Early 2026 Fantasy Baseball Rankings: Top 20 at third base shows Isaac Paredes, Max Muncy gaining ground

The 2025 season has ended, which means the ranking season is upon us.

Already, I've looked at the first two rounds for 2026. Now, it's time to go position by position, beginning with third base.

Many of the old standbys (Manny Machado, Alex Bregman) are showing signs of decline. Many of the next wave (Matt Shaw, Jordan Lawlar) have failed to find their footing. Even Royce Lewis and Mark Vientos, who seemed to have stuck the landing already, now find themselves on shaky ground.

• Early rankings: C | 1B | 2B | 3B | SS | OF | SP | RP

Meanwhile, Rafael Devers, long an early-round mainstay, and Colson Montgomery and Sal Stewart, two promising midseason arrivals, will no longer be eligible at the position. What hope is there?

No position's outlook is ever as bleak as it seems, and you don't have to squint too hard to see the upside at third base. Just understand that no matter who you grab there in 2026 (unless it's the top guy), you're taking on some risk.

Note that the focus here is standard 5x5 scoring (such as Rotisserie leagues), but scroll a little further, and you'll see my rankings for points leagues.  

Top 20 third basemen for 2026

1	Jose Ramirez Cleveland Guardians 3B
During a year when so many of the standard bearers at third base removed themselves from early-round consideration, Ramirez remained as studly as ever, opening up about as big of a lead as he's ever had at the position. If only he wasn't 33.
2	Junior Caminero Tampa Bay Rays 3B
Caminero's first full season vaulted him into an elite group of sluggers, one of just three to hit 40-plus homers in his age-21 season. His batting average was about 100 points lower on the road than at the minor league ballpark the Rays called home, which raises some uncertainty with the team expected back at Tropicana Field next year.
3	Jazz Chisholm New York Yankees 2B
Chisholm stands out all the more at second base, a position with even fewer early round-caliber bats, so if you're looking to target him as a rare power/speed threat at a position long devoid of them, recognize that you'll have ample competition. He'll be in a contract year, too, which may be the carrot that keeps him on the field rather than on the IL.
4	Manny Machado San Diego Padres 3B
With his past elbow troubles well behind him, Machado seemed poised to deliver an OPS in the mid-to-high .800s before stumbling in August and September. It seemed like less a product of decline than happenstance, seeing as he made even harder contact during that stretch, but after watching him put up basically the same stat line three years in a row, we may just have to accept that's just who he is now.
5	Austin Riley Atlanta Braves 3B
It was a bad year for Riley, who didn't look right coming back from a broken hamate bone and looked even worse coming back from an abdominal injury that ultimately required season-ending surgery. Some will call it a trend, noting that his 2024 production declined as well, but the underlying data was as good as ever that year, and the turnaround was well underway at the time he broke the hamate bone.
6	Eugenio Suarez Seattle Mariners 3B
After enjoying a resurgence in Arizona that positioned him as one of the game's elite sluggers, Suarez's return to Seattle at the trade deadline went about like his first stint there, cratering his batting average just as he was preparing to enter the free agent market. The 34-year-old is no sure thing entering 2026, but the right destination might be enough to slide him ahead of Riley here.
7	Maikel Garcia Kansas City Royals 3B
Garcia will be eligible only at third base to begin 2026, which makes him slightly less interesting in Fantasy Baseball, but as you can see here, the drop-off at the position comes fast. The hope is that the strides he made in 2025 with regard to contact quality, contact shape and contact rate carry over to keep his jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none profile intact. The batting average and stolen bases are especially welcome at this position.
8	Alex Bregman Boston Red Sox 3B
Bregman seemed rejuvenated in his first year with the Red Sox before a badly strained quadriceps shut him down in late May. He didn't look the same thereafter, bringing his numbers back to where we're used to seeing them and raising the question of whether he'll seriously opt out of the two years remaining on his contract. Fenway Park is, in theory, one of his highest-upside venues, and this ranking presumes he'll be back there.
9	Isaac Paredes Houston Astros 3B
As expected, Paredes wore out the Crawford Boxes at Daikin Park, his extreme pull-side power playing perfectly at the venue with the nearest left field fence. A hamstring injury that wiped out most of his second half will keep him affordable in 2026 drafts, but at age 27 and with an established history of performing well beyond his exit velocities, he'll absolutely be worth drafting as a starter.
10	Matt Chapman San Francisco Giants 3B
