Top 10 Third Basemen

The series looking at the top players in the league at each position continues:

10. Bono Hughes, Minnesota Fatboys: After an ill-advised promotion to the majors in season 1, Hughes went back to the minors for two seasons before returning as a significantly better player. Despite that terrible early stint, he has his career line up around .275/.345/.445 thanks to very solid campaigns in seasons 4 and 5, and he's right around his career numbers this season. Hughes has mediocre contact skills, but he's good (although not great) in all four other areas on offense.

Defensively, Hughes is around average across the board, a little bit above in range and arm accuracy and a little below in arm strength. Hughes certainly isn't a star fielder, but his performance in the field the last 2.5 seasons has definitely been adequate.

9. John Hardy, New York Metropolitans: Hardy isn't a great hitter, as his career line is around .280/.350/.440. He's been better than that so far this season, posting very respectable numbers for his position. Hardy's contact and power are both so-so or worse, but he has a good batting eye and good ability against both righties and lefties.

Defensively, Hardy has an amazingly sound glove and a very accurate arm and his range is a bit above average, but his arm strength is well below average. He won the season 5 Gold Glove award with excellent numbers that included 11 + plays and 0 - plays. And while he hasn't been that strong in + plays this season, he's still done nice work with the leather.

8. Tony Cortes, Chicago Jayhawks: Cortes is struggling with the bat this season, but he's been solid throughout his career with a line around .300/.360/.470 and he's coming off consecutive seasons with a .380-plus OBP. Cortes has good contact ability, but his power and batting eye are both so-so. He's solid against lefties and very good against righties.

Cortes is well above average in all areas on defense, particularly his outstanding glove, which is to be expected of a converted middle infielder. In his first season at third base, he has a 2/0 +/- total and is playing solid defense overall.

7. Don Monroe, New York Yankees: Monroe's a very solid hitter, posting a career line around .290/.355/.500, although his power has been down a bit so far this season. Monroe has very good contact, so-so power and a solid batting eye. He's solid against righties, a bit worse against lefties.

Defensively, Monroe is above average everywhere except his arm strength, which has taken a big hit. His arm was an asset before he suffered forearm nerve irritation last season. His fielding stats have fluctuated from season to season, but he's generally at least been acceptable with the glove.

Monroe's biggest problem is his health. He's been on the DL five times in 5.5 seasons, and there's always the concern that he'll go out for an extended period and force you to scramble to find a replacement.

6. Chris Kirkland, Sioux Falls Gunslingers: Kirkland sometimes struggles to reach base a lot, but there's no doubting his power. He has a career line around .275/.330/.550 and he's been better than that so far this season. Kirkland's contact skills are mediocre, but he has very good power and a decent batting eye. He's solid against righties and pretty good against lefties.

Defensively, he's almost exactly average across the board. For some reason, however, he's really cut down on his errors the past 2.5 seasons despite the fact that his defensive skills haven't changed much and he has a solid 10/3 total for +/- plays in his career.

5. Brandon Sheffield, Vancouver Vigilantes: Sheffield is another player who doesn't have great on-base ability but has nice power. His career line is around .285/.335/.520 and he's been even better this season. Sheffield doesn't have a single weakness on offense, but he doesn't have a tremendous strength either. Just a nice, well-rounded hitter.

Defensively, Sheffield's glove and arm accuracy are still recovering from spending season 3 with the worst fielding instructor in the world. His range is above average and his arm strength is nearly average. He is having his best season with the glove, as he's made just three errors and his fielding percentage for this season is about 60 points higher than his career fielding percentage.

4. Sid Fleming, Montreal Grand Orange: Fleming's struggling a bit this seasons, but he's coming off two very nice offensive seasons and has a career line around .295/.340/.535. Fleming's batting eye is poor, but he has a very good contact/power combination. He's solid against lefties and good against righties.

Defensively, Fleming is above average across the board, well above in range, glove and arm accuracy. He's played all over the field in the majors, but he's been very good on defense when he's played third base.

3. Sting Berger, Syracuse Fightin' Boeheims: Berger made his big league debut in season 5, hitting .299/.355/.561 in 79 games. He's been unable to come close to matching that so far this season, but there's no reason to expect that he won't start hitting again any day. Berger's contact skills are mediocre, but he has great power, a good batting eye and he's good against both righties and lefties.

Defensively, his range is above average, his arm strength is about average and his glove and arm accuracy are both below average. He's cut down on the errors this season from his season 5 debut, and he's generally been an acceptable fielder, though certainly not great.

2. Darron Jenkins, Boston Red Sox: As with many third baseman this season, Jenkins is struggling at the plate a bit. Still, he has a career line around .310/.360/.550 and he's coming off back-to-back seasons with a .940-plus OPS. Jenkins has so-so contact and patience, but he has very good power and he's very good against righties and great against lefties.

Defensively, Jenkins has below average arm accuracy and he's above average everywhere else. He's been a fine fielder in his career, but he's not likely to ever win a Gold Glove award.

1. Ronald Garcia, Santa Cruz Amigos: Garcia is having the best season of his career at the plate, which is saying something for a player with a career line around .295/.360/.555. He has mediocre contact, but very good power and a solid batting eye. He's very good against righties and great against lefties.

Defensively, Garcia's range is a bit below average, but his arm accuracy is solid and his glove and arm strength are both above average. He's only made nine errors since the start of season 5, for a nice .980 fielding percentage during that time. His +/- total of 5/4 in his career is pretty much a wash.