NL East Preview: Third Base

The NL East has a very talented third base group. One of the players is a lock for the HOF once he retires. Then you have three guys who are entering the prime of their careers, although one will be making a transition to third for the first time in their career.

Here is a glimpse of the starting third baseman for each NL East team in 2012.

• Atlanta Braves: Chipper Jones
• Miami Marlins: Hanley Ramirez
• New York Mets: David Wright
• Philadelphia Phillies: Placido Polanco
• Washington Nationals: Ryan Zimmerman

Chipper Jones

Hanley Ramirez

David Wright

Placido Polanco

Ryan Zimmerman

According to these projections, we can draw this:

1. Ryan Zimmerman
2. Hanley Ramirez
3. David Wright
4. Placido Polanco
5. Chipper Jones

Not surprisingly, Ryan Zimmerman is expected to have the best season among third baseman in the NL East. Zimmerman is not only an elite player with his bat, but also his defense. Expect Zimmerman to put up monster numbers this season. Second place goes to Hanley Ramirez. This maybe some Marlins bias, but I fully expect Hanley to have a better season then Zimmerman. It would not surprise to me to see Hanley as the top ranked third baseman in all of baseball by the end of the 2012 season. That is if he stays healthy and motivated. David Wright has become an interesting player, for the wrong reasons. There is a lot of trade chatter surrounding the third baseman. Do the Mets need to trade him and rebuild? There is also a lot of concern around baseball if Wright is actually a superstar. This season will be a good chance for himself to prove that he is. Next up is Placido Polanco and Chipper Jones. Both players are near the ends of their careers, but are still expected to put up some decent numbers. I would not be surprised if these two flipped flopped for the bottom two spots all season. That is not a knock on either player. They are both excellent player and a very important to their teams. The NL East is full of some of the best third baseman in all of baseball.