Psst! This post is gonna list 2nd basemen that you should target in your 2015 fantasy baseball drafts. I’m whispering because you don’t want everyone to see this post. No, I can’t whisper louder, then it WOULDN’T BE WHISPERING! Okay, gig’s up (or maybe that’s jig’s up), the love I’m about to reiterately (Made Up Word of the Day!) confirm are guys I love later in drafts. I’m not going to mention Kolten Wong other than this one mention of him where I say I’m not going to mention him. I love Wong. Tis is true. Come here, let Grey massage your balls…The balls of your feet, silly! Oh, that feels good on my hands. Can I tickle your toes with my mustache? Weird? Okay. I’m not mentioning Wong other than this mention of not mentioning him because these are players that you’re looking at later and all of them have ADPs after 200. Some could be the 2nd baseman on your team, they are more than likely MIs. This is a (legal-in-all-countries-except-Spanish-speaking-ones) supplement to the top 20 2nd basemen for 2015 fantasy baseball. Click on the player’s name where applicable to read more and see their 2015 projections. Anyway, here’s some 2nd basemen to target for 2015 fantasy baseball:
Jedd Gyorko (Yahoo 230, ESPN 220) I know you were burned by Gyorko last year, but I have it on good authority that he feels absolutely terrible about that. We have to forgive him or we’re no worse than him. Of course, last year he started the first year of a $35 million contract while you were figuring out how to make a box of Rice-a-Roni last for two meals, but without forgiveness from you, someone Gyorko has never met, he’d feel terrible. So, let’s be the bigger, if extremely poorer, men and give Gyorko another chance. He deserves it. Though, if he disappoints again this year, I will forever call him Wadd Jerko.
Javier Baez (Yahoo 222) Yes, I think there’s a good chance Baez may only hit .190 this year and lose his starting job. But — and this is a Nicki Minaj-sized Anaconda but — the Steamer projections for him are 22 homers and 11 steals. The same Steamer projections that the world thinks are the best preseason projections.
Brett Lawrie (Yahoo 220, ESPN 295) Lawrie’s about to breakout. I can feel it in my bones. I’m not talking my hand-rolled doobie bones. I mean deep in my chocolate milk-enriched bones. You hear the latest craze with working out? That chocolate milk is supposed to be great to drink after a hard workout. You know what this sounds to me like? After years and years of the fat community being besieged with negative obesity publicity, they’ve taken matters into their own chubby hands and hired a PR firm to get the word out that you should drink more chocolate milk. Next thing you know, there’s going to be commercials saying Doritos are high in nutrients from the Doritos Health Council. The DHC to you and me. Any the hoo! I don’t only want Lawrie on all my teams, but I think I’m gonna own him too. He is going so routinely low it’s crazy. He’s ranked 60 spots after Arismendy at ESPN and Arismendy has nowhere to play. Y’all realize Lawrie’s only 25 years old, right? Get your shizz together and draft him!
Nick Franklin (Yahoo unranked, ESPN 338) It’s weird how the fantasy community rallies behind certain players and ignores other players. Of course, it’s much weirder how the fantasy community smells like a mixture of Cheez Doodles and Drakkar, but we’re not talking about that right now. Why doesn’t anyone want anything to do with Nick Franklin? Not to answer, but to ruminate. To give you a little taste of something besides the aforementioned Cheez-Drakkar smell, Franklin hit 23 homers and stole 25 bases while batting .281 in Single-A, then did versions of that each stop of the minor leagues until the M’s traded him to the Rays. If you think the M’s trading him away is a reason to worry, I’d say the exact opposite is more accurate. If the M’s trade away a prospect, I’m suddenly interested.
Emilio Bonifacio (Yahoo unranked, ESPN 374) Emily Boneface is the only one in this post that I know will platoon from the jump. I do think it’s possible that Boneface becomes the strong side of a platoon in the infield or gets five days a week between the outfield and the infield and accumulates 450 ABs, but, as of right now, Boneface is a bench player. In deep leagues, he will still be worth drafting since he’s always a platoon player and still steals around 30 bases.
Marcus Semien (Yahoo unranked, ESPN 363) As the world meant for it to be, Semien follows Boneface. For some reason, I always think of Semien as someone with 40-steal speed. Maybe I’m saying more about myself by thinking Semien is quick like a jackrabbit. Semien’s got more power than speed, and Steamer is much higher on his power than I am. If it were late, I’d give Semien a shot. Ew…
Rougned Odor – (Yahoo unranked, ESPN 252) Seeing Odor follow Boneface and Semien, I’m reminded of Alec Baldwin saying Schweddy balls. On a related note, the Rangers recently signed Rougned Odor’s younger brother. His name? Rougned Odor. Yes, he has the same name. I wonder how long their parents considered names. You think they have three dogs named Spot? What would’ve happened if they had a daughter? Could Rougned’s younger brother really have a different name, but he used his older brother’s fake ID so much that he just started going by it? Any hoo! Like a cheese, the older Odor is the better one, and worth drafting late.
Chris Owings (Yahoo 250+) Someone should make a graph. On the X-axis, how good a team is. On the Y-axis, how good a player is. A good player on a bad team? Their value is hurt (See Freddie Freeman). A good player on a good team? Their value is helped. But a bad player on a bad team is also helped because the team will allow them to play every day. Enter Owings.
Jose Peraza – (Yahoo unranked, ESPN 501) I don’t even rank Peraza, though I would if the Braves shock the world and make him their Opening Day 2nd baseman, or I’ll be touting that you should pick him up on the quick-fast once he is called up in June. Here’s what Prospect Mike said about him, “It’s not just that he’s a talented player with plus speed and a good bat. He’s also close to the majors and plays a position at which the Braves could use a spark. A midseason call-up is definitely in the cards and he could be up even sooner than that. The Braves struggled to find a capable leadoff hitter last season, calling upon Jason Heyward to fill the role at times. Peraza could be that guy. He has 70 speed on the 20-80 scale and while there’s no power to speak of, he makes good contact. Peraza held his own as a 20-year-old in Double-A, slashing .335/.363/.422 with 25 stolen bases in 195 plate appearances. Scouts also rave he’s as smart a player as Grey Albright is dumb.” What? Scouts say that? Mike also puts him in his top 30 fantasy baseball prospects.
Yangervis Solarte (Yahoo unranked, ESPN 583) This ranking by ESPN feels like one of those situations where if you were to ask them if they think Solarte will leadoff, they’d say yes. Then if you asked them if Solarte is going to play on most days, they’d also say yes. Then if you asked them if the Padres will be better this year, they’d also say yes. Then if you asked them why do they have Solarte ranked 583rd after guys like Ryan Flaherty, Eric Sogard and Tuffy Gosewich, they’d say they have no idea. If you’re in a league where you’re actually drafting Yangervis (NL-Only, very deep mixed leagues), then he’s got huge value because of his chance to play often and leadoff. He’s not flashy or exciting, but 500 picks into a draft there’s rarely anyone flashy or exciting.
Scooter Gennett (Yahoo 280, ESPN 266) Brewers manager, Ron Roenicke, said that Scooter could get a shot at being the starting 2nd baseman in 2015. Um, dur. He better. You finally get rid of that albatross Weeks, you have to be half a stunod to now platoon Gennett with Luis Jimenez or Luis Sardinas or Luis Guzman.
