Below are my initial second base rankings for 2014. This is an extremely top heavy position with a lot of depth. In most mixed leagues after the first four players are off the board, I recommend waiting to fill this position.
Previous rankings: Catchers, First Base, Second Base, Third Base, Shortstop Outfield part one and part two, Pitchers part one, part two, and part three.
- Robinson Cano – I bet he stays a Yankee and if he does, he’s a top 4-6 player overall.
- Jason Kipnis – the .284 batting average seems flukey; fantasy owners should expect a .260-.270;
- Matt Carpenter – led the majors in runs with 126, which is 17 more than the next player (Mike Trout); with Kolten Wong ready to play at second base at the major league level, I wouldn’t be surprised if Carpenter is moved to third base.
- Dustin Pedroia
- Daniel Murphy – will most likely be underrated in drafts again, but he will be a tremendous value if he slips beyond the ninth second baseman taken.
- Martin Prado – after a slow start Prado had a .324/.374/.490 slash line after the all star break.
- Jose Altuve – another consistent year for Altuve; could see an increase in his value if the Astros bring up some of their top prospects (Jonathan Singleton and George Springer)
- Brian Dozier – strikes out too often, which means he’ll be a batting average risk, but has 20/20 upside.
- Jedd Gyorko – other than Cano, Gyorko surprisingly had the most home runs with 23; with a 15.9% HR/FB rate the power should decrease to the 15-18 range.
- Aaron Hill – if he’s healthy and plays a full year, you have a top five second baseman.
- Chase Utley – he may be an injury risk, but just because he’ll only play 80-100 games doesn’t mean he does not have value; remember you want to calculate his expected output plus the output of a replacement level player.
- Ian Kinsler – slugging percentage and isolated power have decreased year over year for the three years and will be 32 at the end of next season.
- Ben Zobrist – got a little unlucky with the home runs, but expecting any more than 15 is crazy; stolen base totals have decreased year over year for four years.
- Neil Walker – incredibly consistent player with limited upside; high floor and low ceiling.
- Brandon Phillips – see Ian Kinsler
- Kolten Wong – if he’s the starting second baseman for the Cardinals, he’s a top 6-7 second baseman.
- Jed Lowrie – 2013 may have been the last year as a shortstop and will most likely play most of the year at second base; was third in the majors doubles.
- Anthony Rendon – injury risk, but
- DJ LeMahieu – has dramatic home-road splits.
- Nick Franklin
- Jurickson Profar – if Ian Kinsler does not want to move to first base, Profar will have no fantasy value because he will not have enough at-bats to be fantasy relevant.
- Omar Infante
- Dustin Ackley – after returning from his triple-a demotion he had a slash line of .285/.354/.404.
- Marco Scutaro – only provides batting average.
- Rickie Weeks
