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Early 2014 Second Base Rankings: The Ian Kinsler Effect

Ray publishes his updated 2014 fantasy second base rankings reflecting the impact of the Ian Kinsler to Detroit trade that was announced on Wednesday.

By Ray Guilfoyle
Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

If you haven't heard by now, the Texas Rangers opened up second base for prospect Jurickson Profar on Wednesday, as they traded second baseman Ian Kinsler to the Tigers for first baseman Prince Fielder and $30 million. I penned my initial thoughts on the trade in this piece, and today, I publish my updated second base rankings for 2014.

You can find all of my early 2014 position rankings in the links below:

Catcher

First Base

Second Base

Shortstop

Third Base

Outfielders 1 - 30

Early Top 50 Hitters for 2014

Top 50 Starting Pitchers for 2014

Here is my updated 2014 Second Base rankings reflecting the Kinsler deal:

Rank

Name

Team

1

Robinson Cano

Yankees

2

Jason Kipnis

Indians

3

Ian Kinsler

Tigers

4

Dustin Pedroia

Red Sox

5

Aaron Hill

Diamondbacks

6

Brandon Phillips

Reds

7

Matt Carpenter

Cardinals

8

Daniel Murphy

Mets

9

Ben Zobrist

Rays

10

Chase Utley

Phillies

11

Anthony Rendon

Nationals

12

Jurickson Profar

Rangers

13

Howie Kendrick

Angels

14

Jedd Gyorko

Padres

15

Brian Dozier

Twins

16

Nick Franklin

Mariners

17

Jose Altuve

Astros

18

Neil Walker

Pirates

19

Rickie Weeks

Brewers

20

Omar Infante

Tigers

I bumped Kinsler up from the sixth spot in my rankings up to the third spot, just ahead of Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia. I think Kinsler's fantasy value increases as he is moving to a better lineup in Detroit and will be hitting in front of the best hitter in baseball, Miguel Cabrera. I see Kinsler's run scoring and RBI totals increasing as a result of the deal.

Another player benefitting from this deal is the previously mentioned Jurickson Profar, whose fantasy value skyrockets resulting from this deal, as he will now be the Rangers starting second baseman and possible leadoff hitter. I cringe thinking back to last July-August when I traded Profar in my AL only keeper league for Glen Perkins, after Mariners closer Tom Wilhelmsen lost his job in Seattle. Ugh.

Well, I knew this day was coming at some point.

Anyway, Profar moves from 18th in my rankings all the way up to #12 behind Nationals second baseman Anthony Rendon.

I also dropped Cardinals second baseman Matt Carpenter to the #7 spot in my rankings as I just don't see him duplicating the 126 runs he scored in 2013. The Cardinals lineup hit well over .300 with runners in scoring position, and one would be foolish to think that will happen again, thus impacting Carpenter's run totals.

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