2017 Second Basemen Rankings

We're on to our third installment of the rankings series, and we've arrived at our second basemen. Second base is an abnormally deep position these days, which makes it a little tough to sort out a strategy for. It's very early in the year, spring training games have not yet begun, but let's take a look.

We'll start as we have been by checking the current average draft position (ADP) of second basemen. Here it is:

Seven second basemen going in the top 50 picks and 11 in the top 100. It's not going to be hard to find a guy to give you some production out of the 2B hole this year. Let's tier these off before we dive in deeper and arrive at our final rankings.

 

Top Tier: Jose Altuve, Trea Turner

 

While the position is deep, it's a pretty slim top tier, and there aren't a ton of absolute rock solid sure things here. At first glance, the only "sure thing" in my eyes is Jose Altuve, and that is going to cost you a top 5 pick in most drafts. There's not a ton to say about Altuve, he's one of the best hitters in the league and is going to help your batting numbers tremendously.

 

A guy that there's a lot more to say about is Trea Turner. A top prospect for the Nationals that came up last season and hit .342/.370/.567 with 13 homers and 33 steals in 73 games and will probably have 3 position eligibility this year. If he posts anything near that production this year he is going to be well worth a first round pick, especially in category leagues where he contributes everywhere. However, there is always risk with guys going into their second (and first full) year. He obviously had an insanely high BABIP at .388, although he profiles as a guy that is always going to have a higher than average BABIP just because of how hard he hits the ball. I don't believe .388 is sustainable, so you shouldn't be expecting a .330+ batting average out of him, but .310+ is very much in reach. I think Turner is a great guy to take a bit of a gamble on.

 

Second Tier: Robinson Cano, Brian Dozier, Daniel Murphy, Rougned Odor, Dee Gordon, Jean Segura

 

This is a pretty large tier, but I just wasn't sure where to draw the line. If it weren't for Dee Gordon's steals and Segura's do-it-all upside I probably would've cut it after Odor. We'll just take a close look at each guy here, because this is where most people are going to be looking at filling their 2B slot from.

 

Cano - He's 34 years old and had a pretty disappointing first two seasons with the Mariners before posting huge 2016 season. He hit 39 homers with 100+ runs and RBI while maintaining a .298 batting average. None of his advanced stats suggest that these numbers were fluky, so the only real risk comes alongside his age. The Mariners are going to score some runs this year and Cano is going to be a major part of that, I just think he may be being drafted a bit too high this year.

 

Dozier -  At age 28, Dozier had a career year in 2016 blasting a ridiculous 42 home runs. His previous career high was 28 in 2015. His batting average also rose 32 points. He had a very high HR/FB ratio, and a lot of those power numbers came from a torrid 8 game streak from August 30th to September 6th where he hit 9 homers. There's power upside, but I'm not buying into this at all. Dozier is going to be one of the easier avoids for me this year.

 

Murphy - Another career year coming from a guy at a non-optimal age, Daniel Murphy hit 25 homers and posted a ridiculous .347 batting average in 2016. His career average sits at .310 after that huge year. Maybe he just figured something out in late 2015 and is a new player now, but nobody saw these numbers coming from this guy. He's never been a detriment at the plate, but being a top 5-round pick just seems to high for me with this profile.

 

Odor - A young guy with massive upside. He pounded 33 homers in 150 games last year and stole 14 bases. All of that was while holding a just fine batting average at .271. He doesn't get on base very much with a .296 on-base last year, but that's certainly something he'll be working on developing. The guy just turned 23 years old so there's a lot of room for improvement. That comes with some downside as well, as there are often growing pains with players like Odor, but I like his upside.

 

Gordon - If you're drafting Dee Gordon, it's probably for the 50 steals he's going to get you. The batting average could go either way (as we've seen with him the last few years) and there's no power here. If you need steals, Gordon's a good way to get them, but you shouldn't expect much help in other categories.

 

Segura - He's always been a good player, but last year he went bonkers. He hit .319 (career average of .271) and hit 20 homers (previous career high was 12) at the top of the Diamondbacks order. While the park was certainly a benefit, it wasn't like he was coming from Petco Park, he played with the Brewers the previous 3 years. Now he moves to Seattle and loses the positive ballpark effect he's had on his side his whole career. None of this is secret information, he's not being drafted based on his 2016 numbers, but he's a guy that could go in the top 6 rounds of your draft, and I don't think he's quite worth that.

 

Tier 3 - Ian Kinsler, D.J. LeMahieu, Jason Kipnis

 

Three non-sexy names that have just steadily produced throughout their career. Kinsler's getting up there in age, but had a great season last year hitting .288/.348/.484 with 28 homers, and those numbers seem legit. He'll probably post another solid season, but what he did last year is probably his ceiling. LeMahieu gets a huge boost playing in Coors and will always have a high BABIP, but the .388 he had last year was ridiculous. The projections all have him around a .300 batting average which I think is right on, and can definitely help your team, but the upside is capped. Kipnis is another guy that will hit for a decent average and hit some homers, but he's not going to be a huge positive for you in any category.

 

I would recommend getting your first 2B before we get down here, but a lot of you will be in leagues that require multiple middle-infielders, and any of these three guys can fit your team depending on how you've drafted once you get here.

 

Tier 4: Jose Peraza, Dustin Pedroia, Ben Zobrist, Jonathan Schoop, Devon Travis

 

Peraza is a guy that's going to be creeping up draft boards as time goes on. With the Brandon Phillips trade, Peraza's role is solidified. He's a young guy (22) that had a nice debut with the Reds last year. He hit .324/.352/.411 in 72 games and stole 21 bases. He has never shown power but has hit for good average and stolen a ton of bases in the minors. He's definitely an upside guy that is going to get you steals, and could be a very valuable asset to get in the later rounds.

 

Travis - He's going to lead off for the Blue Jays all season and he's been productive in his career. The lineup is hurt a bit without Edwin Encarnacion in there, but Travis still has his value. He's a steady guy that's going to play almost every day and help you with some runs and gives you 15 homer upside.

 

Schoop - A cheap source of home runs, but not much else. If he falls far enough, he'll be a valuable guy to add if you need power.

 

Zobrist & Pedroia - Solid contributors in good offenses. They'll chip in across the board but the upside is lacking, as told by their low draft stock.

 

Tier 5: The Rest

By this time your draft is in the 20-something rounds and you've probably got a good hold on your team. If you don't have a lot of middle infield depth you'll be looking for someone to sure up a possible weakness on your team. The guy I like the most here is Logan Forsythe, but it's for deep leagues or a reserve spot only, although he does have very nice upside with that move to the Dodgers. Ryan Schimpf is also a young guy with big power upside who can be very ownable if he can find a way to hit higher than .240.

 

So there you have it, a pretty wordy look at the 2B position. To wrap it all up, here are my 2B rankings: