Top 20 Second Baseman for 2016: Veterans dominate

I published my early Top 20 Shortstop Rankings for 2016 yesterday, so today we move over to the keystone, second base. You can find my top 20 Third Base Rankings for 2016 here.

Before I started ranking them, I felt that the position would be weak, but that couldn't be further from the truth. The position is definitely deeper than I thought, especially when you consider that the former perennial #1 second baseman, Robinson Cano, is ranked fifth in my early rankings. Cano will be 33 to begin the 2016 season, and appears to be in the decline phase of his career. I don't want to think about how bad the back end of his contract will look like in a few seasons.

Leading my second base rankings for the second year in a row is Nationals second/third baseman Anthony Rendon. We learned over the weekend that Rendon will only play third base next season, but he will be eligible at second and third base. He was hurt for the majority of the season, but I am not going to ding him for that. I like Twins second baseman Brian Dozier quite a bit, but will stick with Rendon for now. But, I admit, I could easily switch these two later in the offseason.

I ranked Astros second baseman Jose Altuve at #3 ahead of Ian Kinsler mainly due to age. That may sound silly, but Altuve is younger and they are about the same player. Kinsler may score a few more runs and drive in more runs, but Altuve easily triples Kinsler's stolen base total.

Who predicted a 4 WAR season from Marlins second baseman Dee Gordon? I wonder if Dodgers President Andrew Friedman had one mulligan to reverse any trade from last offseason if he would reverse the Gordon deal? Gordon has almost doubled Howie Kendrick's WAR total this season.

I might be a little low on Rangers second baseman Rougned Odor. In just over 100 games, Odor has hit .270 with 14 home runs and 55 RBI, and he's not even 22 years of age yet. He will get strong consideration for a higher ranking later this offseason.

With the exception of Cubs second baseman Javier Baez and Cardinals second baseman Kolten Wong, my second baseman ranked 11-17 are seasoned veterans who are still productive, so you can probably wait to draft your second baseman till the later rounds of drafts next season.

Onto my early Top 20 Second Baseman for 2016:

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