AL East Positional Face-Off – Third Base

[Note by hugo, 02/20/09 3:56 PM EST ] Promoted from Diaries - keep up the great work, bunner!

Third base in the AL East is filled with question marks for almost all teams.  Can Rolen stay healthy?  Can Lowell bounce back and stay healthy?  Is AROD clean?  Will Longoria have a sophomore slump?  Why does Melvin Mora continue to have a starting job?  Even with all the questions the rankings here weren’t that difficult.

1. Alex Roidriguez (New York)

With the admission to using PEDs between 2001-2003 I seriously contemplated bumping ARod down to #2 on the list.  There will be a lot of pressure on him to perform this season and he will get a lot of heat from fans on the road (and possibly at home too).  Regardless, I think ARod will easily be better then all other AL East 3B and for that matter all 3B in the American League, the only person to pose a serious threat to him as the best 3B in the game is David Wright from the cross town Mets.

2. Evan Longoria (Tampa Bay)

I really like this guy as a ball player, he seems to work hard and does everything well.  I can see him joining Wright and Rodriguez in the elite 3B as soon as this season.  For now he likely will not out perform ARod which makes him #2 on this list.

3. Scott Rolen (Toronto)

Barring an injury that keeps him out for an extended period of time Rolen easily captures #3 on the list.  He plays amazing defence and with his new approach at the plate he finished off 2008 on a high note.  Hopefully this can continue into 2009 and a 20HR performance is not out of the question (if he can manage to stay healthy).

4. Mike Lowell (Boston)

Injuries may have been what slowed Lowell down in 2008 however I think with those injuries and his advancing age that Lowell is very unlikely to ever produce at the high level he has in the past.  If he can stay healthy he might rebound a bit from a poor 2008 but I would count on it.

5. Melvin Mora (Baltimore)

Mora is the oldest of the bunch and the most likely to lose time due to either an injury or more likely because of Baltimore’s youth movement.  He isn’t an awful player but at his age he is better off as a part time player in my opinion.  He will be an average major leaguer at best in 2009.

The tally so far:

New York: 17

Baltimore: 13:

Tampa Bay: 11

Boston: 11

Toronto: 8

Up next SS…