Justin Mason’s Top 50 Second Basemen for 2020
It is that time of year again! With the new year upon us, I am releasing my first set of ranks during this week and next for those doing early drafts or prep over the holidays. All ADP and position eligibility are based on NFBC Draft Champions leagues.
Justin Mason’s Top 50 Second Basemen for 2020
| Rank | Player | Team | Position(s) | ADP | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gleyber Torres | NYY | 2B, SS | 26.32 | Murdered the Orioles to the tune of a 394/.467/1.045 triple slash and .267/.316/.470 versus the rest of the league. I am not saying he can’t repeat it, especially since he gets to play the Orioles a ton again. |
| 2 | Jonathan Villar | MIA | SS, 2B | 29.36 | If he was going to leave the Orioles, Miami was a pretty good landing spot. He still bats high and no reason to not let him run. |
| 3 | Jose Altuve | HOU | 2B | 34.5 | Feels like a steal even though he didn’t steal as much. |
| 4 | Ketel Marte | ARZ | 2B, OF | 42.77 | Ended the year with a back injury which scares me until we see he’s ok. |
| 5 | Ozzie Albies | ATL | 2B | 43.45 | 23 years old and he feels underrated. |
| 6 | Whit Merrifield | KC | 2B, OF | 52.14 | Worried about the Matheny effect on his stolen base attempts. |
| 7 | Keston Hiura | MLW | 2B | 42.86 | Hype is getting crazy, but I am in for now. |
| 8 | Max Muncy | LAD | 2B, 1B, 3B | 77.86 | Repeated the 2018 breakout. No reason to think he can’t continue the success. |
| 9 | Mike Moustakas | CIN | 2B, 3B | 124.05 | Great landing spot for Moose, who should keep gains while batting in the middle of a very good lineup. |
| 10 | DJ LeMahieu | NYY | 1B, 3B, 2B | 62.5 | First year in the Bronx was insane. Has multi-positional eligibility. Why do I not trust him? |
| 11 | Jeff McNeil | NYM | OF, 3B, 2B | 84.82 | Love his eligibility and upside. High floor is the kicker. |
| 12 | Eduardo Escobar | ARZ | 2B, 3B | 122.45 | I don’t know why I hate Escobar, but I always seem to be the low guy on him. |
| 13 | Cavan Biggio | TOR | 2B | 134.23 | Hype is strong, but so is the upside him. |
| 14 | Gavin Lux | LAD | 2B | 157.36 | Should breakout with everyday at bats. |
| 15 | Kevin Newman | PIT | 2B, SS | 198.27 | My most drafted player thus far. Should leadoff in Pitt and contribute in all categories. |
| 16 | Garrett Hampson | COL | 2B, OF | 160.23 | Strong September will make me look stupid again at the draft table. |
| 17 | Ryan McMahon | COL | 2B, 3B | 183.86 | I don’t understand why McMahon is so low in the ADP. |
| 18 | Brandon Lowe | TB | 2B | 193.32 | Injuries derailed extremely strong start, but that just covers up the fact regression was coming anyways. |
| 19 | Rougned Odor | TEX | 2B | 242.45 | Rare to get a guy that went 30/11 this late. |
| 20 | Tommy Edman | STL | 2B, 3B | 124.23 | I think he is a fine player, but I expect the Cardinals to block him with someone because that’s how the Cardinals do. |
| 21 | Michael Chavis | BOS | 1B, 2B | 223.5 | If healthy and starting, he could hit 30. |
| 22 | Dee Gordon | SEA | 2B | 253.18 | Shell of his former self that can still steal 20-40 bases depending games played. |
| 23 | Kolton Wong | STL | 2B | 208 | Should be higher, but I have been burned before on Wong. |
| 24 | Luis Arraez | MIN | 2B, OF | 203.45 | Steamer projects him to win the AL Batting Title, but also projects him to go 6/6. |
