You’ll be sweating Dee’s NutsPhoto Credit: bridgetds There’s no getting around it: the shortstop position is shallow as hell. Fantasy owners are forced to either overpay based on position scarcity, or take their chances with a cheap scrub. Most people in your fantasy league will not be happy with their SS, and they might even have one of the best options (see: Hanley Ramirez’s...

Let’s get this out of the way first: Ryan Roberts will not become an elite, or even very good, starting option at third base. He has limited upside, which probably means there’s very little room for improvement on his 2011 line of .241/.341/.427 with 86 runs, 19 homers, 65 RBI and 18 stolen bases. Still, despite the low average, that season was good for 106th overall and...

The Brewers signed Aramis Ramirez to a 3-year deal today to play 3rd and fill in the gap in offense that the departed Prince Fielder left via free agency. Although Fielder has yet to sign with another team, it’s all but a guarantee that the slugger will land somewhere other than Milwaukee for the next decade. By acquiring Ramirez, the Brewers upgrade their infield defense and...

Drafting Ramirez & Cabrera Means Third Base Eligibility HOT CORNER: Neither Ramirez or Cabrera played a single game at third base last year, but they will be opening day third sackers this year. The biggest news for sleepers at the third base position for the 2012 fantasy baseball season is actually two very well known players who didn’t play a single game at the...

Even just one year ago this was a crazy question, but at the start of the 2012 season we might be seeing a changing of the guard. First base has been the deepest fantasy position for as long as I can remember. In fact, it got to the point where Albert Pujols, the unquestioned best hitter in baseball, was frequently getting passed over in favor of lesser players at deeper positions...

Milwaukee, meet Aramis Ramirez, or, as many will come to know him, not Prince Fielder. Ramirez is a nice player, a very good player even. He’s a .300 hitter (when healthy), still has enough pop to hit 30 homers (when healthy) and, if guys do their job and get on base in front of him, he can still drive in 100 runs (when healthy). There’s one problem with Ramirez, though...

Aside from Aramis Ramirez no other NL Central third basemen surpassed the 100 games played mark. Only David Freese sniffed the 100 game mark in 2011, falling just short at with 97. Though it’s tough basing everything off of a post season run Freese showed the kind of hitter he can be in the postseason. It is dangerous evaluating off of postseason hype, but Freese should have had...

I’ll come right out and say it right now. Third base will be the most controversial of TRI’s projections yet. There are three names prominently missing from the final list. I certainly didn’t plan on that happening, but the formula does what it does. I’ll add that two of the three make perfect sense to me, but they fly in the face of conventional wisdom. So...

MILWAUKEE It's hard to improve on a 96-victory season but Ron Roenicke is ready for the challenge. Roenicke heads into his second season at the Brewers' helm with a decidedly different look to his lineup, which will be without first baseman Prince Fielder, shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt and third baseman Casey McGehee. "Ninety-six wins (in 2011) is a lot of wins,"...

MILWAUKEE It's hard to improve on a 96-victory season but Ron Roenicke is ready for the challenge. Roenicke heads into his second season at the Brewers' helm with a decidedly different look to his lineup, which will be without first baseman Prince Fielder, shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt and third baseman Casey McGehee. "Ninety-six wins (in 2011) is a lot of wins,"...

By Adam McGill Third base had several big names change places this off-season, with Miguel Cabrera moving back to the hot corner in Detroit and Miami’s Hanley Ramirez moving over to third to open up a spot for the newly acquired, Jose Reyes. The 2012 season should bring some balance back to the fantasy infield, as there are now ten guys who have the ability to hit over 30 homeruns...

What else can baseball fans do in January but dream of October? In You May Say I'm a Dreamer, the Outside Corner staff will imagine the route to a World Series in 2012 title for all 30 teams. Looking at this picture has caused me great physical pain since October 16, 2011. This was my ticket for Game 7 of the 2011 NLCS between the St. Louis Cardinals and Milwaukeee Brewers at...

Who are the best offensive players at this point in their career, among players who are currently active? Younger players on such a list might very well turn into the stars of tomorrow. More established players on the list are building their resume for possible admission to the Hall of Fame. For the last three years I have presented a list of the active players who had the most career...

