2021 Secondbasemen
(Photo by Mark LoMoglio/Icon Sportswire)
by Pat Cloghessy
A total of six dual asset full-time second basemen. Five full-timers with power assets. Five full-time speed assets. There are 14 at the position projected for a full complement of plate appearances. Nine of which come with only one asset on their ledger.
The dearth of projectable skills puts upward pressure on draft prices. You are going to have to pay a premium for the better options. Is it worth it?
Here are the BABS ratings for second basemen who will potentially provide positive value to your team:
| ADP | R$ | BATTER | Pos | Tm | PT | Pw | Sp | Av | * | Pk | Rg | Sk- | Inj | Ex | Nw | Ag | Pk | Rg | |
| 267 | $3 | Hampson,Garrett | o487 | COL | M | S+ | – | e | |||||||||||
| 29 | $25 | LeMahieu,DJ | 453 | NYY | F | A+ | – | Rg | |||||||||||
| 91 | $14 | McNeil,Jeff | o745 | NYM | F | A+ | – | Rg | |||||||||||
| 123 | $11 | Moustakas,Mike | 43 | CIN | F | PW | a | – | |||||||||||
| 40 | $22 | Merrifield,Whit | o984 | KC | F | s | AV | – | |||||||||||
| 82 | $15 | Marte,Ketel | 4 | ARI | F | s | AV | – | |||||||||||
| 316 | $1 | Flores,Wilmer | 43 | SF | P | p | AV | – | |||||||||||
| 58 | $18 | Biggio,Cavan | 4o95 | TOR | F | PW | s | * | – | e | |||||||||
| 71 | $16 | Lowe,Brandon | 4o9 | TAM | F | PW | s | – | e | ||||||||||
| 33 | $24 | Albies,Ozzie | 4 | ATL | F | s | a | – | inj- | Rg | |||||||||
| 314 | $1 | Kingery,Scott | 4o8 | PHI | P | p | s | Rg | – | inj- | |||||||||
| 733 | $(7) | VanMeter,Josh | 4 | ARI | P | p | s | Rg | – | EX | |||||||||
| 102 | $12 | Altuve,Jose | 4 | HOU | F | AV | Rg | – | inj- | ||||||||||
| 168 | $8 | Cronenworth,Jake | 463 | SD | M | AV | – | EX | |||||||||||
| 68 | $16 | Hiura,Keston | 40 | MIL | F | PW | – | e | |||||||||||
| 558 | $(4) | Brujan,Vidal | 0 | TAM | P | S+ | -P | EX | |||||||||||
| 377 | $(0) | Arraez,Luis | 4 | MIN | P | A+ | -P | e | |||||||||||
| 320 | $1 | France,Ty | 4 | SEA | M | a | – | EX | Rg | ||||||||||
| 335 | $1 | Castro,Starlin | 4 | WAS | F | a | – | inj- | |||||||||||
| 396 | $(1) | Schoop,Jonathan | 4 | DET | F | a | – | Nw | |||||||||||
| 498 | $(3) | Solano,Donovan | 4 | SF | M | a | – | Rg | |||||||||||
| 674 | $(6) | Harrison,Josh | 45 | WAS | P | a | – | ||||||||||||
| 699 | $(6) | Diaz,Aledmys | 4 | HOU | M | a | – | INJ | |||||||||||
| 191 | $6 | Madrigal,Nick | 4 | CHW | M | s | AV | -P | INJ | EX | Rg | ||||||||
| 242 | $4 | Lux,Gavin | 4 | LA | M | p | Rg | – | EX | ||||||||||
| 250 | $4 | McMahon,Ryan | 453 | COL | F | p | – | e | |||||||||||
| 480 | $(3) | Hernandez,Enrique | 4o9 | BOS | M | p | – | Nw | |||||||||||
| 464 | $(2) | Chisholm,Jazz | 46 | MIA | M | p | SB | * | -A | EX | |||||||||
| 389 | $(1) | Wong,Kolten | 4 | MIL | F | s | a | -P | Nw | ||||||||||
| 192 | $6 | Segura,Jean | 45 | PHI | F | AV | -P | ||||||||||||
| 305 | $2 | La Stella,Tommy | 430 | SF | M | AV | -P | Nw | |||||||||||
| 503 | $(3) | Frazier,Adam | 4o7 | PIT | M | AV | -P | ||||||||||||
| 531 | $(4) | Alberto,Hanser | 4 | FAA | P | AV | -P | e | |||||||||||
| 535 | $(4) | Pinder,Chad | 45 | OAK | P | – | |||||||||||||
| 690 | $(6) | Camargo,Johan | 45 | ATL | P | Rg | – | ||||||||||||
| 720 | $(7) | Kemp,Anthony | 4 | OAK | P | – | e | ||||||||||||
| 500 | $(3) | Odor,Rougned | 4 | TEX | P | PW | Rg | -A | |||||||||||
| 258 | $3 | Berti,Jon | 4o89 | MIA | M | SB | * | -P | EX | Rg | |||||||||
| 369 | $(0) | Hernandez,Cesar | 4 | CLE | F | a | -P | ||||||||||||
| 452 | $(2) | Hoerner,Nico | 46 | CHC | F | a | -P | EX | |||||||||||
| 562 | $(4) | Garcia,Luis | 4 | WAS | M | a | -P | EX | |||||||||||
| 142 | $9 | Villar,Jonathan | 46 | FAA | M | s | -P | ||||||||||||
| 660 | $(6) | Rojas,Josh | 4 | ARI | P | s | -A | EX | |||||||||||
