We already went over the top 20 catchers and the top 20 1st basemen for 2016 fantasy baseball. Today, we dip our big toe into the top 20 2nd basemen pool. Okay, it was actually more like a lake where lots of spring breakers are partying, and, instead of throwing beads at girls, they’re throwing 30 home run hitters. It’s a little scary, for unstints (how I say it), that there were only six 2nd basemen that you wanted to own all year in 2015, and, this year, there’s a 30-homer hitter 2nd baseman that didn’t even make the top 25 2nd basemen — Jedd, you Gyorko! 1st basemen were still a little deeper, but barely. 2nd basemen, and the soon to be released shortstops got their sea legs in 2016. To recap this crap (rhyme points!), 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 2016 fantasy baseball and how they compared to where I originally ranked them:
1. Jose Altuve – I can’t say definitively that I had Altuve above at least some other ‘perts coming into this season, because I drafted him in a ‘pert league 15th overall (had him ranked 11th overall), so I had to have him fairly high relative to some. Speaking of high, it’s some kind of cruel joke that Altuve sounds like it’s Spanish for altitude. Preseason Rank #1, 2016 Projections: 103/12/57/.304/35, Final Numbers: 108/24/96/.338/30
2. Jonathan Villar – My preseason rank and projections don’t tell the whole story. A) I still had Villar above just about any other ‘pert. B) I told everyone to draft him. C) There’s no C. D) I did draft him in numerous leagues, so I must’ve had him ranked high enough and liked him. E) He was unranked for 2nd basemen because he didn’t have that eligibility in the preseason. F) Me for not owning him everywhere. G) Dillon. H)olla at a brother! I) projected him for half a season (due to Orlando Arcia lurking), but if you double Villar’s projections they’re pretty close to his final numbers. J) Well, closer than anyone else. Z) I skipped K-Y, because like Trump I get the P. By the way, when I was a teenager, they were talking about labeling 2 Live Crew with a parental advisory sticker. Now, we got Donald Trump talking about grabbing the P. Gen X tore down the pussy walls! One last note, the internet has disappointed me that we still haven’t heard a 2 Live Crew/Trump mash-up. Preseason Rank #26 for shortstops, 2016 Projections: 32/8/41/.248/21 in 300 ABs, Final Numbers: 92/19/63/.285/62
3. Brian Dozier – I wanna do my best to keep this about this past year, but it’s going to be difficult figuring out how many of the offensive gains made this year will carry over to next year or if Our Commissioner Manfred will stop Ecto-Cooler’ing baseballs. Preseason Rank #3, 2016 Projections: 92/24/72/.231/10, Final Numbers: 104/42/99/.268/18
4. Jean Segura – I was hella (I still say hella) far from Segura’s final numbers and my preseason projections, but I did hella like him in the preseason, as I’ve liked him for the past four seasons. You have the ability to hit 15+ HRs and steal 35+ bases and you have my attention. Preseason Rank #11 for shortstops, 2016 Projections: 71/9/46/.259/25, Final Numbers: 102/20/64/.319/33
5. Robinson Cano – This is a recurring theme, like blondes in Hitchcock movies, the 2nd baseman position is so stacked Cano had 39 HRs, 107 runs, 103 RBIs and a .298 average and is only 5th at the position. That’s stacked like the guy’s wallet that owns IHOP if he were paid in pancakes. Though, then he’d sell them… Hmm, maybe that analogy doesn’t work. Preseason Rank #6, 2016 Projections: 75/17/80/.275/3, Final Numbers: 107/39/103/.298
6. Ian Kinsler – How stacked is the 2nd basemen position? (Told you it was a recurring theme.) Daniel Murphy was 6th for 1st basemen, and is 7th for 2nd basemen. On a real baseball note, if the Tigers kept Scherzer and Porcello, they’d be an easy 100 win team and the favorites for the World Series. On another real baseball note, Kinsler needs a well-choreographed home run handshake that involves him miming spinning a dreidel. Preseason Rank #11, 2016 Projections: 92/12/73/.277/12, Final Numbers: 117/28/83/.288/14
