We already went over the top 20 catchers and the top 20 1st basemen for 2014 fantasy baseball. Today, we dip our big toe into the top 20 2nd basemen. There were a lot of land mines found at this position. Shoot (not you Dick Cheney!), I’d say a guy like Cano ending up in the top 10 was still a landmine due to where you had to draft him. But there was Kipnis, Gyorko, Aaron Hill, Brandon Phillips, Brad Miller (!), Lowrie and the thousands words devoted to Alex Guerrero in the preseason and he didn’t even show up until September. To recap, this final ranking for last year is from our Fantasy Baseball Player Rater with my comments. The Player Rater allows me to be impartial while looking at how I ranked them in the preseason. Anyway, here’s the top 20 2nd basemen for 2014 fantasy baseball and how they compared to where I originally ranked them:
1. Jose Altuve – To put this season by Altuve into historic context, it would be like Eddie Gaedel becoming the world ruler of the universe and ordering everyone over the height of five-foot-two to immediate death. Preseason Rank #5, 2014 Projections: 80/8/63/.292/33, Final Numbers: 85/7/59/.341/56
2. Anthony Rendon – I couldn’t have been any more wrong on Rendon than when I ranked him in the preseason. Across every position I was most wrong about Rendon. Sure, I gave a guy like Cruz his usual 27 homers and he ended up leading the majors. But I could’ve saw that happening. Rendon? I didn’t see it coming at all, and I don’t doubt him. I just missed his ability to hit for 20+ homers and steal more than 15 bases. You’ll have to excuse me since he stole one bases all of last year in the minors and looked like a 10-ish homer guy in the minors. Preseason Rank #16, 2014 Projections: 72/14/74/.279/4, Final Numbers: 111/21/83/.287/17
3. Ian Kinsler – He did exactly what I expected him to do, and I still feel like I got lucky to own him for a year where he had 684 ABs. It’s like one of those Rangers seasons where Teixeira saw 700-something plate appearances. Anything over 650 ABs for any player and you got lucky. Preseason Rank #4, 2014 Projections: 103/16/74/.269/17, Final Numbers: 100/17/92/.275/15
4. Brian Dozier – One of the biggest values, and that’s after disappearing in the 2nd half of the year. Rudy can probably figure this out, but I’d suggest his first half alone was better than half of the guys on this list. His 1st half: 18 HRs, 16 SBs and a .242 average. That’s gotta be better than what Murphy gave you the whole season. What does this mean? There were four 2nd baseman that you did well holding the whole year. Preseason Rank #23, 2014 Projections: 52/12/60/.230/9, Final Numbers: 112/23/71/.242/21
5. Dee Gordon – No one saw this year coming. Even the people that drafted him late. They were probably expecting a 40-steal, .250-average year as the best case scenario. If you say you expected him to hit more than 150 points above his weight, you’re lying. Why you’re lying is something you have to soul search over. I can only lead you in the right direction as your spiritual adviser. Preseason Rank #19 for Shortstops, 2014 Projections: 58/1/24/.242/39, Final Numbers: 92/2/34/.289/64
6. Robinson Cano – You couldn’t have dropped Cano for his yawnstipating April, July and September and held him for his other solid months, but three months is half a season, so technically Cano was kinda whatever for half a season. Continued in Harrison’s blurb. Preseason Rank #1, 2014 Projections: 84/26/105/.312/4, Final Numbers: 77/14/82/.314/10
7. Josh Harrison – Not only were only four 2nd basemen worth owning all year (top 3 and Gordon), Harrison one-upped that by not being owned all year in any leagues. He came out of nowhere to hit for power. Reminds me of Asdrubal from a few years ago, only not quite that extreme. Harrison’s batting average wasn’t a revelation, he had steals too in the minors. Power though? He seemed like a 6-8 homer guy. Though, seemed and is are (confusing syntax points!) different things, and I think he was just overlooked. As long as he doesn’t stop hitting fly balls, his HR/FB isn’t insane this year, and he hits a ton of line drives. Any time a 13-homer guy does well there’s a chance for a 8-homer hitter to emerge and be pee-poor, but I’m liking what I see here more than I thought I would. Preseason Unranked, Final Numbers: 77/13/52/.315/18
8. Howie Kendrick – He ended up finishing higher in the rankings then I ranked him in the preseason, but he really didn’t do more than I projected him for, actually did worse if you discount runs and RBIs, and as I preach, you should always discount those. For further discussion on that subject see my reasoning for avoiding Matt Crapenter this year. Preseason Rank #12, 2014 Projections: 62/15/70/.284/10, Final Numbers: 85/7/75/.293/14
