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Welcome back to another installment of RotoBaller’s February fantasy baseball rankings. The panel again consists of Brad Johnson, Max Petrie, Kyle Bishop, Nick Mariano, Harris Yudin (me), Jeff Kahntroff and Bill Dubiel.
Today we will take a look at the surprisingly deep pool of second basemen. In addition to our consensus staff rankings at second base, and draft tiers, yours truly has also provided my rankings analysis.
Editor's note: Be sure to also check out our 2016 fantasy baseball rankings dashboard, which is already loaded up with lots of great articles. Aside from staff rankings across all positions, we also dig into MLB prospect rankings, and dynasty/keeper rankings as well.
2016 Fantasy Baseball Rankings Analysis: Second Base
Tier one stayed the same from our January rankings. Jose Altuve, then Dee Gordon. Altuve is a lock for at least 10 home runs, 35 stolen bases and a .310 batting average, with the potential for even more. Gordon has swiped 122 bases over the last two years, and has really improved as a hitter-- I mean, he won the batting title last year.
Most of tier two remained the same. Robinson Cano, Jason Kipnis and Brian Dozier stayed in third, fourth and fifth, respectively, but I bumped Anthony Rendon down to tier three. Cano finished fifth in fantasy points among second baseman in 2015, despite hitting just .238/.277/.344 with four home runs through the end of June.
Continuting with the third tier, Rendon is followed by players in very different situations. Rougned Odor and Kolten Wong are young second baseman with a ton of potential, and Ian Kinsler and Dustin Pedroia are reliable veterans slowly starting on the back end of their respective careers. I brought both Kinsler and Pedroia a bit closer to the top of the list this time, as I felt I may have subjected them to unnecessary agism last month. I fully expect Kinsler's power and speed to continue to diminish, and his batting average could very well come back down towards his career average of .276.
Ben Zobrist, originally in tier three, slides down to tier four, despite the fact that I have him ranked higher than two players in tier three-- his composite ranking is closer to those in tier four. Joe Panik remains in this tier, even though Jeff and I have him ranked 19th and 20th, respectively. Panik is a solid hitter and a strong defender, but his counting stats (eight home runs, three stolen bases in 382 at-bats) are far too low for me to put him above guys like Starlin Castro and Logan Forsythe. Panik never surpassed seven home runs in the minor leagues, so it's hard to imagine him hitting double digits this year in the majors.
Daniel Murphy has passed Neil Walker since our last rankings came out. Brad, Max, Nick and I all dropped Walker in our rankings, and Nick bumped Murphy up to No. 14, just enough for him to edge his replacement in New York.
Tier five is headlined by Howie Kendrick, who understandably shot up from No. 19 to No. 16 after re-signing with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Second base is such a deep position this year, that any of the players in this group would be worth grabbing in the mid-to-late rounds as a 2B2 or MI. DJ LeMahieu, Devon Travis, Jonathan Schoop, Addison Russell, Forsythe and Castro are all young players with a solid combination of tools. I am higher than most on Castro, who will be playing his natural position of second base for the Yankees. He hit .339/.358/.583 with five home runs in 115 at-bats as a second baseman last year, as opposed to .243/.278/.320 with six home runs in 419 at-bats at shortstop.
Even tier six has some intriguing options. Brett Lawrie is immersed in the middle of a much improved White Sox lineup, Trea Turner is an elite prospect with incredible speed, and Javier Baez and Jedd Gyorko should see decent at-bats despite not having starting roles. Cory Spangenberg is an interesting name to consider in late rounds.
I really like Lawrie from this tier, though. Honestly, how different will Lawrie's numbers be from Panik's?
As mentioned earlier, Panik, who is ranked as our 12th second baseman, never hit more than seven home runs in the minors, and even though he hit eight in 382 AB last year, he will probably top out around 10. Steamer has him projected for seven dingers, to go along with 61 runs, 48 RBI and a .278 batting average. His .312 average last year indicates that he could do better, but he is more likely to end up in the range of his .295 career minor league average.
Lawrie, 24th on our list, is still only 26 years old and has improved his power totals with each passing year, up to 16 HR and 60 RBI in 2015. Those numbers could even increase in a better offense and a more power-friendly park in 2016. His decreasing averages are a bit concerning, but he has been able to hit in the past (.273/.324/.405 in 2012), so if he can bring that slash line back up near his 2012 totals, his unique power for a middle infielder will make him very valuable. Lawrie went 6 for 13 with a home run at U.S. Cellular Field in 2015, and batted .272 overall away from Oakland.
Panik is probably still the better fantasy player, but there's not that big of a difference. If Lawrie can be had several rounds later, it would be worth it to wait.
