Kind of surprising Phillips is #1, but there’s less competition here than there was a few years back. He’s pretty capable at almost everything – power, hits for average, steals some bases, great defensively. The only place he’s a little short is taking a base on balls, which is somewhat exacerbated by the fact that the Reds often bat him first since they have no one better to lead off. He’s signed a deal that will bring him back for 2012.
2. Atlanta – Dan Uggla (.233 AVG / .453 SLG / .311 OBP / .764 OPS / .294 SEC)
Uggla takes walks and has great power – his 36 home runs led the team – but he didn’t hit for a great average last year despite a 33-game hitting streak, and his defense is roughly average. Basically, he’s the anti-Phillips.
3. Pittsburgh – Neal Walker (.273 AVG / .408 SLG / .334 OBP / .742 OPS / .220 SEC)
Walker will do for the next couple of years. He has some pop – his 36 doubles were second among all second basemen to Phillips – and he’s above average around the second base bag. Again, Pittsburgh has a lot of worries, so they should try to keep Walker around for a few years and enjoy his peak seasons (he’s 26).
4. Arizona – Kelly Johnson / Aaron Hill (.233 AVG / .430 SLG / .310 OBP / .739 OPS / .300 SEC)
Johnson had a lot of power (18 homers) and took a few walks, but his .209 average put off the Diamondbacks. They sent him packing in August in favor of Hill, who put up a 30-homer season in 2009 with the Jays but had similar contact issues after that. Hill put up an .878 OPS in 144 plate appearances. The D-Backs declined his $8 million option, but may be looking to sign him at a lower price.
5. Washington – Danny Espinosa (.236 AVG / .414 SLG / .323 OBP / .737 OPS / .279 SEC)
2011 was Espinosa’s first full year in the bigs, and he wasn’t bad for much of it (in fact, he was on the All-Star team). But a big problem with making contact – 166 strikeouts – makes him an iffy proposition for the long haul.
6. Milwaukee – Rickie Weeks / Craig Counsell / Jerry Hairston, Jr. (.251 AVG / .401 SLG / .335 OBP / .735 OPS / .248 SEC)
Weeks’ .818 OPS was actually a bit better than Cincinnati’s Brandon Phillips (maybe they can meet for dinner sometime and grouse about St. Louis), but he also missed 44 games. Weeks has always been somewhat injury prone, and given Craig Counsell’s creeping up on 40 and hit .178 last year, he’s not a good long-term plan as the backup. Hairston primarily played third base during the playoffs, but played quite a bit at second during the regular season.
7. Philadelphia – Chase Utley / Wilson Valdez (.255 AVG / .390 SLG / .324 OBP / .715 OPS / .227 SEC)
Utley had an amazing run of five straight seasons with an OPS of .900 or higher between 2005 and 2009, but he’s missed over a hundred games with injuries over the last two seasons, and didn’t hit that well when he was active (.769 OPS). These aren’t good numbers for Phillie fans to hear, but Utley’s style of play (he once led the league in getting hit by pitches three straight seasons) is not going to be conducive to aging gracefully at the pivot. Valdez is a utility infielder/placeholder who was meant to bat a hundred times a year, not 300.
8. Florida – Omar Infante (.276 AVG / .382 SLG / .315 OBP / .696 OPS / .162 SEC)
Not surprisingly, Infante was nowhere near as productive as a regular with the Marlins as he was in a reserve role in Atlanta. Florida’s got a lot of holes to fill; Infante’s going to be with the team again next year, be it as a reserve or back at second.
9. New York Mets – Justin Turner / Ruben Tejada (.270 AVG / .347 SLG / .345 OBP / .6927 OPS / .173 SEC)
Since the Mets were paying Luis Castillo $6 million to stay away from Queens in 2011, they had to come up with a cheap second base solution. Turner and Tejada did the trick – I wouldn’t say they were all-stars, but they got by on low salaries. Turner’s got a little more power, Tejada takes a few more walks. I wouldn’t count on Turner being around for a long time – he’s got a utility infielder’s skills, but he doesn’t play shortstop. Tejada does, and may be used there next year if Jose Reyes isn’t resigned. Daniel Murphy also played at second quite a bit, but he really should stay away.
