Fantasy Baseball 2012: The 6-Way Battle for May's Most Prodigious 3rd Baseman

A funny thing happened on my way to crafting Friday's slideshow of "Fantasy Baseball's Greatest May Performers."

While conducting the research for third base, I essentially stumbled onto a six-way battle for that position's top dog, where you could arrange the order of Martin Prado, Adrian Beltre, Hanley Ramirez, David Wright, Will Middlebrooks, Mark Trumbo—one through six, by any combination—and I might not argue with the results.

So, after great consideration and greater consternation, here's the countdown of fantasy's biggest third base-eligible stars for May 1-30.

Enjoy the show!

6. Adrian Beltre, Texas Rangers

30-Day Stats: 6 HR, 21 RBI, 15 Runs, .317 BA

Skinny: I have great respect for Beltre's numbers in the five categories above; but in too-close-to-call races like this, the peripheral stats ultimately play a determining factor.

Case in point: How is it possible for a great veteran hitter like Beltre to post an on-base percentage that's only 10 points higher than his .317 batting average? I'm also not wild about his three walks in 104 plate appearances in May.

Put it all together, and Beltre is probably the logical choice for No. 6.

5. Will Middlebrooks, Boston Red Sox

30-Day Stats: 6 HR, 21 RBI, 13 Runs, 2 Steals, .316 BA

Skinny: Middlebrooks had a phenomenal start to his inaugural season in the major leagues, racking up four homers, 13 RBI and a .304 batting average in a 10-game stretch (May 2-13).

As a result, the prodigious tear allowed Red Sox fans to dream of a starting lineup that stealthily featured Middlebrooks, David Ortiz, Adrian Gonzalez and Kevin Youkilis at third base, designated hitter, outfield and first base, respectively.

(Obviously, that vision will be altered once Jacoby Ellsbury and Carl Crawford come off the disabled list.)

But Middlebrooks' big month goes deeper than the 12-day run from a few weeks ago. Since May 16, the rookie boasts two homers and a .333 batting average.

4. Martin Prado, Atlanta Braves

30-Day Stats: 1 HR, 9 RBI, 19 Runs, 6 Steals, .381 BA

Skinny: There's so much to love about Prado's month-long production with the schizophrenic Braves.

Yes, his home run and RBI marks are mediocre. But the tally for runs, steals, batting average, on-base percentage (.455), OPS (.997) and walk-to-strikeout ratio (13/11) more than compensates for the diluted power.

In fact, Prado deserves to be on the short list of May's greatest fantasy outfielders as well.

3. David Wright, New York Mets

30-Day Stats: 2 HR, 16 RBI, 17 Runs, 3 Steals, .347 BA

Skinny: Martin Prado isn't the only star in this countdown to boast a 1:1 ratio in walks-to-strikeouts.

David Wright (16 BB/16 Ks) has been an incredibly efficient asset this month, racking up a .439 OBP, a .561 slugging percentage and a 1.000 OPS in less than 100 official at-bats.

If Wright played in a different home stadium than cavernous Citi Field, perhaps his power numbers would be higher at this point. After all, 16 of his 34 hits for the month (May 1-30) were of the extra-base variety.

2. Mark Trumbo, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

30-Day Stats: 7 HR, 18 RBI, 13 Runs, 3 Steals, .367 BA

Skinny: In many respects, Trumbo deserves the top spot here.

Among third base-eligible stars for May, he ranks in the top seven for homers (second), RBI (seventh) and batting average (thirrd). Heck, the slugger even has three steals for the month!

So, why No. 2?

Well, Trumbo trails Hanley Ramirez in three of the five major categories, and his 13 runs...(warning: nitpick alert)...were easily trumped by Han-Ram's 18.

1. Hanley Ramirez, Miami Marlins

30-Day Stats: 4 HR, 20 RBI, 18 Runs, 6 Steals, .322 BA

Skinny: The Marlins' 21-8 record in May (a franchise mark for victories) goes deeper than Giancarlo Stanton, Jose Reyes, Omar Infante, Mark Buehrle, Anibal Sanchez and Josh Johnson.

In the 30-day span, Ramirez (.364 OBP, .890 OPS) finally announced his authority as a top 20 hitting asset and one of the best dual-positional talents in fantasy. It was the kind of revival that conjured up brief recollections of his 2009 season—24 homers, 106 RBI, 101 runs, 27 steals, .342 batting...a time when Han-Ram and Albert Pujols were the best fantasy duo in baseball.

And it wasn't even close.

Those days of five-category domination may be gone. But 100 percent of fantasy owners and Marlins fans would gladly take Ramirez's May numbers...and never look back.