February 10, 201214 yr Every single team in the NL East has a tremendous third baseman. Rank them. Here are the choices: - Chipper Jones, Atlanta Braves - Hanley Ramirez, Miami Marlins - David Wright, New York Mets - Placido Polanco, Philadelphia Phillies - Ryan Zimmerman, Washington Nationals Remember to take into account offense and defense. Or if you want rank the offense and defense seperate and be sure to note that.
February 11, 201214 yr ^The top list is me expecting Hanley to have a bounceback year offensively. Wright and Hanley are rather debatable at this point, and I wouldn't argue with someone who put Wright 2nd/Hanley 3rd.
February 11, 201214 yr Hanley is still (or should still be Hanley) and he should be first in the list offensively, as far as the whole package you have to go with Zimmerman. then DWright than the other guys
February 11, 201214 yr Zimmerman is one of my favorite non-marlins.. he is a stud. But I think Hanley bounces back.. and if thats the case, he's one of the best there is regardless of position.
February 11, 201214 yr last season, Chipper was the best 3B in the division. I'm just thinking his age has gotta finally catch up with him
February 11, 201214 yr Wright > Hanley At their best, their bats are probably about the same. Both have tapered off somewhat (partially because of injuries), but I have more faith in Wright having a .900 OPS season than I do Hanley. And Wright is much better defensively. This is actually a no brainer for me.
February 11, 201214 yr I have Zimmerman clearly at the top with Polanco and Jones clearly at the bottom. For second place it's tough because I don't know what I'm going to get out of Hanley and Wright. As of today, I would probably put Wright at second and Hanley at third. 1. Zimmerman 2. Wright 3. Hanley 4. Placido 5. Jones
February 11, 201214 yr I feel some people don't know that David Wright is not a good defensive 3B. Wright > Hanley At their best, their bats are probably about the same. Both have tapered off somewhat (partially because of injuries), but I have more faith in Wright having a .900 OPS season than I do Hanley. And Wright is much better defensively. This is actually a no brainer for me. It's been a long time since David Wright has been a good defensive 3B. Hell, he's pretty bad.
February 11, 201214 yr Not to mention that he doesn't like guys taking a shower with a plastic bag over their head to protect their dreads from water.
February 11, 201214 yr It's a pretty interesting comparison. The "Top 3" all consists of All-Stars who've had the worst seasons of their careers. So based solely on last year, I'd rank it... 1) Chipper Jones 2) Ryan ZImmerman 3) David Wright 4) Placido Polanco (based on the GG) 5) Hanley Ramirez But this year, it's truly up in the air. I think Hanley will have a comeback because of all the newfound protection in the lineup (and I'm a homer). Jason Werth should have a little better of a year so Zimmerman will likely get the same effect. I see David Wright doing better, but not competing for the top 3B spot in the division. He's just too good to keep down when healthy though. Health is a huge factor for everyone, including Chipper. So with that said, this is how I see the rankings going this year... 1) Ryan Zimmerman (bounces back with around 30 HR/110 RBIs and anchors a newly potent lineup) 2) Hanley Ramirez (easily eclipses 100 RBIs with Reyes/Boni in front. Maybe 25 HR/25 SB) 3) David Wright (not enough help in that lineup to make him a threat again, but he's better than 2011 showed) 4) Chipper Jones (turns 40 during the season and had injury problems the past 2 seasons) 5) Placido Polanco (You know what you'll get from him. Great defense with a decent average and poor slugging)
February 11, 201214 yr I feel some people don't know that David Wright is not a good defensive 3B. Wright > Hanley At their best, their bats are probably about the same. Both have tapered off somewhat (partially because of injuries), but I have more faith in Wright having a .900 OPS season than I do Hanley. And Wright is much better defensively. This is actually a no brainer for me. It's been a long time since David Wright has been a good defensive 3B. Hell, he's pretty bad. I never said that Wright is "good." That's putting words in my mouth. I think on a relative scale, he's much better than Hanley, who will probably be worst-in-the-league bad. I'm also willing to cut Wright some slack with his bad defense as of late in light of his injury problems. It's not so easy to give Hanley that same benefit because he's been consistently a poor defensive SS since his call up whereas Wright has at least demonstrated some respectable defensive years. So in some respect, I think Wright is potentially better with the glove than the last two years have indicated.
February 11, 201214 yr If Hanley returns to his 2007-09 form, then he's the best in the NL East. Zimmerman is 2nd. Chipper 3rd. Wright 4th Polanco 5th No other 3B in NL East is capable of putting up .330-30-30 seasons. That's only if he returns to the Hanley we know.
February 11, 201214 yr Wow. Wright is really getting overrated here. Wright's bat = vintage Hanley? Please. Wright is a very streaky player, and his K rate sky sky rocketed over the years. Hanley is way less streaky, even factoring last season. Hanley > Wright. Chipper Jones is better than Wright.
February 11, 201214 yr Wow. Wright is really getting overrated here. Wright's bat = vintage Hanley? Please. Wright is a very streaky player, and his K rate sky sky rocketed over the years. Hanley is way less streaky, even factoring last season. Hanley > Wright. Chipper Jones is better than Wright. Wright has been a 30 HR / mid-.900 OPS bat at his peak, which is basically what Hanley was in his better years. It's hard to bash Wright for being "streaky" while Hanley's bat has plummeted after 2009. I'd love for Hanley to be a .900 OPS bat again, but he's probably more in the mid .800s. I don't think that Wright is much better overall than Hanley, but I think that Hanley's 2011 performance is more of an eye opener than Wright's inconsistencies are.
February 11, 201214 yr Hanley was injured all year, though, was he not? Didn't he start the season with a bad back and didn't say anything until later in the year?
February 11, 201214 yr 1. Zimmerman 2. Hanley 3. Wright 4. Chipper 5. Polanco Zimmerman is an animal. Wish we could have him our team. Love the way he plays the game day in and out. Just sucks he has been slowed down by injuries the past couple of years. Hanley having a bounce back year would be a favorite for #2 with Wright not too far behind. Chipper still gets it done but Polanco is far 5th. Good bat control, solid glove but that's it.
February 11, 201214 yr Wright hasn't been a plus defender at 3B since 2007 on either FG or BE; that surprised me.
February 11, 201214 yr Wright sucks defensively. Hanley won't be much worse, as it's difficult to be much worse. I also don't understand why we should expect terrible things from him at 3B. Once he gets accustomed to it, he should be fine. He obviously has the range to play there as he's been a SS before, and he has the arm. It'll just take some time to learn the new things that come with the position. He's not the first player to make the transition. Our defense will be a lot better this year.
February 11, 201214 yr Hanley was injured all year, though, was he not? Didn't he start the season with a bad back and didn't say anything until later in the year? Yes but penguin is ignoring all of that. No, I'm not. As I said, it's hard to play the injury card with Hanley since he's sucked defensively his whole career. Wright has definitely declined defensively (injuries or not), but Hanley has sucked pretty much since day one.
February 11, 201214 yr Wright sucks defensively. Hanley won't be much worse, as it's difficult to be much worse. I also don't understand why we should expect terrible things from him at 3B. Once he gets accustomed to it, he should be fine. He obviously has the range to play there as he's been a SS before, and he has the arm. It'll just take some time to learn the new things that come with the position. He's not the first player to make the transition. Our defense will be a lot better this year. He's not the first player to make the transition, but most of the guys who have done it in the past have been respectable at SS. Also, if I may subject Hanley to the BroncoBob eye-test, one of Hanley's greatest problems is arm accuracy. The strength is there, but his precision is poor. I don't see how a move to 3B will help this problem much. I actually think he would be better at 2B.
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