While looking at the over second base position for the coming season, one could not help but notice how shallow it seemed initially. With the decline of Chase Utley, the disaster of Rickie Weeks’ first half of the 2012 season, and former prospects — Dustin Ackley, Jemile Weeks, and Gordon Beckham to name a few — have left the keystone position surprisingly thin when it comes to superstars in the fantasy world.
The 2013 Fantasy Baseball Rankings: Second Basemen could offer some keen insight on how to bolster your Fantasy team's roster by taking a player with a high value, but not having to overpay to do so. For instance, a player like Jose Altuve (projects out at a +.310 average, +/- 10 HRs, +/- 50 RBI and +30 steals) will provide you some much needed value at second base, but not have the price tag of an Ian Kinsler or Dustin Pedroia. Altuve's sophomore season was a success as he emerged as a top base-stealer and a reliable contact hitter. If he is able to add some pop in the years ahead -- he is 22, remember -- he could emerge as an elite Fantasy second baseman. He will be a top-10 option, at this position, entering next season.
The days of penciling in three (3) to four (4) players at this position that can hit +25 home runs and drive-in over 100 runs are long gone. In 2002, there was Bret Boone (24 HR, 107 RBI), Alfonso Soriano (39 HR, 102 RBI) and Jeff Kent (37 HR, 108 RBI). Today, Robinson Cano is a man amongst boys at this position and he is coming off a season in which he hit 33 homers and had 94 RBI. There have been only five (5) 100-RBI seasons in the past five (5) seasons at this position. Take that for what it is worth.
A move to keep your eye on:
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- Jeff Keppinger had a relatively successful season with the Rays in 2012, but they could not keep him in the offseason. He’s now eligible at 1B, 2B and 3B. He will likely end up playing mostly third base for the White Sox in 2013. He hit .325 in 381 at-bats for the Rays last season, and if he does that again, he'll obviously matter in Fantasy. Given his lack of power or speed, though, he's a better player to target off the waiver wire when the need arises than to draft in standard mixed leagues.
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Here are the Top 60 two-baggers:
Updated 3/1/2013
| Rank | Player | Team | Score |
| 1 | Cano,Robinson | NYY | 101.48 |
| 2 | Pedroia,Dustin | BOS | 99.42 |
| 3 | Kinsler,Ian | TEX | 87.87 |
| 4 | Hill,Aaron | ARI | 87.33 |
| 5 | Phillips,Brandon | CIN | 83.74 |
| 6 | Altuve,Jose | HOU | 83.69 |
| 7 | Kipnis,Jason | CLE | 76.14 |
| 8 | Weeks,Rickie | MIL | 74.07 |
| 9 | Kendrick,Howie | LAA | 70.70 |
| 10 | Utley,Chase | PHI | 70.60 |
| 11 | Walker,Neil | PIT | 67.45 |
| 12 | Izturis,Maicer | TOR | 64.86 |
| 13 | Infante,Omar | DET | 64.29 |
| 14 | Uggla,Dan | ATL | 61.92 |
| 15 | Scutaro,Marco | SF | 60.10 |
| 16 | Espinosa,Danny | WAS | 57.35 |
| 17 | Ackley,Dustin | SEA | 56.07 |
| 18 | Murphy,Daniel | NYM | 55.67 |
| 19 | Doumit,Ryan | MIN | 55.02 |
| 20 | Keppinger,Jeff | CHW | 53.85 |
| 21 | Getz,Chris | KC | 45.76 |
| 22 | Beckham,Gordon | CHW | 43.24 |
| 23 | Greene,Tyler | HOU | 42.81 |
| 24 | Barney,Darwin | CHC | 41.90 |
| 25 | Pennington,Cliff | ARI | 40.43 |
| 26 | Johnson,Kelly | TAM | 37.59 |
| 27 | Giavotella,Johnny | KC | 36.33 |
| 28 | Amarista,Alexi | SD | 35.39 |
| 29 | Carroll,Jamey | MIN | 33.56 |
| 30 | Nelson,Chris | COL | 33.39 |
| 31 | Forsythe,Logan | SD | 32.84 |
| 32 | Sizemore,Scott | OAK | 32.76 |
| 33 | Ellis,Mark | LA | 32.61 |
| 34 | Gyorko,Jedd | SD | 32.42 |
| 35 | Casilla,Alexi | BAL | 29.87 |
| 36 | Profar,Jurickson | TEX | 29.13 |
| 37 | Solano,Donovan | MIA | 24.78 |
| 38 | Roberts,Brian | BAL | 24.40 |
| 39 | Lombardozzi,Steve | WAS | 22.25 |
| 40 | Hairston,Jerry | LA | 19.55 |
| 41 | Descalso,Daniel | STL | 17.61 |
| 42 | Holt,Brock | BOS | 17.42 |
| 43 | Harrison,Josh | PIT | 17.10 |
| 44 | Cedeno,Ronny | STL | 14.67 |
| 45 | Schumaker,Skip | LA | 14.32 |
| 46 | Theriot,Ryan | FAN | 12.31 |
| 47 | Turner,Justin | NYM | 12.19 |
| 48 | Kobernus,Jeff | DET | 9.95 |
| 49 | LeMahieu,DJ | COL | 9.74 |
| 50 | Roberts,Ryan | TAM | 8.49 |
| 51 | Falu,Irving | KC | 6.84 |
| 52 | Flores,Wilmer | NYM | 6.72 |
| 53 | Wong,Kolten | STL | 5.38 |
| 54 | Flaherty,Ryan | BAL | 4.34 |
| 55 | Sanchez,Freddy | FAN | 4.02 |
| 56 | Weeks,Jemile | OAK | 1.72 |
| 57 | Hudson,Orlando | FAA | 1.64 |
| 58 | Rodriguez,Sean | TAM | 1.42 |
| 59 | Gennett,Scooter | MIL | 1.18 |
| 60 | Andino,Robert | SEA | 0.55 |
Please see the original Fantasy Baseball article which helps explain the rankings system
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