2016 End of Season Rankings: Second Base

It’s time to slide over to second base in our 2016 End of Season Rankings series. In case you missed the first two installments, check out catchers and first basemen. You can also dive straight into the auction calculator. It’s an easy way to estimate player value for your league.

For these articles, I’m going to assume a 12 team, 5×5, standard deep roster with a pitching cap of 1475 innings (most leagues are 1450 or 1500, I split the difference). I set the batter split at 65% because that produces what I consider to be the most realistic position adjustments.

And now, a few general comments

In 12 team leagues with a middle infield slot, replacement level was right around Utley. Of the sub-replacement level players (per these calculations), Schimpf, Gordon, Dietrich, and Frazier were legitimately useful – assuming you leveraged them correctly. Overall, 25 second basemen had positive values.

The calculator believes second base was as important as first base – both positions had an identical adjustment value of $9.50. The best players at the position were iron men – seven of the top 10 had 679 or more plate appearances with Altuve and Cano crossing the 700 plate appearance threshold. Only nine players achieved that particular feat. The calculator tends to reward players with many plate appearances.

In this year of the home run, Dozier’s shocking 42 homer campaign was deceptively unimportant. He produced $6.60 from home runs. By comparison, Altuve’s average was worth $9 and Villar’s stolen bases carried a $15.40 value. If you didn’t own Dozier, you probably still got 20 or more home runs out of your second baseman (and a boost elsewhere). The median values in batting average and stolen bases were much lower.

Surprise performances include Villar, Murphy, Segura, Nunez, and Ramirez. One of those names is not like the others. The former backup to Derek Jeter, Nunez somehow hit 16 home runs and stole 40 bases. His power output tumbled dramatically upon his trade to the Giants – no surprise since AT&T Park is hitter’s hell. Stolen bases are important so Nunez may well be a good bargain target in 2017.

If you scroll down the plate appearance column, you’ll notice Turner stands out as having the fewest among the positive value crowd. He was more valuable than Schoop in half the plate appearances. Turner is primed to become a fantasy monster after developing 20 home run power this season. The only “issue” in his profile is a propensity to whiff. You can look at him as a poor man’s Altuve or a rich man’s Segura. There’s a decent chance he’ll outperform them both in 2017.

Gordon was by far the most disappointing player at the position. A slow start, PED suspension, and an indifferent return torpedoed the season. He still stole 30 bases, but his owners bled out of the ears in RBI, HR, and AVG. Honorable mention goes to Wong who went from a consistent 15/15 threat to unrosterable nightmare.