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TGIF: 2009 2B Rankings

Second base is arguably the shallowest of all the positions in fantasy baseball. The majority of these men will not be your source of power, but more likely your reservoir of average and decent speed. With so few elite names in this category, you may want to hold back on drafting one. According to my vast amount of wisdom, I can see only one 2B possibly going in the first round. Other than that, I advise you to wait until a “run” starts. Only question is: Who is going to start it?

The best 2B for the 2009 season…

1. Ian Kinsler, Texas Rangers
2. Chase Utley, Philadelphia Phillies
3. Dustin Pedroia, Boston Red Sox
4. Brian Roberts, Baltimore Orioles
5. Brandon Phillips, Cincinnati Reds
6. Dan Uggla, Florida Marlins
7. Chone Figgins, L.A. Angels
8. Alexei Ramirez, Chicago White Sox
9. Robinson Cano, New York Yankees
10. Howie Kendrick, L.A. Angels
11. Mike Aviles, Kansas City Royals
12. Jose Lopez, Seattle Mariners
13. Kelly Johnson, Atlanta Braves
14. Kazuo Matsui, Houston Astros
15. Mark DeRosa, Cleveland Indians
16. Placido Polanco, Detroit Tigers
17. Ian Stewart, Colorado Rockies
18. Orlando Hudson, L.A. Dodgers
19. Rickie Weeks, Milwaukee Brewers
20. Alexi Casilla, Minnesota Twins
21. Akinori Iwamura, Tampa Bay Rays
22. Felipe Lopez, Arizona Diamondbacks
23. Freddy Sanchez, Pittsburgh Pirates
24. Mark Ellis, Oakland A’s
25. Mike Fontenot, Chicago Cubs
26. Anderson Hernandez, Washington Nationals
27. Emmanuel Burriss/Kevin Frandsen, San Francisco Giants
28. Luis Castillo, New York Mets
29. Clint Barmes, Colorado Rockies
30. Jerry Hairston Jr., Cincinnati Reds

Who Do You Take First?

No “Hey, Don’t Forget About…” this week. Instead, we take a look at a risky draft day decision. Chase Utley has been the king of 2B for the past several seasons and this season he is slated to be #2 off the board behind Ian Kinsler. Honestly, it is a toss up to me.

Kinsler had a career season last year and that included the fact that it was cut short by injury. In 121 games he hit .319 with 18 HR, 71 RBI, 102 runs, and 26 SB. If only he had played every game. My problem with Kinsler is his durability. In his three full seasons, he has never played in more than 130 games. Is he really worth spending a first round pick on (where he is predicted to go) if you know he will get injured?

The reason Chase Utley suddenly dropped in the rankings was due to off-season hip surgery. However, all indications point to him being ready for opening day even though Philadelphia won’t set a date for his first spring training game. Utley is the ideal 2B. He has scored over 100 runs in three out of four seasons since 2005. Also in three of the last four seasons, he has 28+ HR and has 100+ RBI seasons in four straight years. The only blemish on his durability record was in 2007 when he missed 30 games while battling a broken hand, but that was due to getting hit by a pitch which was not Utley’s fault.

Frankly, if Utley is good to go for opening day, then he is above Ian Kinsler on the depth chart. As for now, Kinsler just barely gets the go-ahead…but not by much.

Tags: Alexei Ramirez, Brandon Phillips, Brian Roberts, Chase Utley, Chone Figgins, Dan Uggla, Dustin Pedroia, Fantasy, Howie Kendrick, Ian Kinsler, Robinson Cano, TGIF