We already went over the top 20 catchers and the top 20 1st basemen for 2012 fantasy baseball. Today, we dip our big toe into the top 20 2nd basemen. It was a nice bounce back year for the 2nd basemen, in general. In 2011, Darwin Barney was ranked 20th for 2nd basemen and 19th for shortstops, but this year guys like Mike Aviles ranked 18th for 2nd basemen, but 14th for shortstops, showing more depth at the keystone. 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 2012 fantasy baseball and how they compare to where I originally ranked them:
1. Robinson Cano – Here’s something interesting (which is to say not interesting to anyone but me). In the RCL, I had Cano and Hill anchoring my offense and my offense was terrible. As talked about plenty before, top middle infielders are great, but look at a top outfielder or a top corner man compared to a top middle infielder. Alex Rios was actually more valuable overall than Aaron Hill, who is number two for 2nd basemen. If you had, say, Braun and Hamilton, you would’ve been much better, obviously. But think about in the beginning of the year when you were drafting… If you took Braun and Brandon Phillips, you would’ve felt better because your team was more balanced. Maybe balance should be saved for your chakras. Things that make you go hmm… Preseason Rank #1, 2012 Projections: 105/27/105/.310/5, Final Numbers: 105/33/94/.313/3
2. Aaron Hill – I’d go as far to say that this was the most under the radar year for someone that ranked this high at the end of the season. Invariably, when someone ranks in the top 3 at a position, they get a lede from me, they’re mentioned multiple times in the comments about how lucky they are to own Hill and/or people talk about how he can’t keep it up and wonder if they should sell him. It was almost like people just took what they could get from Hill and were content with it…. No, that can’t be the case. That’s never the case. Did no one own him? Was Hill in the Witness Protection Program? I have no idea, but he finally put his solid power and solid speed together in one season and turned this mutha out. Preseason Rank #11, 2012 Projections: 70/18/80/.265/15, Final Numbers: 93/26/85/.302/14
3. Ian Kinsler – Pretty much had exactly the year I thought he would from rankings and projections, but those six homers off his projections is more like ten, because it’s not like I didn’t think 25 homers was the base with 30 as a distinct possibility. Then again, at least he was healthy. Then Again, II: Then Again Returns Again, I figured 25 projected homers was in case he wasn’t fully healthy. Where does that leave us? I don’t know, but let’s pray Big Bird is stopped. Preseason Rank #2, 2012 Projections: 100/25/70/.260/25, Final Numbers: 105/19/72/.256/21
4. Jason Kipnis – He never had a season of more than 12 steals anywhere in professional ball, so, of course, he goes out and gets 31 steals. His 2nd half was also much closer to what he should’ve been doing the whole year, so wha’ happened? My guess is in his first full season in the majors he wanted to prove himself, and the one way to do that that (stutterer!) is totally in your hands is to run yo’ ass off. Preseason Rank #13, 2012 Projections: 80/14/60/.255/12, Final Numbers: 86/14/76/.257/31
5. Brandon Phillips – Without an injury, he’s exactly what you’d expect from him at this point. The days of hoping he gives you 30 homers or 30 steals are only closer than they appear in the side view mirror. Preseason Rank #6, 2012 Projections: 90/20/85/.275/17, Final Numbers: 86/18/77/.281/15
6. Ben Zobrist – Before we get into a group of guys I was wrong on, let me quickly say, damn, my projections were reading from the book of right-on, Joanna Newsom. Preseason Rank #8, 2012 Projections: 75/17/90/.255/17, Final Numbers: 88/20/74/.270/14
7. Dustin Pedroia – In the top 20 overall in the preseason, I said, “If he hits 18 homers, we’re not even having a discussion about whether he’s a 2nd rounder or a 3rd rounder. He’s an 18/20 player. Can that be more? Sure, he just had a season where he gave more. The thing that has me feeling janky is it can also be less. If it’s only a tad less, he’s not even a 3rd rounder. I hate that we need his ceiling to justify his ranking, so I’m hoping someone else takes him. Actually, I’m almost positive someone else will.” And that’s me quoting me! Preseason Rank #3, 2012 Projections: 105/18/80/.295/20, Final Numbers: 81/15/65/.290/20
8. Marco Scutaro – He had a 7/9 season and ranked 8th overall? It’s the wonders of good counting stats. As in, I wonder if people will draft him next year counting on stats that are very difficult to count on. Preseason Unranked, Final Numbers: 87/7/74/.306/9
9. Kyle Seager – This year Seager was running. Against the wind. He was hitting for power. Against the wind. Everyone seemed to want Ackley, but it was Seager who put up the numbers. Against the wind. Preseason Unranked, Final Numbers: 62/20/86/.259/13
