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Tiers are an alternate form of rankings that's less concerned with parsing individual players and more concerned with where the biggest drop-offs are. Players whose value is essentially the same are bundled together to help you prioritize which position to draft next. If the goal in a draft is to maximize the return of each pick, then a simple way to do so is to target a position that's nearing a drop-off and wait on a position that isn't. By crossing off names as you go, your path to victory should become clear.

Below are the third base tiers for 2024, depicting a position that's improved by leaps and bounds from a year ago. It's strong enough at every phase of the draft to justify a strict adherence to the tiers, waiting until one is down to its very last player without fear of what happens if he doesn't make it to you.

The First-Rounders: Jose Ramirez
The Also-Elite: Austin Riley, Rafael Devers, Gunnar Henderson, Alex Bregman†
The Near-Elite: Manny Machado, Elly De La Cruz, Nolan Arenado, Royce Lewis, Ha-Seong Kim
The Next-Best Things: Spencer Steer, Junior Caminero, Noelvi Marte, Max Muncy, Jake Burger, Josh Jung
The Fallback Options: Ke'Bryan Hayes, Jeimer Candelario, Alec Bohm, Isaac Paredes, Michael Busch
The Last Resorts: Colt Keith, Ryan McMahon, Brett Baty, Matt Chapman, Eugenio Suarez, Yoan Moncada, Curtis Mead, Jordan Westburg
The Leftovers: Oswald Peraza, Anthony Rendon, Maikel Garcia, DJ LeMahieu, Willi Castro, Luis Rengifo, Ezequiel Duran, Wilmer Flores, Jon Berti, Coby Mayo

† one tier lower in categories leagues