10. St. Louis – Skip Schumaker / Ryan Theriot / Nick Punto (.277 AVG / .357 SLG / .336 OBP / .6926 OPS / .157 SEC)
If Pujols isn’t resigned, the offensive output of the remaining three-quarters of the St. Louis infield will come under much closer scrutiny. Schumaker and Theriot are good fielders (Theriot can also play shortstop well), but they’re not productive at the plate. Punto was actually the best hitter of the trio (.809 OPS), but that may have been a fluke; he hasn’t hit like that in the past.
11. Los Angeles Dodgers – Jamey Carroll / Aaron Miles (.283 AVG / .347 SLG / .337 OBP / .683 OPS / .147 SEC)
The Dodgers trudged through the year with retreads Carroll and Miles at second (Carroll also played a lot of shortstop when Rafael Furcal was injured early in the year). The production wasn’t great, but was likely more than they should have expected. They will not stand pat for 2012; Carroll has already signed a two-year deal with the Twins, who apparently don’t have enough light-hitting utility infielders.
12. Chicago Cubs – Darwin Barney (.276 AVG / .353 SLG / .313 OBP / .666 OPS / .131 SEC)
If the Cubs are congratulating themselves on having Barney emerge at second, they shouldn’t be. He has almost no power and doesn’t take walks (just 20 unintentional walks in 570 place appearances). He’s an okay fielder, but not spectacular. Since his hitting profile at second is pretty much the same as Starlin Castro’s at short (minus about 20 walks, 30 hits, and 15 stolen bases), and Castro’s got better upside (he’s about five years younger), I don’t see Barney being long for the Cubs. It tells me something that the lower half of the second base rankings are made up of teams who used two or more players out of either necessity or ineffectiveness; the Cubs were the only team that didn’t.
13. Colorado – Mark Ellis / Jonathan Herrera / Chris Nelson (.256 AVG / .354 SLG / .306 OBP / .550 OPS / .173 SEC)
I’m not sure who was supposed to start at second at the beginning of the year for the Rockies, but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t any of these guys. Ellis has the best track record, and if his salary isn’t exorbitant he could be back next year.
14. Houston – Jose Altuve / Bill Hall / Jeff Keppinger / Angel Sanchez (.260 AVG / . 343 SLG / .300 OBP / .643 OPS / .143 SEC)
Yikes. Houston’s original plan was to start Bill Hall at second, based on his decent 2010 as a utility player for the Red Sox, but a .612 OPS put an end to that, and he was released in August. Altuve, Keppinger, and Hall combined for 17 walks in 531 plate appearances. No one really contributed much at the dish, aside from Keppinger, but he’s not around any longer.
15. San Francisco – Freddy Sanchez / Mike Fontenot / Jeff Keppinger / Emmanuel Burriss (.249 AVG / .344 SLG / .299 OBP / .642 OPS / .168 SEC)
And look how well getting traded turned out for Keppinger. Second is really Sanchez’s position, but he had a lot of injury problems last year. Fontenot really can’t hit lefties (although it doesn’t look like he hit anyone particularly well last year).
16. San Diego – Orlando Hudson / Alberto Gonzalez (.234 AVG / .326 SLG / .302 OBP / .627 OPS / .199 SEC)
Orlando Hudson officially took up residence in the Land of the Useless last year, and at age 34, he may not be able to leave. His OPS dropped under .700 for the first time in his career (although, oddly, he had a career-high 19 steals), he’s played more than 126 games only once in the last four years, and fielding has moved down into league average. Sadly, the Padres owe him $5.5 million next year and $2 million in a buyout in 2013 ($8 million if they actually decide to keep him). Gonzalez had a .539 OPS in 2011, moving his career OPS down to .598.
