If you’re a regular reader of RotoBaller (and how could someone as smart, funny, and handsome as you not be?), you’ve doubtless already checked out our staff rankings. We'll be releasing our final update on those next week.

With draft season ramping up now, though, it seems like a good time to check our expert opinions against the wisdom of the crowds. Over the next several days, we’ll highlight players with notable discrepancies between their ADP and how the staff here at RotoBaller views their 2016 value.

All ADP data is courtesy of FantasyPros. Quoted figures are the players’ ranking at their position and not their overall ADP.

Second Basemen We Prefer

Jason Kipnis

ADP: 7th | RotoBaller (RB) Rank: 4th | My rank: 6th

I’m closer to the crowd than my colleagues on this one, but Kipnis has been the bane of my existence as a fantasy expert for some time. He zigs when I think he’ll zag, and vice versa. After a pair of second half swoons in 2012 and 2013 and a complete disaster of a season in 2014, Kipnis had (shocker) another weird campaign last year. He hit .303 and scored 86 runs, but only managed nine homers and 12 stolen bases. Despite no drastic changes in his peripherals or profile in his four-plus MLB seasons, it’s tough to get a handle on what Kipnis actually is, beyond being a quality 2B option in both real and fake baseball. He averaged 15 homers and 30 steals in his first two seasons, and he’s still on the right side of 30. Returning to that level isn’t out of the question, even factoring in likely BABIP regression.

Ben Zobrist

ADP: 15th | RB Rank: 11th | My rank: 12th

Zobrist’s days as the most nondescript star in baseball are essentially over as he enters his age-35 season, and he’s always been one of those players who are more valuable in real life than in fantasy terms. That’s especially true now that his stolen base totals have declined in six straight seasons (from 24 in 2010 to just three a year ago) and he hasn’t hit more than 13 homers since 2012. He’s also lost his eligibility at shortstop. Still, he’s settled in as a dependable middle infield option, and signing with the Cubs can only do good things for his counting stats, given their lineup and park contexts.

Dustin Pedroia

ADP: 16th | RB Rank: 9th | My rank: 10th

At 32, Pedroia is unarguably post-peak. He’s averaged just 18 HR+SB over the last three seasons, though that’s partially due to missing significant chunks of the last two years with myriad injuries. He remains a perfectly cromulent asset at the keystone, which makes his low ADP something of a surprise. Even building in the expectation of injury, Pedroia probably shouldn’t be passed over for the likes of Matt Duffy or DJ LeMahieu. You could argue that the new found depth at the position makes betting on Pedroia’s health unnecessary, but it also makes it easier to find a backup you’ll be fine with slotting in if and when he does hit the disabled list.

Joe Panik

ADP: 25th | RB Rank: 12th | My rank: 11th

Man, the crowd isn’t buying this dude’s breakout even a little bit, are they? Granted, his minor league numbers don’t necessarily support the .833 OPS he posted last year and his counting stats were less than impressive, even accounting for the fact that he only played 100 games. I also expect to bump him down a bit in my own rankings when we release our final update. But Panik was a pretty reliable high-contact, high-average hitter in the minors and should score plenty of runs from his perch near the top of the Giants lineup. If the pop he showed last season isn’t a mirage, a home run total in the double digits isn’t unreasonable.

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