Turns out Chapman's San Francisco revival wasn't a one-off. He kept his strikeout rate below 25 percent again and would have repeated his stat line almost perfectly if not for a couple of IL stints for a hand injury. You can't presume good health for a player entering his age-33 season and will need to safeguard against his batting average in categories leagues, but Chapman is obviously a starting-caliber third baseman.
11	Jordan Westburg Baltimore Orioles 3B
No longer eligible at second base in CBS Sports leagues, Westburg is well equipped to factor at third base as well, but we were once again denied a full accounting of his talents because of injuries. With a 162-game pace of 27 homers in 2024 and 32 in 2025, he's shown himself to be enough of a power bat, at least, but the on-base skills are lacking and the stolen bases nonexistent.
12	Max Muncy Los Angeles Dodgers 3B
Muncy's full-season numbers were enough to place him this high in the rankings, but his numbers since he began wearing glasses April 30 would suggest he could be top six at the position -- particularly in points leagues, where his high walk rate has always distinguished him further. Health issues and platoon concerns will likely prevent the 35-year-old from being a true full-timer, though.
13	Noelvi Marte Cincinnati Reds RF
Marte so badly misfired in 2024, first with a PED suspension and then with his actual performance, that he seemed like he might be a lost cause at age 23, but 2025 has gone a long way toward restoring enthusiasm for him. His peak exit velocities are some of the highest in baseball, he's a factor on the base paths, and he generally keeps his strikeouts under control, making him a potential five-category threat.
14	Royce Lewis Minnesota Twins 3B
A hamstring strain was the latest injury to derail Lewis, twice landing him on the IL in the first half and likely stunting his production as well. We used to dismiss his injuries as mere detours on the road to greatness, but now it's not even clear that he's good. He still has a lot of traits shared by top hitters, though, and was on about a 20-homer, 20-steal pace from June 1 on, so you could do worse than to fall back on him here.
15	Matt Shaw Chicago Cubs 3B
Even with some improvement in the second half, Shaw's rookie season was a dud overall, his bottom-of-the-barrel exit velocity readings giving reason to wonder if he arrived fully baked. His first-round pedigree and stolen base contributions are reasons to hold out hope, but Wrigley Field isn't the venue for players who rely on extreme pull tendencies for their power, as Isaac Paredes well knows.
16	Addison Barger Toronto Blue Jays 3B
Barger had some productive years in the minors and hits the ball hard enough to do so in the majors as well, but the Blue Jays still seem unsure of how big of a role he should have. They're quick to explore other options when he has a down stretch, as was true in the second half of 2025, and his poor on-base skills and platoon splits could mire him in permanent part-time status.
17	Mark Vientos New York Mets 3B
If anything was going to bring Vientos down from his 2024 high, it was strikeouts, yet he lowered his rate by about 5 percentage points only to see the production evaporate anyway. It's confounding because he still hit the ball as hard as in 2024, and at roughly the same angles, but the home runs just weren't there. And now he has Brett Baty , who finished 2025 on a much higher note, breathing down his neck again.
18	Alec Bohm Philadelphia Phillies 3B
Bohm was always just good enough, bringing just the right dynamic to a lineup, to remain a starter for a first-division ball club, and any slippage threatened to compromise that. We've seen slippage in 2025, owing mostly to a pair of second-half IL stints that allowed Otto Kemp to gain a foothold (probably not enough to take the job, though) while exposing how much of Bohm's worth is tied to volume.
19	Carlos Correa Houston Astros 3B
Correa's reunion with the Astros over the final two months went well enough that there's reason to hope he could still matter in Fantasy, if only in the margins. His upside case isn't so different from Bohm's in that you're hoping for a .280 batting average with 15-20 homers and some run and RBI padding from the lineup around him. Bohm is a much better bet to stay healthy, though.
20	Jordan Lawlar Arizona Diamondbacks 3B
Even after dealing away Eugenio Suarez, the Diamondbacks weren't fully committed to playing Lawlar, who can't seem to escape the purgatory of being too good for the minors but unable to break into the majors. He has the makings of a 25/25 man with plus on-base skills -- sort of like Marcus Semien in his prime -- but since it's all still theoretical, with no concrete playing time assurances, this is as high as he can rank.

What changes in points leagues?

1. Jose Ramirez, CLE
2. Junior Caminero, TB
3. Jazz Chisholm, NYY
4. Manny Machado, SD
5. Austin Riley, ATL
6. Alex Bregman, possible free agent
7. Eugenio Suarez, free agent
8. Maikel Garcia, KC
9. Isaac Paredes, HOU
10. Max Muncy, likely LAD
11. Matt Chapman, SF
12. Jordan Westburg, BAL
13. Noelvi Marte, CIN
14. Royce Lewis, MIN
15. Matt Shaw, CHC
16. Alec Bohm, PHI
17. Addison Barger, TOR
18. Carlos Correa, MIN
19. Mark Vientos, NYM
20. Jordan Lawlar, ARI