| 696 | $(6) | Lopez,Nicky | 4 | KC | M | Rg | -P | e | |||||||||||
| 745 | $(7) | Guillorme,Luis | 4 | NYM | P | * | -P | EX | Rg | ||||||||||
| 748 | $(7) | Mendick,Danny | 4 | CHW | M | -P | EX | ||||||||||||
| 647 | $(6) | Long,Shed | 4 | SEA | M | Rg | -A | inj- | EX | ||||||||||
| 679 | $(6) | Diaz,Isan | 4 | MIA | M | * | -A | EX |
ASSETS: PT (Playing time), Pw (Power), Sp (Speed), Av (Batting Effectiveness), * (OBP help), Pk (Park help), Rg (Regression help). LIABILITIES: Sk (Skills risk), Inj (Injury), Ex (Inexperience), Nw (New team), Pk (Park hurt), Ag (Age decline), Rg (Regression hurt)
D.J. LeMahieu (pictured) and Jeff McNeil (A+) are Big Apple cohorts who will anchor your team’s batting average. Given that half of all the (A+) rated players are in the 2B pool, one here might be worth the investment.
Two other top second basemen are power/speed threats. Cavan Biggio (PW,s) and Brandon Lowe (PW,s) are both relatively light on experience (e). They are also eligible at multiple positions. As described above, the keystone is not awash with heavy BABS assets in 2021. Locking in one of these at 2B could yield an advantage.
Whit Merrifield (s,AV), Ketel Marte(s,AV) and Ozzie Albies (s,a) can also claim dual asset mixes that come with speed. Albies’ price is the highest (ADP 33/3rd round). Given his 2019 (SB,AV) and 2020 (p,s) finishes, it’s easy to see why. But BABS doesn’t employ recency bias like we mere sapiens do. Therefore, BABS isn’t spending her best bait trying to hook Albies. Cast a line for value play Ketel Marte at ADP 82.
Second base has some good players; BABS likes some of them just fine, though maybe not as much as the public. Which creates a conundrum. Do we defy BABS and select a player despite apparent deficiencies (relative to market value), or do we trust the process?
The process could net Mike Moustakas (PW,a), who is currently at ADP 123. BABS might say Mike’s assets deserve a better fate, and wouldn’t blink if you pushed him higher.
Jose Altuve (AV) is at his lowest ADP in forever, which could (given his propensity to outperform his assets) make him a buy. His 2020 was a season to forget (cue the choir), and his projected skills are more in line with his 2019 and earlier seasons. The truth is, BABS has consistently been lower on Altuve’s skill-set than has the drafting market. In 2021, BABS and the drafting public are more aligned than they have been in some time.
There are some BABSian late and end-gamers here. Atop the entire position list is the capricious Garret Hampson (S+). In a speed-starved environment, Hampson’s (ADP 267) lone extreme skill and promise of more playing time could push that ADP up. Similarly, Luis Arraez’ (A+) elite bat to ball asset could be worthy of a reserve spot at ADP 377. Jazz Chisholm (p,SB) and Nick Madrigal (s,AV) are dual asset mid-timers who could force (or luck) their way into additional plate appearances. At ADP 191, the Madrigal market is already onto this idea. Chisholm (ADP 464) will cost but a farthing to find out if his tools can outpace his inexperience.
Scott Kingery (p,s | ADP 314) comes with fewer liabilities than either Madrigal or Chisholm. Kolten Wong (s,a) has taken his talents to Milwaukee. The new home ballpark could finally push Wong’s latent talents to the fore. At pick 389, he appears to be a prime end game pick.
NOTES: The chart above may vary slightly from the latest database update which was run after this analysis was written. To engage with other readers on this topic, head over to the Reader Forums. If you have a question that would be best answered by one of our experts and benefit everyone, submit it on our Contact Page and put MAILBAG in the Subject Line.