2011 Fantasy Baseball Mid-Season 2B Rankings: Cano On Top, Weeks Keeps Climbing
As I’m writing this, the future stars of the game are playing in the only All-Star game I have any interest in watching this week, the MLB Futures Game. It got me thinking about the future of the second base position. Second base is a position that is generally viewed as one of the shallower fantasy positions, but that may not be the case in the very near future.
Part of the wave of young second base talent has already hit major league shores.
Danny Espinosa, playing his first full season with the Nationals, looks to be a veritable counting number machine. Dustin Ackley, the Seattle second basemen long considered one of the best prospects in baseball, has been as good as advertised since his first call up a few weeks ago. Jemile Weeks, younger brother of Rickie Weeks and Oakland second baseman, has 8 doubles and 7 steals in his first 118 AB’s in the bigs.
And there is more on the way.
Brett Lawrie, who was traded straight up by the Brewers for Shaun Marcum, was ripping up AAA and bucking for a promotion to his new big league club, the Toronto Blue Jays, before a broken hand delayed his MLB debut. Jason Kipnis, the second baseman of the future in Cleveland, hit a homerun in the Futures Game off Julio Teheran and should be up very, very soon (heads up AL-only owners). Jose Altuve, the diminutive Astros prospect (he’s 5’5”), is hitting .385 with nine homers and 24 steals in about 350 AB between A+ and AA this year.
The list goes on and on.
Johnny Giavotella (Royals), Jean Segura (Angels), and Delino Deshields, Jr. (Astros) also have quite a bit of potential.But since we can’t yet be with the prospects we love, let’s love the ones we’re with.
1st Tier
1.
Robinson Cano | New York Yankees | 100% owned2.
Dustin Pedroia | Boston Red Sox | 100% owned3.
Rickie Weeks | Milwaukee Brewers | 100% ownedIt would appear that Weeks figured out big league pitching in 2009. Unfortunately, he tore a muscle in his hand on May 18 of that year and missed the rest of the season. However, it is clear that when Weeks has been on the field over the last three years, he has been one of the best hitting second basemen in baseball.
His 162 game averages from 2009 to present are as follows: .272, 30 HR, 82 RBI, 116 R, 11 SB.
Stud.
Tier 2
4.
Ben Zobrist | Tampa Bay Rays | 100% owned5.
Brandon Phillips | Cincinnati Reds | 100% owned6.
Ian Kinsler | Texas Rangers | 100% ownedPeople love them some Ian Kinsler, but there’s too much risk involved with owning Kinsler for my liking. First, there’s the batting average risk. His batting averages by year from 2006-2011 are:
.286, .263, .319, .253, .286, .250
Then there is the injury risk. Kinsler plays in an average of 123 games per year, so he’s seeing the DL just about every year.
This isn’t to say that Kinsler is a poor fantasy option. He’s currently fourth among second basemen on ESPN’s player rater behind only Cano, Pedroia, and Weeks. Clearly the guy can hit. I just don’t want the risk.
Tier 3
7. Michael Cuddyer | Minnesota Twins | 100% owned
8. Danny Espinosa | Washington Nationals | 100% owned
9. Chase Utley | Philadelphia Phillies | 100% owned
10. Dan Uggla | Atlanta Braves | 100% owned
11. Kelly Johnson | Arizona Diamondbacks | 92.1% owned
12. Howard Kendrick | Los Angeles Angels | 100% owned
Maybe the perception that second base is a shallow position is a little off because there is quite a bit to like in this group. You’ve got some counting number machines in Cuddyer and Espinosa (edge to Cuddyer because of the average), a former stud in Utley, the nothing-but-pop Uggla, and two other very viable options in Johnson and Kendrick.
I know I’m not breaking any news when I say catcher is a much shallower position, but just for comparison, Miguel Olivo was my 11th ranked catcher two weeks ago.
Tier 4
13. Dustin Ackley | Seattle Mariners | 65.2% owned
14. Neil Walker | Pittsburgh Pirates | 100% owned
15. Aaron Hill | Toronto Blue Jays | 67.3% owned
16. Jemile Weeks | Oakland Athletics | 31.7% owned
If you had told me in the preseason that Mark Ellis and Alexi Casilla would have a higher ISO than Aaron Hill at this point in the season, I would have agreed to light myself on fire were your asinine prediction to come true. Well, somebody get me some octane 87 and a box of strike anywhere matches because that is exactly what has happened.
Yet my unconditional (aka irrational) love for Aaron Hill will not let me ignore his 3.7% HR/FB rate, his .260 BABIP, his 18% line drive rate, and his improved K rate. Not to mention his 11 steals. I’m not ready to give up on Hill just yet.
Tier 5
17. Gordon Beckham | Chicago White Sox | 50.7% owned
18. Daniel Murphy | New York Mets | 87.2% owned
19. Chris Getz | Kansas City Royals | 6.4% owned
20. Alexi Casilla | Minnesota Twins | 21.8% owned
21. Darwin Barney | Chicago Cubs | 46.3% owned
22. Maicer Izturis | Los Angeles Angels | 57.8% owned
23. Mark Ellis | Colorado Rockies | 14.8% owned
24. Jeff Keppinger | Houston Astros | 2.9% owned
25. Orlando Cabrera | Cleveland Indians | 35.8% owned
Ummmmm, we’ve officially bottomed out. Hard. Lots of empty average, a few guys with a little speed, and a big disappointment in Gordon Beckham.
This group actually makes me want to light myself on fire.
All ownership percentages from ESPN.com. All stats current through 7-9-11.
Martin Prado omitted to be included on the third base list next week.
(July 6, 2011 – Photo by Nick Laham/Getty Images North America)
Written by Brett Talley exclusively for thefantasyfix.com. Brett is a law student in Dallas who watched baseball for ten consecutive hours on Sunday. He had to binge since it’s time for rehab the All-Star break. You can follow him and/or ask him for fantasy advice on Twitter @therealTAL.
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