| 25 | Luis Urias | MLW | SS, 2B | 337.32 | Move to Milwaukee should help him deliver on pedigree. |
| 26 | Tommy La Stella | LAA | 2B, 3B | 286.23 | Injury cut short the breakout, but he should get regular at bats to prove it wasn’t a fluke. |
| 27 | Robinson Cano | NYM | 2B | 337.18 | Injuries slowed him down and hard to believe at 37 he can find younger form. |
| 28 | Mauricio Dubon | SF | 2B | 315.73 | Should get a ton of at bats and has upside that is held back by bad park, team. |
| 29 | Howie Kendrick | WAS | 1B, 2B | 332.5 | Playoff hero not worth rostering if Washington signs someone. |
| 30 | Nick Madrigal | CWS | 2B | 262.91 | Overrated in fantasy because he should be a great real life player. |
| 31 | Jurickson Profar | SD | 2B | 348.82 | Obviously SD believes in him. I don’t. |
| 32 | Adam Frazier | PIT | 2B | 409.09 | Finally got full run last year, but that didn’t translate to a big year. |
| 33 | Shed Long | SEA | 2B | 423.14 | Could be a 15/15 guy if the Mariners let him play. |
| 34 | Isan Diaz | MIA | 2B | 486.45 | Wasn’t good in his brief call up, but showed pop. Should get full run this year, but make sure you have BA to counterbalance. |
| 35 | Cesar Hernandez | FA | 2B | 279.09 | Where does he land? |
| 36 | Franklin Barreto | OAK | 2B | 579.68 | I still believe in the talent and there is an opening, but do the A’s believe in him? |
| 37 | Starlin Castro | FA | 3B, 2B | 280.91 | Love Castro and virtually any landing spot should be an improvement, but can he get a starting gig somewhere? |
| 38 | Niko Goodrum | DET | 2B, SS, OF | 303.64 | Great multi-positional eligible for your reserve list. |
| 39 | David Fletcher | LAA | SS, OF, 2B, 3B | 308.41 | Plays all the positions. |
| 40 | Jose Peraza | BOS | OF, 2B, SS | 444.18 | If Boston doesn’t sign anyone else, he is a really sneaky grab. |
| 41 | Hanser Alberto | BAL | 2B, 3B | 367.91 | Love him as a lefty masher in DFS. |
| 42 | Freddy Galvis | CIN | 2B, SS | 352.5 | Defense keeps him in the lineup, but his bat isn’t empty. |
| 43 | Wilmer Flores | ARZ | 2B | 517.73 | Going way too low. If healthy, he will surprise. |
| 44 | Nicky Lopez | KC | 2B, SS | 489.14 | Remember when people spent all their faab on him during the season last year? Pepperidge Farms remembers. |
| 45 | Sheldon Neuse | OAK | 2B | 592.23 | I think Barreto gets the first shot, but he figures to play a role. |
| 46 | Joey Wendle | TB | 2B, 3B | 441.05 | Blocked now, but the Rays will get him at bats. |
| 47 | Brendan Rodgers | COL | 2B | 397.05 | Former top prospect is recovering from labrum surgery. Likely blocked off to start the year. |
| 48 | Chris Taylor | LAD | 2B, SS, OF | 400.27 | No longer starting limits his value. |
| 49 | Kike Hernandez | LAD | 2B, OF | 474.45 | Lefty killer had a hot stretch early then faded. |
| 50 | Brian Dozier | FA | 2B | 513.45 | Should land a gig somewhere. |
Justin is the co-host on The Sleeper and The Bust Podcast and writes for Rotographs covering the Roto Riteup as well as other periodic articles. In addition to his work at Rotographs, Justin is the lead fantasy writer/analyst and co-owner for FriendswithFantasyBenefits.com, and the owner of The Great Fantasy Baseball Invitational. He is also a certified addiction treatment counselor. Follow Justin on Twitter @JustinMasonFWFB.
You’ve got, I believe, Michael Chavis listed as “Michael Edman” just below Tommy Edman
Also have Tommy Edman below Rougned Odor.
