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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:
Top 50 Starting Pitchers for 2014
Here is my updated 2014 Second Base rankings reflecting the Kinsler deal:
Rank |
Name |
Team |
1 |
Robinson Cano |
|
2 |
Jason Kipnis |
|
3 |
Ian Kinsler |
Tigers |
4 |
Dustin Pedroia |
Red Sox |
5 |
Aaron Hill |
|
6 |
Brandon Phillips |
|
7 |
Matt Carpenter |
|
8 |
Daniel Murphy |
|
9 |
Ben Zobrist |
|
10 |
Chase Utley |
|
11 |
Anthony Rendon |
|
12 |
Jurickson Profar |
Rangers |
13 |
Howie Kendrick |
|
14 |
Jedd Gyorko |
|
15 |
Brian Dozier |
|
16 |
Nick Franklin |
|
17 |
Jose Altuve |
|
18 |
Neil Walker |
|
19 |
Rickie Weeks |
|
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.
More from Fake Teams:
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- The Fantasy Top 5 for 2014: Anaheim Angels
- 2014 Minor League Keeper Thoughts: Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
- MLB Trade Rumors: Tigers deal Prince Fielder for Ian Kinsler
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