Over the past few years, the hot corner has gotten hotter. It is the address of some of Major League Baseball’s best talent, featuring players who flash the leather and provide some thunder at the plate.

Many teams throughout the league call on their third sacker to anchor the middle of their lineup. Then when the inning’s over, they look to them to turn two on scalding two-hoppers or cover bunts with acrobatic barehanded plays.

The position features some long-established stars, but in recent years it has been augmented by the emergence of new stars. Currently, Cardinals rookie David Freese is making some noise with a .358 batting average and could find himself bumping elbows with other top players at his position.

Because of the low sample size, Freese did not make the list today, but here are baseball’s top 16 players at the hot corner.

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