
The third base position, like many, is a cross-section of old and young. A handful of the best third basemen in today’s game were among the best a decade ago. Some in the group were not yet in high school then.
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And while the best-fielding third basemen in the game tend not to move off the position (at least not often), others have managed to find time at multiple positions. Some on this list might find a home elsewhere on the infield by the time the 2025 season is done; for now, they’re safe bets to pencil in as the Opening Day starter at the hot corner.

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Here is Newsweek Sports’ ranking of the Top 10 third basemen in MLB:
10. Junior Caminero
Caminero, a consensus Top-5 prospect in MLB, got his feet wet at the major league level with the Rays in 2024. In a 43-game sample, he slashed .248/.299/.424. Considering he slugged .498 at Triple-A last year as a 20-year-old, it’s just a matter of time before Caminero catches up to MLB pitching. His .424/.457/.546 slash line in 10 Dominican Winter League games suggests the time could be now.
9. Royce Lewis
The first overall pick of an underwhelming 2017 draft by the Minnesota Twins, Lewis’ career has been hampered early and often by injuries. When he’s on the field, Lewis has been brilliant. In 152 career games from 2022-24 — roughly a full season’s worth of work — Lewis has hit .268 with 33 home runs and 104 RBIs. Health will be the key, but at 25 it’s far too soon to rule out the possibility of a steady and productive career for Lewis.
8. Nolan Arenado
On the other end of the career spectrum lies Arenado, who at 33 has made eight All-Star teams, won 10 Gold Glove Awards, and hit enough home runs (341) to put a plaque in Cooperstown within reach. Arenado finished third in National League MVP voting in 2022 only to see his production fall the last two seasons. The St. Louis Cardinals are trying to give him the change of scenery his potential Hall of Fame career needs.
7. Isaac Paredes
When the Cubs traded three-time All-Star Kyle Tucker to the Chicago Cubs in December, Paredes was the centerpiece of their return. An All-Star for the first time himself in 2024, Paredes has a .776 OPS (119 OPS+) over the last three seasons in Chicago and Tampa Bay, and at 25 could have his best years ahead of him in hitter-friendly Daikin Park.
6. Jordan Westburg
There are four hitters currently in the 85th percentile or better for HH% & sprint speed.
Bobby Witt Jr.
Fernando Tatís Jr.
Gunnar Henderson
Jordan WestburgIf you lower it to 80th percentile, you can add Matt Chapman, Jose Siri, Seiya Suzuki, Elly De La Cruz, & Matt Vierling. pic.twitter.com/3ICGy805ms
— Eric Cross (@EricCrossMLB) April 25, 2024
Another young talent on the rise, Westburg could see time at second base in 2025 if another of Baltimore’s stud position player prospects (Jackson Holliday) doesn’t claim the position as hoped in spring training. Westburg, 25, made strides in every area of his game in 2024, finishing with a .792 OPS (129 OPS+) in Baltimore and making his first American League All-Star team.
5. Matt Chapman
Like Arenado, Chapman’s glove has kept him entrenched at the position even though he has yet to finish in the Top 10 in MVP voting since his first full two seasons (2018-19) with the Oakland A’s. Chapman got the change of scenery he needed in 2024, the first year of his six-year, $153 million contract with the San Francisco Giants. Chapman led the Giants in home runs (27), RBIs (78) and bWAR (7.1) while winning his fifth Gold Glove Award at third base.
4. Austin Riley
Riley, 27, averaged 35 home runs and 99 RBIs from 2021-23 before a broken hand limited him to 110 games in 2024. After making two All-Star teams and winning two Silver Slugger Awards in his first three seasons as the Braves’ starter at third base, Riley is looking to bounce back in 2025, the third year of the 10-year, $212 million contract he signed prior to the 2023 season.
3. Rafael Devers
Devers, 28, is a candidate to move off third base if the Boston Red Sox sign free agent third baseman Alex Bregman, as has been rumored. What Devers lacks with the glove, he makes up for with his bat. Last season he hit .272 with 28 home runs and 83 RBIs in 138 games. In his career he’s a .279/.345/.511 hitter who’s been listed on MVP ballots in each of the full non-pandemic seasons he’s played since his 2017 debut.
2. Manny Machado
Machado, still just 32, is among baseball’s active leaders in a sprawling list of career categories — bWAR (57.8, eighth), games played (1,735, seventh), runs scored (991, 10th), hits (1,900, fifth), total bases (3,325, fifth), home runs (342, fifth) and RBIs (1,049, eighth). Last season he helped lead the Padres to a 93-win season and a near-upset of the Dodgers in the NL Division Series. He’s the reigning NL Silver Slugger Award winner at the position.
1. Jose Ramirez
The perpetually underrated Ramirez is coming off a 39-homer, 118-RBI season in which he made his sixth career All-Star team and helped the surprising Guardians reach the AL Championship Series. At 31, he stole a career-high 41 bases and made his sixth career All-Star team.
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