10. Jose Altuve – Something stuck with me from around May. Someone asked in the comments if they should drop Altuve and Rudy replied something like, “He’s a middle infielder that will get 30 steals with a good average, what else do you want from a middle infielder?” That stuck with me because I could tell the usual very-patient Rudy lost his cool about as much as he does, and he had a point. You get a guy in the late rounds for MI and he gives you 30 steals and a good average, well, that’s about about the best you can ask. Preseason Rank #23, 2012 Projections: 80/12/40/.265/24, Final Numbers: 80/7/37/.290/33
11. Rickie Weeks – I liked Sickie Weeks when he would be incredible for 3 of 6 months and be hurt the rest of the time. In fairness, his 2nd half wasn’t bad, and other than his average, he didn’t have a terrible season. But why exactly are we being fair to Rickie Weeks? Preseason Rank #9, 2012 Projections: 65/18/50/.260/10, Final Numbers: 85/21/63/.230/16
12. Danny Espinosa – With Weeks (and maybe Altuve too with impatient owners), we’re around the place in rankings where people wanted to drop players left and right for better or worse ’til death of your fantasy team due us part. By my own admission (which is totally redundant since that’s all any of this is), I was way off with Espinosa’s RBIs, which is kinda odd because he did have a fair share of ABs later in the lineup. So it goes, so it goes. Preseason Rank #10, 2012 Projections: 80/24/90/.240/19, Final Numbers: 82/17/56/.247/20
13. Dan Uggla – He was completely unlucky last year or his skills have diminished dramatically. Uggla had a higher BABIP in 2012 than 2011 and a better walk rate, but lost .013 on his average. Not a huge amount, but it should’ve been the opposite. Also, his HR/FB% was off the charts unlucky. He should’ve still hit his 30 homers, even if the average was nothing. Uggla didn’t have a pretty year, but it was Ugglier than it needed to be. I look at Uggla’s year in 2012 like Dunn’s 2011. He’s going to rebound with power nicely, or he’s going to hit .195 in April and get platooned. There’s no way the Braves are going to let him drag down the whole offense for an entire year again. Preseason Rank #4, 2012 Projections: 90/35/105/.250/3, Final Numbers: 86/19/78/.220/4
14. Omar Infante – He had a nice first half with the Marlins, then they sold him high in what can be considered the only good thing the Marlins did last year, besides warning people that are prone to seizures to not look at the sculpture in center field. Preseason Unranked, Final Numbers: 69/12/53/.274/17
15. Neil Walker – He was actually better than this ranking if you consider you had him for only a little over 5 months and then accumulated replacement stats for him the last 3 weeks when he was injured. Still he’s far from exciting. As most walkers are. Preseason Rank #17, 2012 Projections: 70/12/80/.270/7, Final Numbers: 62/14/69/.280/7
16. Howie Kendrick – Bust. I mean, an abomination of egregiousness. A big fat stinker that needed a gas mask. After his 2011, it looked like he was headed for promising shizz, then Pujols was traded to the Angels and I could hardly contain myself. Now, I don’t want to run into Kendrick in a dark alley because, well, I don’t want to go to jail. Especially over fantasy baseball. How do you not break 70 runs or RBIs with a .287 average in that lineup?! Preseason Rank #5, 2012 Projections: 100/18/70/.290/15, Final Numbers: 57/8/67/.287/14
17. Daniel Murphy – *snooze* Hey, Giancarlo, do you mind if I call you Ginacarlo so this isn’t weird? *wakes* Oh, wait, I was supposed to talk about Daniel Murphy. Um… *snooze* Preseason Rank #21, 2012 Projections: 75/12/60/.275/5, Final Numbers: 62/6/65/.291/10
18. Mike Aviles – Really solid year for Mike Aviles (if you were in a league where you had to own Mike Aviles and all teams that don’t own him lose). This is the kind of year from Mike Aviles that wins leagues (if you were in the aforementioned league). Aren’t you glad you drafted him (especially in a league where you had to)? Preseason Unranked, Final Numbers: 57/13/60/.250/14
19. Dustin Ackley – The good news is he’s got his first full season under his belt. The bad news is he still hasn’t shown me anything to get excited about. The pretty so-so news is he was pretty so-so. Preseason Rank #15, 2012 Projections: 80/12/55/.265/12, Final Numbers: 84/12/50/.226/13
20. Kelly Johnson – Sadly, he was thirty points on his average away from being a top 7 2nd baseman. That sounds like a lot, but it would’ve gave him his career average. I’m starting to realize guys with girl first names seem to excite me more no matter what they produce. I’ll have to talk to my shrink about this. These androgynous names have Ziggy Stardust in my eyes. Preseason Rank #12, 2012 Projections: 80/20/70/.265/14, Final Numbers: 61/16/55/.225/14
