As MLB owners and the MLBPA continue to meet throughout the week, fantasy baseball draft season is well underway. The obvious hope is a new CBA will be agreed upon soon, but while we wait, we cannot afford to sit on our hands with regard to drafting. Ideally, your fantasy baseball draft won’t take place until late March, but with so many people drafting multiple teams, it would be unrealistic to try and jam them all into the week before the 2022 MLB season gets underway. 

As a result, we are going to have to keep tabs on all the unsigned free agents and figure out who is worth drafting without having a destination in place and who we can wait on until they sign. Third base has some depth to it and most have found homes, but there are still a few to keep on your radar.

Top 5 Unsigned Free Agents Third Basemen

 

 

 

After spending all of his time on the north side of Chicago, Bryant was dealt to the Giants for their playoff run. Some decline was obviously expected, but he still managed to post an average north of .260 with an on-base percentage slightly above .340. Not bad numbers at all, but obviously not what we’ve grown accustomed to over the years. The 30-year-old still has plenty left in the tank and his plate discipline numbers and hard-hit rate are right on par with his past. The current 84 ADP seems about right and he’s still coming off as a top-10 third baseman, so draft with confidence. We could see some fluctuation depending on where he lands, but if you’re drafting now, keep him where he is.

 

 

Where he lands will obviously determine his value as Villar is not guaranteed a starting job at all. His power peaked back in 2019 and his declining on-base numbers have pushed him just beneath the 20-steal barrier over the last two season. He can probably still be counted on to hit 10-15 home runs and swipe 15-20 bases but he’s not providing you with a strong average, RBI or, even runs scored. The runs could improve depending on a landing spot, but he should be drafted as depth only right now and only if you’re in need of some speed.

 

 

Unless he finds himself in an extremely favorable ballpark with a starting job, Franco is likely nothing more than bench depth at this point. He’s probably an injury away from a starting gig, depending on where he lands, but the weak batting average and on-base percentage detract from any sort of power he may be able to provide. He’s washed out of Baltimore and Kansas City so far, so the outlook isn’t particularly good right now. Can things turn around? Maybe. But if you’re drafting right now, he’s late-round Draft-and-Hold material at best.

 

 

He’s a journeyman middle infielder with minimal power and minimal speed. He lands his jobs based on his glove and he does hit for a decent average. Expect him to sign on as depth, but if he does land in the right situation where a team has a youngster they are grooming but isn’t quite ready for the big leagues, Alberto could end up as a stopgap with some short-term value. 

 

 

If we’re describing players with GIFs, then we’d be using the Spiderman one where the twins are pointing at each other here with Adrianza and Alberto. Not much to say here as Adrianza also doesn’t have much power or speed. He also doesn’t hit for as high an average but he does still seem to find his way on-base. Check out where he lands to see if he’s worthy of depth in deeper-mixed or mono-leagues, but he’s probably best left for the waiver wire.

Where does Fantasy Alarm have these first baseman ranked? Full 2022 fantasy baseball player rankings from Jim Bowden, Adam Ronis and Howard Bender can be found here in our Fantasy Baseball Draft Guide.

RELATED LINKS

Looking for the rest of the top unsigned free agents? This FREE series is in progress, but check out the links below for what's been published already: