Colorado Rockies Countdown: Top Five Third Basemen

4 of 6

May 15, 2016; Denver, CO, USA; General view of a Colorado Rockies cap and glove in the fifth inning of the game against the New York Mets at Coors Field. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports /

3. Garrett Atkins (2003-2009, fWAR 7.7)

As a promising rookie, Garrett Atkins would lead the 2005 rookie class (a class that featured Robinson Cano) with a .347 OBP and 89 RBI. The following season would be his best in a Rockies uniform, batting .329 with 29 home runs and 120 RBIs earned him the club’s player of the year award. By 2007, Atkins had solidified himself as a middle of the order star for Colorado, and backed it up by helping lead the team to a National League pennant.

Atkins would have one more good offensive season with Colorado in 2008 before basically falling off of the map. Atkins would only hit .226 in 2009 and ultimately lose his job to Ian Stewart (yeah, remember him?). Once Atkins’ bat left, there wasn’t much reason to keep him around as he is by far away the worst defender on our list (fDEF of -25.0).

Rockies fans have a lot of pride in Atkins, however, as he was a home grown product. Drafted in the fifth round of the 2000 draft out of UCLA, Atkins played on the same Bruins infield as Chase Utley.

Garrett would ultimately only play eight years in the Majors due to his rapid offensive decline. Seven of those years would be with the Rockies. In that time, Atkins is currently second all-time among Rockies third baseman in home runs (98), runs (394), RBIs (479), and OBP (.354).

Next: The Franchise and The Future