Smells foul, possibly… Roughed.
That Wong ranking seems very low, especially behind Gordon, Odor, & Newman.
He was a Top 5 SB after the All-Star Break and the only noted change was his position in the lineup and a more aggressive approach at the plate. But… it lead to results for him and, more importantly, the Cardinals. I think they give him some leash at the top of the lineup and a Top 10 finish is more than possible, not outside the Top 20 like he looks now.
Agreed with that. He was miserable last year early, and was burned by him, but if you got him off the waiver in the 2nd half it paid massive dividends. He feels like a guy who could have a top 5-10 year at some point.
Great post thanks. Could we get links to the previous rankings in each article?
Where would you rank Jose Ramirez on this list in leagues where he has 2B eligibility? Last year he played 16 games at 2B which I think should give him eligibility in most leagues.
You got my hopes up, but he played no games there in 2019. Very few leagues will give him eligibility from those games in 2018.
Wow I feel like a dope. I misread the table. Thanks for pointing it out.
I’m unsure how Hampson, McMahaon, and Rodgers are all rosterable. Only one (at most) is going to be useful this year, right? I get that we don’t know which one, but shouldn’t that mean they are all fairly cheap to draft then?
Well, I’d imagine none of them play and they go sign Dozier or something since it is the Rockies.
Do you guys have an idea what % of leagues are AVG vs OBP these days? I’d love to start seeing ranks done for both, sort of like ppr/non-ppr in football
Good list, but I would’ve thought Lux/Edman would be a bit higher
WOWSERS. NOT 1 Chicago 2B on the entire list. Both the CHC and CHW are in trouble at 2B
Madrigal?
Before the 2018 season, Brian Dozier was ranked as a top 3 second baseman. For 2020, he’s outranked by the great Kike Hernandez. If his middle name was ‘Cinderella’ then maybe you’d have seen this drastic change coming, but yikes, he’s gone completely donezo.
There was a point in time where Dozier was a premier keystoner. Sucks to see his talent fade
Yes indeed. Some years ago in my dynasty league, I had a tough choice of who to hang onto as my one second baseman, as I thought they’d all be great for a couple years and beyond. I had Dee Gordon, Rougned Odor, and Brian Dozier. Turns out it just didn’t matter a few years on…
There’s a lot of fresh talent at second with Arraez, Biggio, Lux and many others on the rise, so don’t fret my friend.
Maybe Escobar kicked your puppy. I can’t figure out your hatred for him.
Player A and B….guess who
PA R HR RBI AVG/OBP/SLG
348 51 19 49 303/368/570
327 42 17 51 270/336/514
Player A ran a 400+ BABIP with a 30% K Rate
Player B ran a 370+ BABIP with a 34% K Rate, and also had 20 terrible PAs in Sept
Yes, player A is Hiura going ADP 42 and player B is Lowe going at ADP 193. Player A has the ‘I’m in for now (at this price)’ and Player B has the ‘regression is coming’ moniker.
I like both players, but one is clearly overvalued and the other is clearly undervalued.
Villar is way too high, and Muncy is too low. Lux and Edman should be higher, if healthy edman will play and the SB is almost guaranteed to be 20-25 with a good BA, R. I used to worry about playing time but found when I just focused on talent I tend to draft better. playing time is a worry for AL only or NL only leagues towards the back half of those drafts. Mixed league just find the talent.
I agree with every single one of these takes.
In my league settings (OBP, SLG, R, HR, RBI, NSB), Lowe was a Top 100 player before his injury. The Rays have got him locked up and they are very specific about when he plays. If you can juggle the extra work, he’s a valuable for his draft price.
Hands down the most interesting name that may qualify at lower qualification thresholds is Lourdes Gurriel Jr with 9G/9GS. Also Scott Kingery (10/6) who will have eligibility at 2B, 3B, SS and OF in leagues with a 10/5 minimum
Where would Adames slot if nfbc eligible? Also do we think School is done or still a chance a team will sign as depth?