Second Base offers a lot of really good players that can fill this position for you. The difference from the top players who average 3.4, 3.3 points per game and the 20th range who average 2.9, 2.8 points per game is a half point versus the full point at Shortstop. This means that this may be a position that is worth waiting on to fill. But when you look deeper the amount of players who average 3.0, 3.1 points per game is pretty deep meaning that you should be able to get a player that you feel really good about without using an early pick.
Tiers
When looking at each position, I will divide the players into tiers. In theory, each tier should be filled with similar players. The ultimate goal would be to get the last player in each tier as that would mean you waited the perfect amount of time to draft that position and didn’t have to reach in the draft. Of course even within a tier we can have our favorites and preferences which are hard to ignore. Sometimes I have to force myself to take a player I don’t like or usually want on my team when they are the last player in a tier and they are clearly the best pick.
When doing your own tiers you should always ask yourself if you would be good with the next player, if not, that player goes into the next tier. Keep in mind that when deciding between players from different positions, if you set your tiers up correctly, you should not have any Super-Stars left to draft before going on to the All-Star tier, no more All-Star tier players before moving on to the Solid players, etc., etc. Within each tier names are listed in alphabetical order with their 2016 projected point totals from the CCO leagues on ESPN.
Previous Tiers
Super-Star
Jose Altuve (515), Brian Dozier (545)
I had trouble putting these guys in the Super-Star tier, but there are reasons to take both of these guys first, but I would say near the tail end of the Super-Star tier.
All-Star
Robinson Cano (507), Dee Gordon (473), Ian Kinsler (475), Jason Kipnis (472), Anthony Rendon (472)
It is like a roll call of former Super-Star tier guys and one that is trying to get there. Any one of these guys could be the number one second baseman this season and without using one of your earliest picks.
Solid
Rougned Odor (455), Neil Walker (462), Ben Zobrist (466)
I have been a fan of Ben Zobrist for a long time and boy did I have a hard time not including him in the All-Star tier now that he is a Cub, but just couldn’t do it and tiered him with Odor one of my breakouts from last year, who finally broke out in the second half of the season.
OK
Logan Forsythe (442), Brett Lawrie (435), Daniel Murphy (440), Joe Panik (430), Dustin Pedroia (419), Addison Russell (428), Kolton Wong (421)
There are a lot of players that I would feel pretty good about having as my second baseman in this group. If I am waiting on the position until later in the draft, I would much prefer to grab one from this tier than the next.
If You Wait
Starlin Castro (385), Josh Harrison (392), Cesar Hernandez (396), Howie Kendrick (402), D.J. Lemahieu (419), Brandon Phillips (372), Cory Spangenberg (376)
For Cubs fans there are three former Cubs in this group in Castro, Harrison and Lemahieu and familiarity may make it feel like you are good waiting on second base, just not so sure you should wait until the very end.
Summary
Second base has been a position that I have bounced back and forth on waiting or wanting in one of my first six picks or so. I probably won’t decide on when I fill second base until the draft unfolds in front of me and see if one of the top guys falls into my lap. Which is the best way to fill positions like this, don’t go out saying I have to have a top second baseman, as that will make you reach for one when there is likely a better player from another position sitting there in the early rounds.
Next up is Third Base!
CCO Leagues
CCO fantasy baseball leagues are on ESPN and we will fill up to 20 teams in each league. This year we will have 3 different styles of leagues.
- Weekly H2H with daily lineups, rules on pitching.
- Weekly H2H with daily lineups, rules on pitching, auction draft and keepers.
- Weekly H2H with weekly lineups and no additional rules.
If you are interested in playing in one of these leagues, please send your email information to Neil at this link and he will forward it to me. Also include which league you are interested in playing. We have four leagues right now. Option 3 is the weekly H2H lineup league and has openings and takes less time than the other leagues as lineups lock at the beginning of the week. The style we used the last two years is option one and we have two different leagues that are full but I will take more names for a waiting list or even to create another league. Option 2 is the auction/keeper league and it is almost full.