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2018 Second Basemen - Dynasty Tiered Rankings

RotoBaller's February fantasy baseball dynasty league rankings for second base. Daniel Marcus breaks down the 2B dynasty ranks for the 2018 MLB season.

We continue our fantasy baseball dynasty rankings analysis with the second base position.

Second base is a very intriguing position for dynasty leagues, as there is a changing of the guard that could come as soon as a year or two. Out will be the mainstay names of Robinson Cano, Brian Dozier, and Daniel Murphy, to be replaced by the likes of Ozhaino Albies, Yoan Moncada, and Willie Calhoun (assuming he retains 2B eligibility).

Without any more delay, let's explore the 2018 second base dynasty rankings for February. Be sure to also check out more of our staff's initial 2018 fantasy baseball rankings and analysis columns for other formats including mixed leagues, dynasty leagues, 2018 prospects and more.

Be sure to check all of our fantasy baseball lineup tools and resources:

 

2018 Fantasy Baseball Dynasty League Rankings: Second Base

Ranking Tier Player Name Pos
1 1 Jose Altuve 2B
2 1 Anthony Rizzo 1B/2B
3 2 Jose Ramirez 2B/3B
4 2 Yoan Moncada 2B
5 3 Dee Gordon 2B/OF
6 3 Jonathan Schoop 2B
7 3 Rougned Odor 2B
8 3 Robinson Cano 2B
9 3 Brian Dozier 2B
10 3 Daniel Murphy 2B
11 4 Ian Happ 2B/OF
12 4 DJ Lemahieu 2B
13 4 Javier Baez 2B
14 4 Chris Taylor 2B/OF
15 4 Ian Kinsler 2B
16 4 Matt Carpenter 1B/2B/3B
17 4 Ozhaino Albies 2B
18 5 Whit Merrifield 2B/OF
19 5 Scott Kingery 2B
20 5 Devon Travis 2B
21 5 Jose Peraza 2B
22 5 Chris Owings 2B/OF
23 5 Dustin Pedroia 2B
24 5 Starlin Castro 2B
25 5 Wilmer Difo 2B
26 5 Ben Zobrist 2B
27 5 Willie Calhoun 2B
28 5 Paul DeJong 2B/SS
29 5 Josh Harrison 2B/3B
30 5 Scooter Gennett 2B
31 5 Cesar Hernandez 2B
32 5 Jason Kipnis 2B
33 5 Yangervis Solarte 2B
34 6 Howie Kendrick 2B/OF
35 6 Jonathan Villar 2B
36 6 Marwin Gonzalez 1B/2B/3B/SS/OF
37 6 Jed Lowrie 2B
38 6 Hernan Perez 2B/3B/OF
39 6 Jose Reyes 2B/3B/SS
40 6 Joe Panik 2B
41 6 Logan Forsythe 2B/3B
42 6 Neil Walker 2B
43 6 Corey Spangenberg 2B/3B/OF
44 6 Raul Mondesi 2B
45 7 Luis Urias 2B
46 7 Ryan Schimpf 2B
47 7 Kolten Wong 2B
48 7 Derek Dietrich 2B/3B
49 7 Asdrubal Cabrera 2B/3B/SS
50 7 Brandon Phillips 2B/3B
51 7 Jace Peterson 2B/3B/OF
52 7 Steve Pearce 1B/2B/OF
53 7 Joey Wendle 2B
54 7 Nick Franklin 2B/OF
55 7 Brett Lawrie 2B
56 7 Chase Utley 2B
57 7 Adam Frazier 2B/OF

 
 
Tier 1

There’s not much debate about Jose Altuve being the headliner of the position and Tier 1. Initially fantasy relevant due to a strong average and stolen base production, Altuve has since turned into an all-around player to include power along with elite run-scoring production. At the age of 27, he should have three more safe years of high-end production, making him a top-10 overall dynasty asset and easy choice for number one at the position.

Rizzo’s eligibility as a second baseman is something that can be debated, but his production and reliability cannot. He’s put up nearly identical stat-lines over the past three seasons, so fantasy owners can feel secure in his elite level four-category production for at least another two or three years.

 

Tier 2

There’s some argument that Jose Ramirez belongs in the top tier, but he doesn’t yet have the year-over-year reliability to match that of Rizzo or Altuve. His plate discipline and batted ball data suggest that Ramirez could join Tier 1 in short order as he maintained a 10% strikeout rate while also upping his FB%, hard hit rate, and pull rate, all of which make his power surge more believable.