7. Daniel Murphy – Already went over him in the top 20 1st basemen for 2016 fantasy baseball.
8. Rougned Odor – So stacked — okay, last time — Odor hit 33 homers and stole 14 bases and is only ranked 8th. 33 HRs and 14 steals would’ve been a solid season from a top ten bat in 2015. On a related note, I wrote a preseason sleeper post for Odor and drafted him. By the by, this was a good year to draft middle infielders early and often, it’s no wonder my teams all did well on offense — hello, Altuve, Odor, Villar and Lindor, on multiple teams. It was a less fortunate year to draft Chris Archer and Tyson Ross. Preseason Rank #4, 2016 Projections: 81/19/69/.253/15, Final Numbers: 89/33/88/.271/14
9. DJ LeMahieu – Ugh, one more ‘hashtag 2nd basemen is so stacked.’ LeMahieu won the batting title and is only the 9th best 2nd baseman. If a 2nd baseman won the batting title in the last five years, he would’ve easily been a top two 2nd baseman. As for LeMahieu sitting out the final weekend to win the batting title, as I said in the last roundup of the season, he was doing it to beat Daniel Murphy, so I find it almost acceptable. Preseason Rank #25, 2016 Projections: 65/5/54/.274/16, Final Numbers: 104/11/66/.348/11
10. Jose Ramirez – I didn’t rank him this year, because he looked like a utility man coming into the season. In 2015, I ranked him way too high and had him as a sleeper. So, in the big picture, I always liked Ramirez. In the smaller, more specific picture, the big picture means nothing, I goofed. In the real baseball picture, Jose Ramirez physically looks like a young Manny Ramirez. I will call him, Young Manny Ramirez. Hmm. Preseason Unranked, Final Numbers: 84/11/76/.312/22
11. Jason Kipnis – Is there any better example of the home run surge this year than Kipnis? Probably, maybe, I don’t know. But if we were to look at Kipnis as the best example of it, he did almost exactly what I predicted he would for runs, average and steals, but hit 13 extra homers. Preseason Rank #13, 2016 Projections: 91/10/54/.288/15, Final Numbers: 91/23/82/.275/15
12. Dustin Pedroia – To defend my projections, it’s difficult to project anything but homers and steals. Average is based on luck, while runs and RBIs are based on lineup placement. With that said, I wasn’t really close at all with Pedroia. Do better, Fantasy Master Lothario! Preseason Rank #15, 2016 Projections: 78/10/51/.274/5, Final Numbers: 105/15/74/.318/7
13. Anthony Rendon – 2nd baseman is so lit — or is it turnt? — Rendon was the best 2nd baseman in fantasy in 2014 with the stats — 111/21/83/83/.287/17 — that aren’t that far off from his 2016 numbers. Not quite there, maybe top three overall numbers for 2014 if he had this season then, but this year it’s a top 13 season. Dayum. Preseason Rank #12, 2016 Projections: 88/14/68/.285/7, Final Numbers: 91/20/85/.270/12
14. Trea Turner – Someone make a 2017 fantasy baseball league right now so I can draft Turner. Please. I need to own him right now — stats! <–That’s how a fantasy baseball doctor talks. Preseason Rank #23, 2016 Projections: 42/6/57/.243/19 in 375 ABs, Final Numbers: 53/13/40/.342/33 in 307 ABs (zoinks!)
15. Ben Zobrist – Maddon is unpredictable with his managing, but what is predictable is his love for Zobrist, though, due to Maddon’s unpredictability, I assumed Zobrist would hit 2nd all season. Instead, Zobrist saw the most number of at-bats in the (blank) slot. Go ahead, guess where Zobrist hit most often. Remember, he had 523 ABs, so it was a lot of ABs where he did hit. Keep in mind, this team has Rizzo and Bryant. Zobrist saw the most of his ABs as a cleanup hitter. I will now incredulously shake my head. Preseason Rank #17, 2016 Projections: 89/12/59/.279/9, Final Numbers: 94/18/76/.272/6
16. Hernan Perez – True Story Alert! This is also a very sad story as it illustrates my stupidity. I grabbed Hernan Perez in my NL-Only Tout league to replace Dee Gordon, but when Perez first started playing in April, he didn’t play every day, so I dropped him. Lots of bad moves in that league — like drafting Gordon in the first place or expecting Patrick Corbin to be a strong number two, when in reality he just took a number two — but dropping Perez in a 12-team NL-Only league was likely my worst. It’s no surprise I finished last in that league. My first last place finish ever. Oh well, shizz J.A. Happens. Preseason Unranked, Final Numbers: 50/13/56/.272/34
17. Jonathan Schoop – I called Schoop’s breakout! Unfortch, I didn’t call the entire league increasing offense by 40%. Preseason Rank #7, 2016 Projections: 73/26/85/.245/3, Final Numbers: 82/25/82/.267/1
18. Brandon Phillips – *ding, ding, ding* Phillips wins the award for ending up closest to my preseason projections. Sadly, he’s also the most irrelevant guy to win that award. Get close to Altuve’s projections, and it means something. Get close on Phillips and ‘Who gives a flying Molina brother?” Preseason Rank #19, 2016 Projections: 78/10/52/.271/14, Final Numbers: 74/11/64/.291/14
19. Addison Russell – There’s likely going to be some value with Russell next year. Mostly because there’s eighteen dozen 2nd basemen that you can draft. Preseason Rank #10, 2016 Projections: 62/16/66/.252/7, Final Numbers: 67/21/95/.238/5
20. Matt Carpenter – Okay, fine! One more example of how stacked the 2nd basemen were. Carpenter nearly landed exactly on his preseason projections and I had him ranked fifth overall. If he would’ve added the extra runs and few steals I projected him for, he maybe would’ve moved up all of three spots. Still nowhere near top five. Now you can say, “Well, yeah, cause you projected him for stats that never would’ve been a top five 2nd baseman. Though, you are handsome AF.” That’s the thing, he would’ve been top five last year with those projections. To mashup There Will Be Blood, fantasy baseball and The Beverly Hillbillies, there’s oil in thar 2nd basemen, now drink my milkshake! Preseason Rank #5, 2016 Projections: 97/19/62/.275/5, Final Numbers: 81/21/68/.271
