No longer is third base the shallowest position in fantasy baseball.  While some of the options may be risky, there has been a clear influx in young talent the past few seasons (Miguel Cabrera and Hanley Ramirez gaining eligibility certainly didn’t hurt either).  Let’s take a look at how things stack up in OBP formats:

1. Miguel Cabrera – Detroit Tigers
2. Evan Longoria – Tampa Bay Rays
3. David Wright – New York Mets
4. Adrian Beltre – Texas Rangers
5. Hanley Ramirez – Los Angeles Dodgers
6. Ryan Zimmerman – Washington Nationals
7. Aramis Ramirez – Milwaukee Brewers
8. Chase Headley – San Diego Padres
9. Pablo Sandoval – San Francisco Giants
10. Kyle Seager – Seattle Mariners
11. Brett Lawrie – Toronto Blue Jays
12. Mike Moustakas – Kansas City Royals
13. Will Middlebrooks – Boston Red Sox
14. Kevin Youkilis – New York Yankees
15. Martin Prado – Arizona Diamondbacks

Thoughts:

• Adrian Beltre, who had been ranked second on our “standard” mixed league rankings falls to fourth here.  Why?  His career OBP is just .331.  Granted, he was at .359 last season but that was purely a function of his .321 average as he sported a 5.5% walk rate.  His average could easily regress, taking his OBP back down to the levels we are more accustomed to.
• On the flipside, David Wright’s career OBP is .381 including a .391 mark in 2012.  He isn’t going to bring you the power that he once did, but he has a very good chance of helping to carry you in the OBP department.
• Kevin Youkilis is on the downside of his career.  No one is going to argue that, but at this point he is going to be hitting in the middle of the Yankees’ order and he simply knows how to get himself on base.  Last season, despite hitting .235, he still managed an OBP of .336 thanks to a 10.0% walk rate (12.3% for his career).  Considering his 20.7% line drive rate and .268 BABIP, it’s fair to assume that the average is going to improve and, with his ability to draw walks, he could be among the best OBP options in the league.
• Keep in mind that over his minor league career Will Middlebrooks sported a .333 OBP.  Throw in his potentially unsustainable power while with the Red Sox (21.4% HR/FB) and he’s much better served as a corner infielder or bench option.

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Make sure to check out our standard 5×5 2013 rankings:

• Catchers (updated 02/18/13)
• First Basemen (updated 03/07/13)
• Second Basemen (updated 01/22/13)
• Third Basemen (updated 01/29/13)
• Shortstops (updated 03/04/13)
• Outfielders 1-20 (updated 02/25/13) | 21-40 (updated 02/26/13)
• Starting Pitchers 1-20 (updated 03/07/13) | 21-40 (updated 03/08/13)
• Relief Pitchers (updated 03/12/13)