Tiers are a simple but effective way of plotting out a draft strategy that assures you won't fall behind at any position while maximizing your return on every pick. They serve as an alternate form of rankings that groups players by expected level of production, denoting the points in the rankings where the most significant drop-offs occur. In the heat of a draft, you'll know which position to target by observing which one is closest to having its current tier depleted.
Below are the third base tiers for 2020. They show a position with such incredible depth from top to bottom that you should expect to draft more than one, whether for multi-eligibility reasons or to fill your utility spot. We broke down our favorite options to fill the position in our third base preview on the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast, along with our top sleepers, breakouts, and bust picks:
The Super Elite: Alex Bregman, Nolan Arenado, Jose Ramirez, Anthony Rendon
The Elite: Rafael Devers
The Near-Elite: Kris Bryant, DJ LeMahieu, Max Muncy, Eugenio Suarez, Yoan Moncada^, Manny Machado, Vladimir Guerrero, Jeff McNeil, Matt Chapman, Josh Donaldson
The Next-Best Things: Miguel Sano, Mike Moustakas, Tommy Edman^
The Fallback Options: Eduardo Escobar, Yuli Gurriel, Justin Turner, J.D. Davis, Scott Kingery^, Gio Urshela
The Last Resorts: Hunter Dozier, Ryan McMahon, Jon Berti^, Tommy La Stella
The Deep-Leaguers: Yandy Diaz, Kyle Seager, Brian Anderson, Starlin Castro, Matt Carpenter, David Fletcher†
The Leftovers: Travis Shaw, Alec Bohm, Evan Longoria, Marwin Gonzalez, Hanser Alberto, Asdrubal Cabrera, Todd Frazier, Maikel Franco
^:one tier lower in points leagues
†: one tier lower in categories leagues
( ): DH-only
