Welcome to the position tiered rankings for 2015. The tiers are broken out into five tiers with five being the highest and one being the lowest. Five star players are players that will be taken in the first couple of rounds or will go for $30-plus. Four star players will have $20-plus. Three stars $10-plus, two stars $5-plus and the one star are players you want to avoid or players to stash on your bench.

The statistics for each player are my semi-final projections. The projections are going to change going forward, but if you follow me on Twitter @MattCommins I will tweet out when my projections are updated and posted on MattCommins.com. If I was a reader I would focus on the tiering of players and the overall idea of the projections. For example, if I project a player for 28 home runs that means I think he’ll hit for a lot of power.

Links the other position previews:

• Catcher
• First Base
• Second Base
• Third Base
• Shortstop
• Outfield
• Relief Pitcher/Closer
  
• Starting Pitcher

What you will find below are the fantasy tiers for third basemen. This is a fairly shallow position where it’s very important to grab someone in the top two tiers. if you do not get one of those players you’re throwing a hail mary. If I were to wait for a third baseman I would draft two of them and hope one of them pans out.

Five Star

Five-Star Value Pick: Josh Donaldson

Josh Donaldson has been a MVP caliber player the past two years and he should be able to continue to be great, but I have minor quibble about what kind of toll playing on artificial turf will have on his ability to stay healthy.

Four Star

Four-Star Value Pick: Nolan Arenado

It’s really hard for me to not pick Kyle Seager because I’ve believed in him for years, but Nolan Arenado has the higher ceiling. If Seager played in a neutral ballpark I would take him, but it’s too hard to pass on Arenado. He plays in the best hitters ballpark and has the tools to more than a product of Coors Field.

Three-Star Value Pick: Matt Carpenter

Alex Rodriguez made the list because the Yankees are saying he’s going to be their everyday DH. A lot can change at Spring Training, but as of now he’s on the list. If you’re looking for 100-plus runs then look no further than Matt Carpenter. The Cardinals offense is going to be vastly improved with the addition of Jason Heyward and since Heyward has such a high OBP there are going to be many instances where Carpenter will be on second base a lot with zero outs.

Two Star

Two-Star Value Pick: Chase Headley

If I knew Kris Bryant was going to be in the majors to begin the season he would be my pick, but as of right now his playing time is up in the air. Chase Headley isn’t going to hit 31 home runs again, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s a 15/15 player with a .280-plus batting average.

One Star

One-Star Value Pick: Trevor Plouffe

I like Trevor Plouffe because I know what I’m going to be getting when I draft him. He’s going to be unspectacular, but I can count on a solid batting average with 12-17 home runs.