ of 133. When healthy, he's a difference-maker.
Josh Jung, Texas Rangers: He sustained a wrist fracture only four games into last season, an injury that was a huge loss for Texas. He came back and played 46 games but had to undergo a second surgery in October, and his status this year is one of the big questions for the Rangers.