9. Neil Walker – If I thought Walker was capable of 20+ homers, I never would’ve ranked him as low as I did. Even if I thought there was a modicum of a chance of it happening. While this was a career year, his HR/FB isn’t that crazy inflated, and looks like a 17-homer guy that got just a tad lucky. By the by, Tad Lucky is my favorite porn star. Preseason Rank #24, 2014 Projections: 61/14/59/.259/2, Final Numbers: 74/23/76/.271/2
10. Chase Utley – *looking at my preseason projections for Utley and his end-of-the-season numbers, smiles, slicks hair with pomade* Preseason Rank #11, 2014 Projections: 65/16/73/.274/10, Final Numbers: 74/11/78/.270/10
11. Daniel Murphy – My preseason projections and his end-of-the-season numbers couldn’t have been much closer, yet I ranked him much lower than he ended up. Couple of reasons A) Offense is down across the board. B) I don’t like the kind of stats Murphy gives and would prefer to take a flyer on steals or power-upside than go for a five category bleh performer, so I bury him in my rankings. C) There’s no C. Preseason Rank #21, 2014 Projections: 76/8/59/.282/12, Final Numbers: 79/9/57/.289/13
12. Matt Carpenter – I told you in the preseason he was overrated, and I was right, but I still overrated him with where I ranked him vs. where he ended up. Seems easy to say now, but back in February when I said he was overrated, it wasn’t obvious to all. One comment from my overrated post went like this, “We’ve only just begun to find out how good this guy can be. For all we know he could hit more HR’s (sic) and steal more bases next year. Most lead off (sic) hitters, they long to be close to his projections. Calling occupants of interplanetary earth, this guys (sic) a stud!” Is adding ‘sic’ the douchey thing you can do? Perhaps. Here’s another comment, “Baseball America’s fantasy magazine has Matt Carpenter ranked 13TH OVERALL for 2014 Fantasy baseballing.” Okay, that wasn’t a disagreement comment, just thought it was funny when I re-read the comments. Preseason Rank #10, 2014 Projections: 94/12/69/.304/4, Final Numbers: 99/8/59/.272/5
13. Ben Zobrist – My projections on these guys so far are pretty damn accurate if I do say so myself. *blows on knuckles, rubs shirt, realizes I just got ink on my shirt, curses* Preseason Rank #7, 2014 Projections: 79/14/70/.268/14, Final Numbers: 83/10/52/.272/10
14. Asdrubal Cabrera – I mentioned Asdrubal above because of his 25-homer season back in 2011. Feels like so long ago. Was really only a long time ago in Shia LaDouche’s career trajectory. “Hey it’s the guy from Even Stevens!” *a year later* “Hey, it’s the guy with a paper bag over his head and showing a flaccid dong on camera!” So, basically, Asdrubal and Shia LaDouche are one in the same. By the by, if you read Shia’s Wiki page by the end you’re surprised to not read the circumstances of his death. Preseason Rank #14 for Shortstops, 2014 Projections: 69/15/73/.262/10, Final Numbers: 74/14/61/.241/10
15. Dustin Ackley – I bumblefumbled his projections. Not really sure how I missed so badly on his power. *looks at reflection* Ah, I’m okay now. Nothing a little glimpse of the ‘stache can’t fix! Preseason Rank #32, 2014 Projections: 52/6/32/.258/6, Final Numbers: 64/14/65/.245/8
16. Martin Prado – If the guys from Dozier thru Asdrubal weren’t exactly great the whole year, this group of guys weren’t really good for the majority of the year. Um, 2nd base is a mess. Oh, and 2nd base is better than shortstop, which we’ll get to next. Preseason Rank #15, 2014 Projections: 65/13/76/.277/5, Final Numbers: 62/12/58/.282/3
17. Dustin Pedroia – I’d go out on a pretty sturdy limb and say Pedroia hurt you more than any of the guys on this list. (Though Kipnis didn’t even make the list so he hurt you more. Oh, and yeah, I told everyone to not draft Kipnis and wrote an overrated post about him. Yes, I was basically right and more right and right-right about guys you should not draft.) I say that this Sparky Anklebiter hurt you so much because you owned him all year expecting him to be better and constantly being disappointed. It wasn’t like you dropped him at one point in May and moved on. Preseason Rank #3, 2014 Projections: 93/14/89/.298/18, Final Numbers: 72/7/53/.278/6
18. Kolten Wong – Giggle all you want, but I want Wong everywhere next year. Yes, this is about the year that was, but with some guys I can’t contain my excitement. Wong is one of those. Preseason Rank #17, 2014 Projections: 72/11/52/.277/17, Final Numbers: 52/12/42/.249/20
19. Luis Valbuena – Oy. Preseason Unranked, Final Numbers: 68/16/51/.249/1
20. Scooter Gennett – I’ll be honest with you, I don’t know what to make of Scooter moving forward. The Brewers really messed him up by not letting him mature as a hitter vs. lefties. Last year, he was only able to face them for 39 ABs, so it’s impossible to say if he is a strict platoon guy. That shizz is Weeks. Preseason Rank #20, 2014 Projections: 60/12/64/.281/10, Final Numbers: 55/9/54/.289/6
