Fake Teams

With pitchers and catchers reporting as soon as this weekend, Ray, Robert and I will be taking a look at our position rankings again, and Marc will be releasing his tiered rankings as well. You can keep up with all of Fake Teams' ranks via our Google Docs spreadsheet:

Fake Teams 2012 Fantasy Baseball Ranks

These second base ranks are for a standard 5x5 mixed league. I've included 30 players, followed by a few brief explanations, especially where there are deviations from previously published ranks, which can be found here (mixed league) and here (league-specific). Ray produced his fantasy prospect rankings for 2B, which can be found here. Kevin has also published second base ranks for head-to-head points leagues, which may be found here.

2012 Mixed League 5x5 Second Base Rankings

1. Robinson Cano, NYY

2. Ian Kinsler, TEX

3. Dustin Pedroia, BOS

4. Dan Uggla, ATL

5. Chase Utley, PHI

6. Brandon Phillips, CIN

7. Ben Zobrist, TAM

8. Rickie Weeks, MIL

9. Howie Kendrick, LAA

10. Michael Cuddyer, COL (17 starts)

11. Michael Young, TEX (14 starts)

12. Dustin Ackley, SEA

13. Jason Kipnis, CLE

14. Jemile Weeks, OAK

15. Danny Espinosa, WAS

16. Aaron Hill, ARI

17. Kelly Johnson, TOR

18. Ryan Roberts, ARI

19. Jose Altuve, HOU

20. Neil Walker, PIT

21. Marco Scutaro, COL (will qualify during season)

22. Mike Aviles, BOS

23. Sean Rodriguez, TAM

24. Daniel Murphy, NYM (24 games, 19 starts)

25. Omar Infante, MIA

26. Ryan Raburn, DET

27. Gordon Beckham, CHW

28. Darwin Barney, CHC

29. Johnny Giavotella, KC

30. Mark Ellis, LAD

My thoughts on these updated rankings:

• I included Marco Scutaro in the rankings, as he'll be the starting 2B for the Rockies. I think he can provide some decent value as an MI, and the shortstop eligibility will be nice as well.
• I moved Ben Zobrist up, as I felt I had him a bit too low in my previous rankings. He's now ahead of Rickie Weeks, as he'll provide both power and speed, while Weeks isn't as likely to provide speed.
• Gordon Beckham is a lot higher in a lot of rankings, but I don't think he is going to improve further than he has last season.
• I moved Jose Altuve up substantially, as he's likely to provide a solid batting average, along with at least a bit of all the counting stats.
• I'm a big believer in Jemile Weeks, and I think he could provide a .300 batting average again to go with 35+ stolen bases and 80-85 runs scored in a full season.
• Espinosa seems likely to give 20 HR and 20 stolen bases this year, but with a bad batting average. As long as you pair him correctly with your team, he could be a really nice pickup as well.
• After the top 30 there remain a few players who are likely starters for their teams, but their value is really a push at this point.
• The biggest name player that is outside of the top 30 is Brian Roberts, but it remains to be seen whether or not he will be able to play a significant amount of time this season.