The (not so) Hot Corner

By Dalton Del Don – Senior Writer

Entering the season, most pundits tabbed third base as an extremely deep fantasy position. I was no different and implored drafters to wait as long as possible on the position, especially with so many bounce back candidates available late. Well, it’s looking more and more like we were wrong, and the position is quickly turning into one of the shallowest of all:

The big three of A-Rod, Miguel Cabrera and David Wright have all met or exceeded expectations, and Aramis Ramirez and Chipper Jones have been very productive as well. However, things decline precipitously after that.

Garrett Atkins (.228, 3 HR, 18 RBI) – A huge bust so far. While I’m optimistic he’ll turn it around, 2006 is almost certainly going to go down as his career-year.

Chone Figgins (.123, 0 HR, 3 RBI, 3 SB) – While it’s good the speedster didn’t suffer a leg injury, the finger ailment has obviously affected his hitting. Another big time disappointment.

Eric Chavez (.240, 5 HR) – Hitting .203 during May.

Scott Rolen (.215, 2 HR) – The plate discipline is still there, but the power is gone. He has a truly pathetic .319 slugging percentage.

Ryan Zimmerman (.250, 6 HR) – He’s gotten hot over the past week, with four homers and seven RBI.

Adrian Beltre (.236, 6 HR) – He has five steals as well, so he’s been decent. I honestly think the bone spur in his ankle was the contributing factor behind the monstrous 2004 season.

Hank Blalock (.285, 5 HR) – Right after he started heating up, Blalock was sidelined 10-12 weeks after undergoing surgery to remove a rib. Didn’t Marilyn Manson undergo a similar operation, only for different reasons?

Edwin Encarnacion (.220, 1 HR) – So bad he was demoted to Triple-A. I’d still probably rather have him than only a handful of the other third base options over the rest of the season.

Morgan Ensberg (.216, 3 HR) – I wonder if his career trajectory would be different if that whole held at gunpoint incident never happened. I think it would be.

The list continues: Chad Tracy and Akinori Iwamura are injured; Joe Crede has scuffled at the plate; and Alex Gordon has been a monumental bust. “The Hammer” is batting .195 with 44 strikeouts in 43 games played. He has three straight games with multiple hits, however, so maybe his bat is awakening.

Bottom line, third base has largely been a disaster for fantasy owners this season. There are basically five good options, and then a bunch of weak ones, making Alex Rodriguez even more valuable, if that’s even possible.