2011 Player Rankings: Second Basemen
For 2011, second base actually seems like a position of depth compared to some other positions such as short stop and third base. The main problem I see with second basemen is that several of the players are qualified at 2 or more positions. Fantasy league managers may look to raid the depth at this position to fill other holes on their roster.
The following is a composite list from all the authors here at RotoGraphs. Here are the second basemen in the order we ranked them and divided into tiers.
Tier 1
Robinson Cano
Chase Utley
Dustin Pedroia
These 3 are for sure the cream of the crop, but each comes with a possible issue. Cano was a stud in 2010, but his low walk rate is a concern because pitchers may expand their strike zones on Cano giving him less good pitches to hit. Utley’s and Pedroia’s wart is their health after spending time on the DL last year.
Tier 2
Ian Kinsler
Dan Uggla
Brandon Phillips
Rickie Weeks
Martin Prado
Of this list Kinsler and Phillips are the most rounded with positive contributions in all 5 categories. Uggla should be great in the counting stats (HR, RBI, R), but his batting average will be a drag. If you draft him, you will want to make sure that you don’t have too many other players with low batting averages (Dunn or Reynolds) to drag down the category. Weeks finally had a healthy in 2011 and he finally showed what he could do. He will probably get drafted too early for my tastes. Prado has decent value, especially for a manger looking for a nice boost in BA.
Tier 3
Ben Zobrist
Kelly Johnson
Brian Roberts
Aaron Hill
Ryan Raburn
This group should all be drafted in any league. The real sleeper for me in this group is Ryan Raburn. He is not available in all formats, but he could be a steal come draft day for owners not looking to fill their 2B needs with him.
Tier 4
Gordon Beckham
Howie Kendrick
Chone Figgins
Neil Walker
Mike Aviles
Each of these players have several bad aspects, but if one or more could put together a good season they could be a top 10 2B at the end of the season. The one person not to forget about is Figgins and his SB. At the end of the draft with your entire team full, Figgins may be a great pickup, even if you don’t need SB. Someone else will later in the season and trade him for voids on your team.
The Rest
Omar Infante
Juan Uribe
Ryan Theriot
Danny Espinosa
Orlando Hudson
Placido Polanco
Sean Rodriguez
Bill Hall
Freddy Sanchez
Reid Brignac
Eric Young Jr.
Clint Barmes
Tsuyoshi Nishioka
Mark Ellis
Carlos Guillen
Alberto Callaspo
Ty Wigginton
Will Rhymes
Alexei Casilla
Dustin Ackley
Chris Getz
Blake DeWitt
Skip Schumaker
This group is pretty ugly, but there are some names I would definitely take a chance with in deeper leagues like Nishioka, Barmes, Young and Infante. The one stat I look for with backup or fill in 2nd basemen (or any player up the middle, CF, SS, 2B and C) is batting average. If the player’s average is higher than your team’s, pick them up for plug and play when other hitters have a day off. Some examples are Polanco, Callaspo, Sanchez and Infante. They will help your team raise its average, while possibly adding to the counting stats. If they have another trait like speed or power, all the better.
Well, there are the 2011 rankings for 2nd basemen here are Rotographs. Let me know if you have any questions on any of the particulars.
Jeff, one of the authors of the fantasy baseball guide,The Process, writes for RotoGraphs, The Hardball Times, Rotowire, Baseball America, and BaseballHQ. He has been nominated for two SABR Analytics Research Award for Contemporary Analysis and won it in 2013 in tandem with Bill Petti. He has won four FSWA Awards including on for his Mining the News series. He's won Tout Wars three times, LABR twice, and got his first NFBC Main Event win in 2021. Follow him on Twitter @jeffwzimmerman.
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Good rankings. I agree with you about Figgins and I think he could even be a top 10 to 15 2B by the end of the year. He really hit well the last two months of the season. He had a couple of bad months last year and has hit well in the past. I think that he will bounce back and with Smoak and Cust hitting behind him in the lineup he might score a few runs.
Raburn’s performance is largely determined by his level of confidence. I guess we will see how confident he is with a guaranteed starting spot and 2 year deal.
I don’t understand why people seem to think that 2B is deeper than 3B this year. Just comparing your two lists, Prado shows up as the 8th 2B but the 10th 3B.
It is if you go by almost any projection set.
The replacement level Z scores for 3B are much lower than 2B in most formats.
Alright, he is nothing special and would be in the others group but not to mention Jeff Keppinger at all is not right :O) He hit .288/.351/.393 last season.
Personally, I have at 35th. He can put up above average BA for 2nd basemen. He could easily fall in the plug and play category for 2nd basemen depending on the batting average of your team.
What about Lowrie and Scutaro? Both have 2B eligibility in Yahoo leagues. They may have playing time issues, but Lowrie was pretty solid last year when he played.
Talent wise, I have them near Keppinger, but PA is going to be the killer the with them. Once the playtime situation become clear, they could move up.
No Daniel Murphy or Brad Emaus?
I have them near the bottom of the last pack.
is Raburn starting? i thought he was going to be the weak-side of an OF platoon and utilityman backup. i’d definitely consider drafting him anywhere after the 15th round if he looks likely to get 600 PAs (health permitting).
Prado had 150 less ABs in the 2nd half vs the 1st, as he got hurt. he was on a 115/18/75 pace in the first half, and batted .307 overall. he’s now 27 and the trends are all in the right direction. he’s slipping in a lot of drafts. just saying.
I have Prado as the 5th best 2nd basemen in projectable talent (HR/PA, BA/PA, SB/PA). I will be looking to pick him up in a few drafts I am in, especially auction.
What?!?! Raburn a tier above Beckham? Pass the peace pipe.
I am using a composite of 4 projections, they have Beckman and Raburn dead even on BA (0.269 vs 0.270) and SB (5.83 vs 5.65), but HRs are 13.7 vs 17.5. Also Beckman is supposed to put up those numbers 509 PA vs 452 PA.
I am not ready to project playing time yet, but given the same number of AB, Raburn projects to be the better player.
Love the Raburn pick. I know Yahoo has him as 2b but ESPN does not.
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