Second base is another position that had a big resurgence last year. With so many highly productive established players, it is hard to identify any major sleepers or breakout candidates. The big 3 here are Jose Altuve,who is one of the top players for any position, Jose Ramirez and Brian Dozier. That still leaves some pretty darn good players for later rounds of your fantasy draft or for a lower price in your auction after the high cost players fly off the shelves.
Jonathan Schoop quietly hit .293 with 32 HR's last year for the Orioles and still seems to be on the upswing of his career trajectory. Daniel Murphy has been an absolute beast for the last 2 seasons and is in a nice situation in Washington. He's a good bet to hit well over .300 with 20+ HR's and tons of opportunity to score and drive in runs. I am also willing to overpay for Dee Gordon to tap into his SB's, as he can make you competitive in that category almost by himself.
Javier Baez and Ian Happ look like potential breakout candidates for the Cubs, but need some clarity in how much playing time they will get. Depth may be a good thing in real life, but real life depth is not the fantasy manager's friend. A trade of either Albert Almora or Addison Russell would be a great sign for both Baez and Happ's fantasy stock.
Unfortunately, 2'nd basemen who give you solid BA but not much power or speed like Joe Panik and DJ Lemahieu just aren't going to cut it in most fantasy leagues unless there is a dramatic drop in league-wide power. I would also be wary of Whit Merrifield after taking a look at his minor league numbers prior to his MLB breakout last year which came out of nowhere.
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I've never seen Panik make a team in any league in which I've played. He doesn't hit for power or steal basis and none of the leagues I've played in have ever scored defense. So guys like Kinsler and Panik go undrafted while Murphy and Altuve, neither of whom is a top-flight defender, get all the love.
ReplyDeleteFWIW, I drafted Dozier in a snake draft the last two years. So while I'd love to draft Panik, I like winning.
I drafted Dustin Pedroia in the snake draft, and he fell in the solid BA no power category as well plus he went on the DL about 3 or 4 times. The best replacements i could find thru waivers were DJ leamahieu and Panik which didn't cut it as well. I remember reading something where Dee Gordan might play CF with his new team the Mariners?
ReplyDeleteLG
That is correct about Dee Gordon. Even if he plays zero games at 2B in 2018, he will retain 2B eligibility in most fantasy leagues through the season but would then lose it for 2019.
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