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January 19, 2015 Fantasy Players to TargetSecond Basemen
Previous articles in this series: You know the drill by now. We suggest acquiring these five second basemen in your fantasy baseballing leagues this season. Howie Kendrick, Dodgers Now, I get it: there is sound logic behind taking high stolen base and home run players (because those numbers are better predictors of future success than runs and RBI), but while this logic continues to spread among fantasy baseballers, players like Kendrick are becoming underrated. By “players like Kendrick,” I mean players whose skills drive repeatable success in accumulating bases. hile Kendrick never became the batting champion many predicted when he broke into the league, his hit tool allows him to provide a .280-plus AVG and 120 to 160 combined runs and RBI. Additionally, Kendrick has provided 19-plus combined home runs and stolen bases each of the last six seasons (every season he received at least 400 plate appearances). All in all, by providing consistent fantasy production in a somewhat unusual way, Kendrick tends to be undervalued, especially because we are no longer dreaming on his upside. Combine this with Kendrick moving to a better park (at least for power) and I will be happy to take him this year. In case you have any additional doubts, I leave you with this plus-plus smile. —Jeff Quinton Rougned Odor, Rangers Odor is a very advanced player for his age as he’s still about two weeks away from his first legal drink. He made the jump to the majors after just 62 games above Single-A, all of which came at Double-A, where he ended 2013 and started 2014. Odor hit above .300 while also stealing 32 bases in 42 attempts between the two levels in 2013, but these skills failed to translate to the majors initially. Twenty-seven of those steals came at the High-A level, and he’s not exactly what you’d call a burner on the bases despite his seven triples in the majors last year. Odor stole just four bases in 11 attempts in the majors last year. He has decent speed and enough instincts to swipe double-digit bags in a full season of playing time, but his aggressiveness will also get him caught a handful of times. Odor carried value in AL-only leagues thanks in large part to his sneaky power (nine home runs, 48 RBI, 30 XBH, .142 ISO), but the key to him becoming a legitimate mixed league target will be his AVG. He posted a .259/.297/.402 triple slash line in the majors last year, but he’s hit for a better AVG in the minors and reports on him from that time saw a potential .300 hitter. Odor has a high-contact profile (17 percent strikeout rate last year) and with time his pitch recognition skills should help improve his walk rate (four percent) giving him a higher AVG floor. He’s not quite there yet, though, and that makes him better suited for your middle-infield spot or as a starter in deeper formats. In keeper leagues, Odor makes for a good buy-low candidate as he’ll be a complete player once he improves his average. —Nick Shlain Martin Prado, Marlins Prado will retain his second-base eligibility once again this season, which adds to his value, making him a top-15 player in mixed leagues at both 2B and 3B. Following an offseason trade, Prado will now take his services to South Florida, where he will replace Casey McGehee as the Marlins’ starting third baseman. The move to Miami could possibly drop his value in the eyes of some, but I believe Prado could be in for a big season with the Marlins. Miami has been aggressive in the offseason, and they have built themselves a sneaky-good offensive roster. Along with the acquisition of Prado, the Marlins added Dee Gordon to hit leadoff and Michael Morse to hit cleanup and protect Stanton. With Yelich and Ozuna taking additional strides at the plate last year, this lineup will score its share of runs. Prado did struggle in the first half last season, but heated up after the break posting a .296/.321/.497 slash line and hitting eight of his 12 home runs on the year. Prado should have no lingering effects from his season-ending emergency appendectomy in September, and will be healthy to begin spring training. Prado’s consistent production and positional flexibility makes him a second baseman you will want to grab. —Keith Cromer Neil Walker, Pirates As Walker settles deeper and deeper into our fantasy consciousness, here are some interesting facts about him:
Right now, Walker is being selected as the 10th second baseman off the board in NFBC formats (which are 15-team mixed)—and despite the fact that I think even that's not high enough for him, this is more targeted at your home league. The two names directly in front of him on the board are Kolten Wong and Javier Baez—and while each is a better bet to finish in the top-five at the position than Walker, neither is as strong of a bet to finish in the top-10. I'd be shocked to see either come off the board behind Walker in any league this year. Not spending on the position will leave you in the weeds, trying to rely on a young risk with less upside like Jonathan Schoop, Nick Franklin or Marcus Semien. —Bret Sayre Kolten Wong, Cardinals It felt to me as though Wong improved as the year progressed, but the numbers don’t bear that out. The now-24-year-old hit .242/.299/.392 in 186 PA in the first half, then .255/.286/.384 in 216 PA in the second half. However, Wong dramatically improved his line-drive and fly-ball percentages while dropping his ground-ball and infield fly ball tendencies. While grounders aren’t the worst thing in the world for a plus runner, the jump in line-drive rate is a welcome sight. Keep in mind, Wong generally hit between .280-.300 in the minors leagues and profiles as a solid contact hitter. I’d be willing to bet that his second-half line-drive rate, coupled with a BABIP friendlier than the .275 mark the posted last year, leads to an MLB average of at least .270 in 2015. Even if I’m wrong, though, and Wong doesn’t see a big jump in AVG, extrapolating his counting stats out for 550-plus PA makes him a valuable asset. Wong hit 12 homers and stole 20 bases in 433 PA last year, meaning he could be a 15/25 candidate next year. That’s enough to push him into the top-15 range even without a jump in average, and if he does find a way to raise his average, too, we’re talking about a serious asset. Wong is a fairly well-known name because he was a significant prospect and plays for a high-profile team, but I’m still willing to bet he’s undervalued based on his uninspiring triple-slash output. In a 12-team league, though, I’d be cool rolling with Wong as my starting 2B, and he could make an exceptional MI in standard mixed leagues. —Ben Carsley
BP Fantasy Staff is an author of Baseball Prospectus. 12 comments have been left for this article.
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Kendrick on Dodgers?
...yes?
He was traded for Andrew Heaney this winter