I'm trying something new this week. With some owners now looking to build for next year, I'm publishing a very, very preliminary set of 2009 rankings for keeper leaguers. I'll be doing the usual position rankings and an overall top 100. These rankings are for 2009 only, so I'm not giving top prospects credit for what they might do in 2010 and beyond.
One note: I've fixed some, but there's still probably a few players here listed with their old teams. I was using my preseason spreadsheet for the new rankings.
Click to see other 2009 Rankings:
Relief Pitcher Rankings
Starting Pitcher Rankings
Outfielder Rankings
Catcher Rankings
First Basemen Rankings
Second Basemen Rankings
Shortstop Rankings
Third basemen Rankings
Top 100 Overall Rankings
Rank - Second Base - Team
1 - Chase Utley - Phillies
2 - Ian Kinsler - Rangers
3 - Robinson Cano - Yankees
4 - Brandon Phillips - Reds
5 - Howie Kendrick - Angels
6 - Brian Roberts - Orioles
7 - Dustin Pedroia - Red Sox
8 - Dan Uggla - Marlins
9 - Rickie Weeks - Brewers
10 - Placido Polanco - Tigers
11 - Alexei Ramirez - White Sox
12 - Orlando Hudson - Diamondbacks
13 - Kelly Johnson - Braves
14 - Jose Lopez - Mariners
15 - Mark DeRosa - Cubs
16 - Aaron Hill - Blue Jays
17 - Asdrubal Cabrera - Indians
18 - Freddy Sanchez - Pirates
19 - Mark Ellis - Athletics
20 - Akinori Iwamura - Rays
21 - Alexi Casilla - Twins
22 - Kazuo Matsui - Astros
23 - Emilio Bonifacio - Nationals
24 - Jeff Baker - Rockies
25 - Ray Durham - Giants
26 - Luis Castillo - Mets
27 - Felipe Lopez - Nationals
28 - Josh Barfield - Indians
29 - Eugenio Velez - Giants
30 - Jeff Kent - Dodgers
31 - Tadahito Iguchi - Padres
32 - Mark Grudzielanek - Royals
33 - Chris Coghlan - Marlins
34 - Juan Uribe - White Sox
35 - Chris Burke - Diamondbacks
36 - Tony Abreu - Dodgers
37 - Sean Rodriguez - Angels
38 - Ronnie Belliard - Nationals
39 - Matt Antonelli - Padres
40 - Chris Getz - White Sox
- Besides the disappearance of B.J. Upton, the top 10 is relatively unchanged from where it was at the beginning of this year. I did have Ian Kinsler, Robinson Cano and Brandon Phillips ranked in the opposite order this year. Alexei Ramirez is the only newcomer in the top dozen.
- Jeff Baker ascended to the 16th spot in the August rankings, but it's too early to pencil him in as a regular for 2009. While his power is legitimate, he has a 134/38 K/BB ratio in 487 at-bats as a major leaguer and he's not good enough defensively to be a long-term second baseman. Ideally, he'd enter next year as a bench player, albeit one with a significant role.
- My guess is that Jeff Kent will retire. If he comes back for another season, he'd probably be slotted into the 15-20 range.