It is commonly said that the Chinese symbol for crisis is a mix of the symbols for danger and opportunity. I am pretty sure that is an urban myth but whether it is true or not there is some accuracy in the concept.A smart organization in any business can turn all but the most negative of events into a positive with smart and decisive management. The question at hand is have Yu...

Here is the fifth article in the series for our 2012 fantasy baseball rankings looking at the position of third base. The top half of the position is fairly strong, but if you are looking to find power late in the draft at this position, you are going to have a difficult time finding anyone to hit 20 home runs. Here is a look at the top 20 fantasy baseball third basemen for 2012...

They shipped out troublesome former ace Carlos Zambrano, let top hitter Aramis Ramirez leave in free agency and decided against bringing back power hitter Carlos Pena. So what do the Cubs do with the big-ticket holdover they couldn’t move this winter? They bat Alfonso Soriano cleanup, of course. This could be where the Cubs’ winter of disconnect-from-the-past takes them as the...

They shipped out troublesome former ace Carlos Zambrano, let top hitter Aramis Ramirez leave in free agency and decided against bringing back power hitter Carlos Pena. So what do the Cubs do with the big-ticket holdover they couldn’t move this winter? They bat Alfonso Soriano cleanup, of course. This could be where the Cubs’ winter of disconnect-from-the-past takes them as the...

As Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer assemble a 2012 team that looks to be, well, not very good, I find myself in an odd state of mind. Of their six biggest contributors in terms of WAR in 2011, four (Matt Garza, Aramis Ramirez, Carlos Peña, Sean Marshall) are either gone or apparently on their way out, and in no case does it appear that the Cubs have clearly superior short- or long-term...

It's all about faith now for Cubs fans. Theo Esptein isn't a theory anymore. He is cold, hard fact. So far, the plan has been to trade away and give up on the Cubs' best, most expensive players, and replace them with guys who have live arms, were on the glee club in high school, showed talent before an injury, once were the hope of franchises. Does Epstein know something we don...

Interestingly enough, we have seen a distinctive theme with every position and third base has its theme. Every position has its share of high and lows, but third base seems to have more extremes than the other positions. In particular, there are a number of significant negative impact third basemen. What those teams do with those players between now and then will determine how successful...

There is a Twilight Zone episode from 1963 called "The Parallel." The story goes something like this... An astronaut (Steve Forrest) blasts-off from Cape Canaveral, and once he is in orbit, his ship disappears from radar. Next scene, the astronaut wakes up in a hospital, and he appears to be OK. Except he notices certain aspects of his life are slightly different. For instance...

The Fantasy Man's 2012 Fantasy Baseball Third Base 3B Rankings 1. Evan Longoria - I'm not a Longoria guy but he carries the least risk of the top 3 2. David Wright - No lineup protection but Mets moving fences in, if Ike healthy, Wright will be fine 3. Hanley Ramirez - Not sure if a move to 3B will spark or bust, can't be worse then he was last year 4. Adrian Beltre...

I don't know about you guys, but I am already sick of all this Ryan Braun stuff. Just tell me if he's suspended or not and for how many games if so. That's all I care about. I don't care how or why or who gave him what, all I care is how it affects my watching him. Seriously. (Quick aside: If he does have the herp like everyone seems to think, you should all shut...

It has been a relatively quiet offseason for the Detroit Tigers, as they have been involved in a number of rumors but they don’t have much to show for them aside from the signings of Gerald Laird and Octavio Dotel, and the recent injury to Al Alburquerque. Big names such as Jose Reyes and Aramis Ramirez have come and gone, as well as second-tier guys such as Kelly Johnson and David...

Plenty of news to recap from this past week.. The Reds weren't afraid to part with a great deal of talent in order to get their man in Mat Latos.  The Reds acquired Latos from the Padres on Saturday for Yonder Alonso, Edinson Volquez, Yasmani Grandal, and Brad Boxberger.  Latos won't be arbitration eligible until after the 2012 season and will team up with Johnny...