Eric Cross' Top 10 Second Base (2B) Dynasty Fantasy Baseball Rankings for 2025

February 17, 2025

Eric Cross' top second base (2B) dynasty fantasy baseball rankings heading into 2025. He discusses his top 2B targets for fantasy baseball dynasty leagues.

Pitchers and catchers have reported, and we're inching closer to spring training games starting up. But in the dynasty fantasy baseball world, it's always baseball season!

I'll be continuing my positional dynasty fantasy baseball rankings series today with the second base position, which has lost both depth and elite talent recently but fortunately has several exciting prospects that are rising up rankings right now.

For my additional dynasty fantasy baseball rankings and write-ups, check out my Patreon, where you can find my full Top 75 dynasty second base rankings. And make sure to continue checking RotoBaller, as I'm going to be going through all positions in the coming weeks!

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2B Dynasty Rankings for Fantasy Baseball

For my dynasty positional rankings article series, I'm only including players at one spot. This will primarily be where they played the most in 2024, but I'll include certain players at certain positions if they're eligible and/or it's clear they'll be at a new position in 2025. I'll make notes throughout the rankings for where certain players would rank that aren't included in my writeups below.

Ranking Note: Mookie Betts would rank here if he's eligible in your league.

1. Ketel Marte, ARI (Age 31)

No second baseman was better than Ketel Marte in 2024. The then 30-year-old Marte set career highs in home runs (36) and RBI (95) with a .292/.372/.560 slash line, 93 runs, and seven steals. His metrics were elite or near elite across the board as well including ranking in the Top-16% of hitters in xBA, xSLG, xwOBA, average exit velocity, barrel rate, hard-hit rate, and walk rate.

Ketel Marte has homered in 3 straight games!

His 8th home run in the 9th inning this season 👀 pic.twitter.com/C9I5a9ijIL

— MLB (@MLB) August 7, 2024

While Marte doesn't provide much speed, he's as rock-solid as they come in the other four primary fantasy categories and has the best blend of ceiling and floor at this position. Marte has put together back-to-back seasons with at least 90 runs, 25 home runs, 80 RBI, a .275 AVG, and a .350 OBP. There are some young guns on the rise, but Marte is the alpha dog in this position for the time being.

2. Jazz Chisholm Jr., NYY (Age 26)

While he doesn't yet qualify for this position, I wanted to include Jazz Chisholm here as he'll be sliding over to second base for the New York Yankees this season.

After three exciting yet inconsistent seasons from 2021 to 2023, Chisholm set new career-best marks in runs (74), home runs (24), RBI (73), and steals (40). Chisholm was especially impactful after a July trade to the Yankees, racking up 11 home runs and 18 steals in just 46 games.

The power/speed upside that Chisholm possesses makes him an exciting player to roster at any position, but especially so once he adds second base eligibility in April.

He's had some issues staying healthy and making consistent contact, which are both still a concern, but Chisholm is a premium athlete who had an 82nd percentile sprint speed along with a 9.7% barrel rate and 41.1% hard-hit rate last season.

If Chisholm can stay healthy, a full season with Yankee Stadium as his home ballpark could push him ahead of Marte into the top spot in dynasty second base rankings.

3. Kristian Campbell, BOS (Age 22)

This might seem high for a prospect, especially given the names below him on this list, but I'm all in on Kristian Campbell moving forward. When he was drafted in the fourth round back in 2023, Campbell had a strong base of contact, approach, and speed, but how much power he'd hit for was the main question.

Well, Campbell added a bit of bulk after the draft and really tapped into his raw power in 2024, which resulted in his astronomical rise up prospect rankings and now sitting second overall in mine behind Roman Anthony.

There goes Kristian Campbell!

That one was 109 off the bat. pic.twitter.com/cQGEH4pkBw

— Red Sox Player Development (@RedSoxPlayerDev) September 6, 2024

In 115 games across three levels, Campbell slashed .330/.439/.558 with 32 doubles, 20 home runs, and 24 steals.

Campbell continued to showcase a high-level blend of contact and approach with a 79.2% contact rate, 14.2% walk rate, and a 19.9% strikeout rate while also having a 46% hard-hit rate in Triple-A. With solid power now in the mix, Campbell projects as a five-category impact player who should get plenty of runs in Boston this season.

Rankings Note: Jordan Westburg would rank here but will be discussed in my third base dynasty rankings article.

4. Matt McLain, CIN (Age 25)

My favorite dynasty buy at this position entering 2025 is Cincinnati's Matt McLain. A torn labrum cost McLain the entire 2024 season, but his 2023 rookie season was highly impressive.

In 403 plate appearances, McLain racked up 16 home runs, 14 steals, 50 RBI, and 65 runs scored with a .290/.357/.507 slash line. McLain was able to get back into game action out in the Arizona Fall League a few months ago and is 100% healthy entering 2025.

Given his power/speed blend and home ballpark, seeing Matt McLain being a few spots higher than this next year shouldn't shock anyone.