Yoan Moncada finds his way to Tier 2 purely on projection. There’s 25/25 upside that we’ve seen from him in his minor league history, but as he’s moved up levels his steal output has slowed. A 34.3% strikeout rate in 231 major-league plate appearances is also concerning. The bet is on prospect pedigree with Moncada.

 

Tier 3 

This tier is littered with mainstays at the position, but are entering the stage of their career where their price should indicate significant risk of a fall off. We’ve already seen some of that decline from Robinson Cano, and at age 35 his seasons of 20 home run production are no longer guaranteed.

Meanwhile, Daniel Murphy is 32 and Brian Dozier will turn 31 during the 2018 season. Though subtle, signs of decline for Dozier include that he was just 16-for-23 (69%) in stolen base attempts. These are both players to buy on for contending teams, but anyone without a realistic chance to win in 2018 would be wise to explore trades.

Jonathan Schoop is entering his prime and followed up his 2016 season with an even better 2017. There were no red flags of outlier performances in 2017, so his value should be solidified at this point. Rougned Odor burned a lot of fantasy owners in 2017, but a future 40-homer season isn’t out of the question given his 42% FB rate over the past two seasons and a high HR/FB rate to go along with it. At the age of 24, he’s the youngest of this tier and actually has striking similarities to Brian Dozier in his prime. However, to reach that level Odor will have to manage his strikeouts and fix his IFFB problem.

 

Tier 4 

This group is not as easy to sort as the previous tier. Ian Kinsler and Matt Carpenter are the senior members of the group both by age and production. However, both have almost certainly seen their most productive fantasy seasons come and go. Carpenter was hampered by a wrist issue much of last year, so a bounce back is certainly possible.

DJ Lemahieu is the safest of the group as so long as Coors Field remains his home as he should be an asset in runs and batting average. However, we know what to expect from him at this point and that is a viable, though quite ordinary second baseman.

The rest of the group has high variance in both projection and playing time, at least in the short term. Both Ian Happ and Javier Baez are strong fantasy assets in the long-term as they have the skills to be excellent but their path to playing to remains murky in the short-term. Chris Taylor broke out last season but his periperals were littered with outliers. As a member of the Dodgers, he can easily be replaced in the lineup if things start going south for him. That makes him a risky asset to make a core of dynasty plans.

It’s easy to imagine Ozzie Albies in Tier 2 next season. While he doesn’t have the pop of Yoan Moncada, he should outpace him in batting average as he regularly posted a strikeout rate at 15% in the minor leagues and maintained that level in his small major league sample last season. Add in his speed and that should make a him a mainstay atop the Braves lineup, giving him high run-scoring potential. Speaking of speed, Albies has also shown the ability to swipe bases at every level of the minors and in his 57 games with the Braves he stole eight bases in nine attempts.

 

Tier 5

As can be expected, things get a little messy in Tier 5. Devon Travis, Cesar Hernandez, Scooter Gennett, Chris Owings, Jose Peraza, Whit Merrifield, and Wilmer Difo have all shown various skills as fantasy assets but each faces playing time concerns due to a combination of poor performance, crowded infield situations, or injury. All are best suited as reserves or specialist type roles on dynasty rosters as a result.

Scott Kingery and Willie Calhoun are two young players on the rise, and they fall just a bit below Moncada and Albies. Calhoun has the chance to be an exceptional power hitter while also not striking out a ton; that is a combination rare enough to make him a strong player to speculate/hang onto despite concerns he might become a full-time outfielder. Meanwhile, Kingery profiles more as an asset on the basepaths with 70 grade speed. There is speculation that he could overtake Cesar Hernandez to begin 2018, but the safer bet is to expect him toward the later portions of this season.

 

Tiers 6 and 7

If tier 5 was messy, this range is just a disaster. Marwin Gonzalez is a standout among Tier 6 thanks to his positional versatility and excellent team context, but everything about his 2017 performance screams outlier. Raul Mondesi is another standout in Tier 6, as he has the potential to be the next stolen base trump card fantasy asset.

None of the players in Tier 7 enter in dynasty leaguers long-term plans and are best used in a streaming or desperation situation.

 

More Dynasty Leagues Analysis




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