Finally, tier seven is comprised of players who can basically be ignored in all mixed leagues. Only Scooter Gennett and Johnny Giavotella are projected starters, but neither is capable of putting together appealing stat lines. Wilmer Flores could become relevant if and when David Wright gets injured, but for now, he can be left alone.
Overall, there is some star power at the top of this list, but there is a ton of parity between tiers two and six. It may be in the best interest of fantasy owners to sit back and snag a second baseman late.
Second Base Tiered Fantasy Baseball Rankings (February)
| Ranking | Tier | Name | Brad | Max | Kyle | Nick | Harris | Jeff | Bill |
| 1 | 1 | Jose Altuve | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| 2 | 1 | Dee Gordon | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 |
| 3 | 2 | Robinson Cano | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| 4 | 2 | Jason Kipnis | 3 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 3 |
| 5 | 2 | Brian Dozier | 6 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 4 |
| 6 | 3 | Anthony Rendon | 5 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 9 | 6 |
| 7 | 3 | Rougned Odor | 9 | 10 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 4 | 7 |
| 8 | 3 | Ian Kinsler | 7 | 5 | 8 | 7 | 12 | 10 | 8 |
| 9 | 3 | Dustin Pedroia | 8 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 13 | 11 | 9 |
| 10 | 3 | Kolten Wong | 12 | 14 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 11 |
| 11 | 4 | Ben Zobrist | 10 | 9 | 12 | 12 | 9 | 20 | 12 |
| 12 | 4 | Joe Panik | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 20 | 19 | 10 |
| 13 | 4 | Daniel Murphy | 14 | 13 | 18 | 14 | 11 | 12 | 13 |
| 14 | 4 | Neil Walker | 15 | 15 | 13 | 15 | 10 | 14 | 16 |
| 15 | 4 | Josh Harrison | 16 | 12 | 22 | 18 | 18 | 8 | 22 |
| 16 | 5 | Howie Kendrick | 17 | 16 | 20 | 16 | 22 | 13 | 17 |
| 17 | 5 | DJ LeMahieu | 19 | 18 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 15 | 14 |
| 18 | 5 | Devon Travis | 23 | 17 | 15 | 13 | 14 | 26 | 15 |
| 19 | 5 | Jonathan Schoop | 18 | 20 | 14 | 17 | 23 | 16 | 19 |
| 20 | 5 | Addison Russell | 13 | 21 | 21 | 20 | 15 | 17 | 21 |
| 21 | 5 | Logan Forsythe | 20 | 22 | 16 | 21 | 17 | 23 | 18 |
| 22 | 5 | Brandon Phillips | 21 | 19 | 17 | 22 | 24 | 18 | 23 |
| 23 | 5 | Starlin Castro | 22 | 23 | 23 | 23 | 16 | 21 | 20 |
| 24 | 6 | Brett Lawrie | 26 | 26 | 28 | 29 | 21 | 22 | 24 |
| 25 | 6 | Cesar Hernandez | 24 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 29 | - | 25 |
| 26 | 6 | Trea Turner | 30 | 25 | 30 | 28 | 25 | 24 | 31 |
| 27 | 6 | Javier Baez | 31 | 28 | 29 | 27 | 26 | 25 | - |
| 28 | 6 | Brock Holt | 25 | 27 | 27 | 25 | 34 | 27 | 30 |
| 29 | 6 | Cory Spangenberg | 32 | 31 | 24 | 34 | 27 | - | - |
| 30 | 6 | Jedd Gyorko | - | 29 | 32 | 32 | 31 | - | 27 |
| 31 | 6 | Chase Utley | - | 32 | 26 | 30 | 39 | 28 | 28 |
| 32 | 6 | Enrique Hernandez | - | 33 | 31 | 24 | 35 | 30 | - |
| 33 | 6 | Jace Peterson | 28 | 30 | 33 | 33 | 28 | 33 | 32 |
| 34 | 6 | Chris Owings | - | 34 | 34 | 31 | 30 | 29 | - |
| 35 | 7 | Ryan Goins | 27 | 35 | 35 | 36 | 38 | - | 30 |
| 36 | 7 | Kelly Johnson | 29 | 39 | - | 35 | - | - | - |
| 37 | 7 | Scooter Gennett | 33 | 36 | - | 37 | 33 | - | - |
| 38 | 7 | Wilmer Flores | - | 38 | - | 38 | 32 | 32 | - |
| 39 | 7 | Jose Ramirez | - | 37 | - | 40 | 36 | 31 | - |
| 40 | 7 | Jose Peraza | - | 40 | - | - | 37 | - | - |
| 41 | 7 | Dilson Herrera | - | 41 | - | 39 | - | - | - |
| 42 | 7 | Johnny Giavotella | - | 42 | - | - | 40 | - | - |
| 43 | 7 | Darnell Sweeney | - | 43 | - | - | - | - |
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