Fantasy Baseball: Second Basemen 2019

Second base is probably the deepest position in fantasy baseball. This presents a bit of an issue when it comes to ranking guys. Every ranking system has holes. When you use multiple seasons of data it can have a chilling effect on younger players. You can handle that one of two ways. You can either openly acknowledge it and simply rank them where they are at or you can leave them out entirely. We will do the latter in this case because it doesn’t make sense to rank Ozzie Albies out of the top twelve or Gleyber Torres not at all.

So, if you see names that don’t appear in the rankings it is not because we have forgotten. Simply put, it doesn’t make sense to put them in when the methodology is stacked against them. We will include them later in the offseason when we start to look at projections rather than the past.

Total points = TB + Runs + RBI + BB + SB + HBP – SO – CS – GIDP

 Jose Altuve—Houston Astros

Points: 1424 (1^st)

PPG: 3.16 (1^st)

VORP: 172.3 (1^st)

He played much of the second half with a broken bone in his leg and he still has lapped the field over the past three seasons. He was built perfectly for total points as he doesn’t strike out often, but he is improving in terms of patience. The question moving forward is whether he will hit for power like he did in 2016 and 2017.

Daniel Murphy—Free Agent

Points: 1143 (3^rd)

PPG: 3.03 (2^nd)

VORP: 138.3 (2^nd)

Murphy is marginally a second baseman at this point, but he will continue to be eligible at the position. He seems destined to be a DH/utility player at this point and that limits the number of teams he can reasonably sign with. Second base is more loaded in free agency than any other position, so it’s hard to firmly rank anyone that is currently a free agent.

Robinson Cano—New York Mets

Points: 1106 (4^th)

PPG: 2.83 (3^rd)

VORP: 92.7 (5^th)

Obviously, the recent trade will rekindle some interest in Cano as he moves back to the Big Apple. However, the production really shouldn’t change. He moves from one pitcher’s park to another and from one marginally competitive team to another. He did show he can still be productive after returning from his suspension.

Brian Dozier—Free Agent

Points: 1234 (2^nd)

PPG: 2.69 (4^th)

VORP: 88.4 (9^th)

Strikeouts hurt in this case as Dozier had a down season last year at the worst possible time. Second base is bound to be a game of musical chairs and there might be more than one on the outside looking in. It’s hard to feel entirely good about Dozier until we see where he lands.

D.J. LeMahieu—Free Agent

Points: 1101 (5^th)

PPG: 2.57 (6^th)

VORP: 89.1 (8^th)

Welcome to the game of musical chairs. LeMahieu has strong defense on his side, so he could land before some of these other second basemen. Unfortunately, it likely won’t be back in Denver, so it’s hard to trust these offensive numbers.

Ben Zobrist—Chicago Cubs

Points: 962 (7^th)

PPG: 2.32 (10^th)

VORP: 90.4 (6^th)

Zobrist might be my favorite non Astro. He can play almost every position and has had to on Chicago because of the presence of Ian Happ and Javier Baez. He is not literally better than any of the top ten second basemen at this point in his career, but he is so darn valuable with his positional flexibility.

Scooter Gennett—Cincinnati Reds

Points: 942 (8^th)

PPG: 2.16 (12^th)

VORP: 89.2 (7^th)

Two consecutive brilliant seasons have put him here. Do you trust the last two seasons or the rest of his career? The Reds do have a nice offense developing and it should only get better as some of those prospects start developing.

Whit Merrifield—Kansas City Royals

Points: 935 (9^th)

PPG: 2.43 (9^th)

VORP: 71.6 (10^th)

Virtually all of that production came from the past two seasons. He likely is a top five guy in reality, but we try to come up with a system and follow it. He could also be dealt which almost certainly would help some of the counting numbers.

Ian Kinsler—Free Agent

Points: 1063 (6^th)

PPG: 2.54 (7^th)

VORP: 54.2 (15^th)

Kinsler is moving in the other direction and it is the worst possible time to be a free agent when your skills are diminishing. It is unclear as to whether he will be a starting second baseman. He is one of the top 30 in the game, but that doesn’t always matter in situations like this.

Asdrubal Cabrera—Free Agent

Points: 895 (12^th)

PPG: 2.12 (15^th)

VORP: 109.9 (3^rd)

He’s an interesting guy. His defense has been far overrated in his career and the VORP shows he is drastically underrated offensively. Unlike Kinsler, he can play multiple positions, so his chances of landing somewhere are greater. Like Zobrist, he should bring some added value because of his versatility.

Cesar Hernandez—Philadelphia Phillies

Points: 883 (13^th)

PPG: 1.99 (19^th)

VORP: 100.8 (4^th)

Hernandez is a stat head’s dream. He gets on base and makes solid contact but doesn’t enthrall fantasy players because he doesn’t hit home runs or steal bases. With a budding superstar lineup he could end up being a beneficiary.

Jed Lowrie—Free Agent

Points: 878 (14^th)

PPG: 2.21 (11^th)

VORP: 61.2 (12^th)

This feels like a reunion should be in order. Lowrie picked a great season to have his best season, but still may be waiting around for that big pay day. There are just too many other guys out there on the market.

Jonathan Schoop—Free Agent

Points: 929 (10^th)

PPG: 2.05 (17^th)

VORP: 54.4 (14^th)

Talk about your classic buy low candidate. He hits 20+ home runs regularly, but that is really all he is good for. He doesn’t draw walks and he doesn’t add any speed. In the right lineup he could be an under the radar choice late in the draft.

Jason Kipnis—Cleveland Indians

Points: 848 (15^th)

PPG: 2.16 (12^th)

VORP: 41.9 (21^st)

Kipnis is eligible in the outfield in addition to second base. That makes him a decent add late in the draft, but he has had a couple of down seasons. The Indians are also paring down their roster, so this is a diminishing asset on all sides.

Dustin Pedroia—Boston Red Sox

Points: 693 (19^th)

PPG: 2.65 (5^th)

VORP: 34.5 (24^th)

Pedroia missed much of the last two seasons with knee trouble. Hopefully, he should finally be healthy again in 2019 and that’s a scary thought for Red Sox opponents. Just adding one more bat to that lineup is a scary thought.

Starlin Castro—Miami Marlins

Points: 813 (16^th)

PPG: 1.95 (20^th)

VORP: 57.7 (13^th)

Castro has seemingly been around forever and he is a lot younger than you think. Still, his best days are behind him. He might be a nice bench piece at the end of your bench, but that’s about it. When we include the youngsters he probably drops off the list.

Joe Panik—San Francisco Giants

Points: 793 (17^th)

PPG: 2.16 (12^th)

VORP: 41.7 (22^nd)

When healthy, Panik is surprisingly productive. Unfortunately, he hasn’t consistently been healthy. The Giants may be looking to upgrade this spot, so Panik may find himself out of a job. So, you can wait for the waiver wire on him in case he somehow magically keeps his job.

Josh Harrison—Free Agent

Points: 692 (20^th)

PPG: 1.95 (20^th)

VORP: 49.7 (16^th)

Everyone is looking for the Marwin Gonzalez type and he is a free agent. Harrison gives teams a cheaper option. In some ways, he is superior. He offers really good speed and might be a slightly better defender at second base. Start warming up the music for musical chairs.