Secondbasemen offer diverse skills, multiple positions

In our perpetual quest for speed, second base is the first place where we can take a serious look. Here, and at shortstop, you can really stock up. However, SS also has a bunch of power options, so if you are going to skim off the SBs, they may come a little cheaper here.

There are nine multi-asset mid/full-time players who include speed as part of their skill set. That is down slightly from 10 last year. However, there are another five who contribute speed alone. In all, there are 13 dual asset players going into 2019, which is down from 17 last year (though only 14 in 2017).

Here are the BABS ratings for the second-basemen who will potentially provide some positive value to your team:

ASSETS: PT (Playing time), Pw (Power), Sp (Speed), Av (Batting Effectiveness), * (OBP help), Pk (Park help), Rg (Regression help). LIABILITIES: Av (Batting Ineffectiveness), Inj (Injury), Ex (Inexperience), Nw (New team), Pk (Park hurt), Ag (Age decline), Rg (Regression hurt)

The top of the pyramid is uncharacteristically diverse, populated by 11 different asset groups with only one or two players each. That’s a lot of disparate skills. Typically, this would the territory of high-cost players, but there are quite a few good-skilled lesser-cost commodities here as well.

Jose Altuve and Whit Merrifield are the high-cost options, but Dee Gordon and Daniel Murphy have solid skill sets at lower costs. And don’t forget Kiki Hernandez, one of the rare triple-asset players, currently being drafted outside the top 300.

The pair of two-player asset groups offer some leverage opportunities. Travis Shaw (PW,a) is going at ADP 101 but you can wait three rounds and get Brian Dozier. Similarly, Ozzie Albies (SB,a – pictured) might be a slight overdraft at ADP 53, but you can get the same essential skills from Jeff McNeil 15 rounds later. Of course, McNeil is in a playing time crunch at the moment. But, if he does grab more PT and his ADP improves, that gap won’t likely close enough to make him much less of a bargain.

There are a few deeper groups as you go down the list, with more leverage opportunities. BABS sees a declining Robinson Cano in New York, reducing his rating to (AV). There are a trio of players who could be drafted later in the group. Jonathan Villar (SB) is the last player on the board under ADP 100, but there are two similarly-skilled 2Bmen at ADP 180 and 517. And the (a) group has lots of options, from Joe Wendle (ADP 206) to Devon Travis (618).

An intriguing option right now is new Marlin Neil Walker (p). His current 657 ADP will improve with the signing, but not likely enough to close the gap with group leader Rougned Odor (128) or perhaps even Jason Kipnis (372). Walker is eligible at three positions in most leagues.

That last point is important. There are more than 20 players on this list with multiple position eligibility. That has great value these days. So if you have the choice between DJ LeMahieu (F,AV) and Adam Frazier (M,AV), for instance, you might want to opt for Frazier if you can make up the potential AB shortfall elsewhere.

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