2008 Fantasy Baseball 2nd Basemen - Top 5

This years selection of quality second baseman are abundant. There are plenty players who are worth a good look and I think these guys should be a step above the rest. Only the first two will be taken high in drafts and I wouldn't waste a high pick on a second baseman anyway. This is one position where you can wait a little as others will do the same. If Chase or Brandon is hanging around in the 2nd or 3rd round, you might want to think about adding them! Other than that wait on your two bagger as you can always grab someone after you solidify your line-up. You will also see that I added in the runs category with the stats as well for the two baggers. This stat is more helpful with this position and was not needed for review with guys behind the dish and first baseman as they are obviously not guys you would rely upon for getting tons of runs plated.

2008 TOP 5 FANTASY 2ND BASEMAN

#1 - Chase Utley - 2007 Stats
530 AB's, .332 AVG, 176 Hits, 48 Doubles, 5 Triples, 22 HR's, 103 RBI's, 9 Stolen Bases, 104 Runs Scored & 50 Walks!

#2 - Brandon Phillips - 2007 Stats
650 AB's, .288 AVG, 187 Hits, 26 Doubles, 6 Triples, 30 HR's, 94 RBI's, 32 Stolen Bases, 107 Runs Scored & 33 Walks!

#3 - Robinson Cano - 2007 Stats
617 AB's, .306 AVG, 189 Hits, 41 Doubles, 7 Triples, 19 HR's, 97 RBI's, 4 Stolen Bases, 93 Runs Scored & 39 Walks!

#4 - B.J. Upton - 2007 Stats
474 AB's, .300 AVG, 142 Hits, 25 Doubles, 1 Triple, 24 HR's, 82 RBI's, 22 Stolen Bases, 86 Runs Scored & 65 Walks!

#5 - Dan Uggla - 2007 Stats
632 AB's, .245 AVG, 155 Hits, 49 Doubles, 3 Triples, 31 HR's, 88 RBI's, 2 Stolen Bases, 113 Runs Scored & 68 Walks.

2008's Top Sleeper
Howie Kendrick - 2007 Stats
338 AB's, .322 AVG, 109 Hits, 24 Doubles, 2 Triples, 5 HR's, 39 RBI's, 5 Stolen Bases, 55 Runs Scored & 9 Walks.

Just missed the Top 5
Placido Polanco - 2007 Stats
587 AB's, .341 AVG, 200 Hits, 36 Doubles, 3 Triples, 9 HR's, 67 RBI's, 7 Stolen Bases, 105 Runs Scored & 37 Walks!

2nd Basemen Notes:

Chase Utley - If it wasn't for that broken hand in late July of last year he would have had some monster stats to digest. He is the easy pick as #1 ranked second baseman and has hit 20+ HR's & tallied 100+ RBI's in each of the past three seasons. Last year he scored 104 runs and would of broken or tied his personal best of 131 if he wasn't put on the DL. He fits perfect in between last years MVP and the previous year's Ryan Howard. The top of the Phillies lineup is stacked and Utley will be the top two bagger for another season and many to come. He is so potent you might want to think about grabbing him in the late first round if some of the biggest bats have been gobbled up.

Brandon Phillips - There were two 30/30 guys in '07, Brandon and David Wright. Only two others even exist (Barry Larkin and AROD). His numbers were amazing and might be hard to reproduce. He is only 26 years young and should be able to put up another season of solid #'s and a hitter friendly home ballpark. He is ranked under Chase as he has only shown his skills for one full season. If he has another year like 2007, he will battle for the #1 ranked 2nd baseman in 2009.

Robinson Cano - Robinson (names after Jackie) was stopped early this year in winter ball so he can let his calf injury heal as he will be a big part of the Yankees line-up in 2008. He was sidelined for 6 weeks in '06 with a nagging Hamstring injury and the the last thing the Yankees want his him out of the starting crew. in three full seasons in the big show, he has averaged .314, 34 Doubles & 16 HR's. Cano is the only batter to be in the top 10 in doubles for both '06 & '07 in the American League. Being a member of the powerful Yankee line-up, he may very well establish himself as one of the best 2nd basemen in the game. A .300 average, 20 HR's and 100+ RBI's is not out of the question.

B.J. Upton - It has been reported that B.J. will start the season as the Rays (no longer the "DEVIL" Rays) center fielder. he will still be listed as a 2nd basemen in most formats and you should take advantage of your opposing GM's by stealing him in the draft. he was the 2nd overall pick in the 2002 draft and has potential of being another 30/30 guy. He has a tremendous amount of strikeouts, and also led MLB with average for balls put in play. This will probably dampen his average #'s a bit in 2008 but is very worthy of being the 3rd two bagger selected in this years draft. Upton was sidelined for a month last year with an injured quad and would have had even better #'s if he remained healthy. A great draft pick if you could let him slide to round 5 but most likely he will go ahead of that.

Dan Uggla - Dan has two solid seasons under his belt where he has made a name of himself in the bigs. His average has dropped from '06 to '07 but his power #'s have certainly increased. Uggla will never hit for great average but is definitely the most scary player for opposing pitchers to face on the Marlins. With the departure of Miguel Cabrera, he will need to try to fill those shoes and could have a little trouble in doing so. Last year he hit 2nd in the lineup and had a great protector in Cabrera behind him. He saw a lot more strikes than he will see this year as there isn't anyone in the lineup with the same ferociousness as Miguel. He should have two guys on the base paths in front of him as Hanley Ramirez and the newly acquired Cameron Maybin should spark up the paths. Dan is projected to be moved to the three spot in the line-up but that might change quickly if he can't start to elevate his average some. It is hard to completely predict his 2008 season due to Cabrera hitting the road, but he should be productive enough to hit 25+ HR's and be close to banging in 100 RBI's.

Placido Polanco - He doesn't Strike out very much, that is for sure. Last year he led all big leaguers with the lowest K Ratio, 5.1%. He has never tallied more than 43 K's in a season. he also doesn't walk much (High of 42 in 2003). What this should tell you is that he loves to put the ball in play to see what might happen. Last year he was able to get to the magic 200 hit # and most of those were singles. His power #'s are hard to find, he did have two seasons of 10 or more dingers but you would need to look back at the '03 & '04 season to find them (14 in '03 & 17 in '04). What I do like about Placido is his knack to get on base and over 9 years of player in the MLB he has averaged a .305 clip. He is good for around 180 hits a year and about 60 RBI's. 2007 was his best season of his career and the Tigers are going to be a complete force in 2008. Detroit will battle all big league clubs in offensive categories this year and if Polanco can get on base as much as he has in years past, he could score 125+ runs in '08. he is a safe bet for a second basemen and you can wait until deeper rounds to draft him. he will never make your eyes pop out with his numbers, but you will never have to worry about seeing goose eggs on his stat line.

Howie Kendrick - He would of been spotlighted a bit more in 2007 if he didn't break a finger twice during the season (2 DL trips). He takes after his powerful teammate Vladimir Guerrero as he likes to swing at almost anything. When he makes contact, which is most of the time, he really hits the cheese out of the ball. In 4 seasons in the minors he hit over .360 (.359 avg in 292 minor league plate appearances). In 2007, Howie had two different 10 game hitting streaks and showed some great aggressiveness at the plate. He will hit towards the bottom of the Angels lineup and will get plenty of nice pitches to hit in '08. Kendrick has mediocre power but is a guy who could start to put up great average numbers year in and year out. Angels Fans call him "HK-47" as he wears # 47 and really packs some explosive pop.