In 2023, McLain had a 90th percentile sprint speed, a 10.8% barrel rate, and a 42.4% hard-hit rate. Having a strikeout, zone contact, and overall contact all a bit below league-average makes me think he'll be more in the .270 range moving forward than the .290 range, but McLain should be able to provide five-category production with the upside to be an annual Top 50 player for fantasy.

5. Ozzie Albies, ATL (Age 28)

On a per-game basis, Ozzie Albies is still a top option. In his last two seasons, where he had more than 600 plate appearances, Albies recorded at least 95 runs, 30 home runs, 105 RBI, and 10 steals. However, Albies missed 31 games in 2020, 98 games in 2022, and 63 in 2024. Is durability now a notable concern here? I believe it is.

Some of Albies's skills have been falling off as well, headlined by his sprint speed now being in the 46th percentile and dropping from 28.6 ft/sec in 2019 to 27.2 ft/sec last season and his home to first time going from 4.02 seconds to 4.29 seconds in that same timeframe.

While I still believe he can be a valuable asset, it's hard to recommend Albies as a strong dynasty buy, given the declining speed and durability concerns mentioned above. Could he return to elite status? Sure. But as I mentioned, he's returned a negative ROI in three of his last five seasons.

6. Jackson Holliday, BAL (Age 21)

Plenty of rookie seasons don't go according to plan, but one of the most disappointing in 2024 had to be Jackson Holliday. In 208 plate appearances, Holliday slashed just .189/.255/.311 with five home runs and four steals. And outside of a hot two-ish weeks to begin his second MLB stint, Holliday looked lost at the plate.

JACKSON HOLLIDAY!

His first big league homer is a grand slam! pic.twitter.com/UhYSrT2MiQ

— MLB (@MLB) July 31, 2024

Overall, Holliday hit the ball hard with a 45.1% hard-hit rate and had a 95th percentile sprint speed, but struck out 33.2% of the time, along with a 75.3% zone contact rate and 65.9% overall contact rate.

He's still very young with plenty of upside, which is something we need to remember. Maybe he won't win a batting title like many originally thought he would, but there's still a ton of talent here, and Holliday is still just 21 years old. He's a great buy low in dynasty leagues.

7. Jose Altuve, HOU (Age 34)

Old man Altuve continues to provide elite production as he enters his mid-30s. After not gaining admission for the last six seasons, Altuve had his first 20/20 season since 2017 in 2024 while hitting over .290 for the ninth time in 11 years. With that said, Altuve's walk rate dropped from 10.7% to 6.9%, his OBP dropped from .393 to .350, and his SLG dropped from .522 to .439.

You have to wonder when Father Time will catch up with Altuve, though (maybe he did a little in 2024). He's entered the territory of only being valuable to contending dynasty teams. If you have Altuve and aren't projected to be a championship-caliber team in 2025, your window to trade him for a top value is nearly closed.

8. Marcus Semien, TEX (Age 34)

While Semien's slash line took a nose dive, his contact, approach, and power metrics were all right in line with 2023. Semien's zone contact, strikeout, and barrel rates all mirrored his 2023 marks and he only saw a minimal drop in AVG EV, hard-hit rate, and overall contact.

At age 34, his best years are certainly behind him, but Semien can still provide Top-10 value for a contending dynasty team. If your contention window is now and you need a second baseman, trying to acquire Semien now while his perceived value is a bit lower isn't a bad idea. I'm expecting Semien to bounce back a bit in 2025.

9. Travis Bazzana, CLE (Age 22)

I'm not sure if Travis Bazzana cracking this Top 10 speaks more to his talent and upside or the lack of high-end depth at this second base position. Probably a bit of both, but with more emphasis on the talent and upside Bazzana possesses. The 2024 No. 1 overall pick brings a high blend of ceiling and floor and should be contributing to fantasy teams as soon as the last couple of months of the 2025 season.

It was a small sample size, but Bazzana showcased his advanced hit tool in High-A after the draft, producing an 80.4% contact rate, 13.9% walk rate, and a 7.5% SwStr rate with three home runs and five steals in 27 games. Bazzana projects to provide a high AVG and OBP, while his above-average power and speed could lead to more than 20 home runs and 20 steals annually.

If everything clicks, Bazzana could be a top-tier fantasy second baseman for a long time.

10. Luis Garcia Jr., WAS (Age 24)

Luis Garcia quietly had a productive season and fell two home runs shy of joining the 20/20 club while posting career highs in home runs, RBI, steals, AVG, OBP, and SLG. Sure, his savant page isn't lit up with red, and this profile doesn't hint that Garcia will jump into the elite ranks.

However, Garcia had above-average quality of contact metrics with an 8% barrel rate and a 41.7% hard-hit rate to go with a 79% contact rate and a 16.3% strikeout rate.

In today's landscape, where the second base position is underwhelming, Garcia could stick as a back-end Top-10 option moving forward if he continues to flirt with 20/20 annually while providing a decent average.

If you enjoyed these rankings and want to see additional rankings, analysis, and more, check out Eric's Toolshed Fantasy Patreon.

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