2025 Fantasy Baseball: Stud or sleeper at second base, a strategy guide for how to draft each position

How stale has this position gotten?

I said something similar about first base, that all the mainstays are getting older, but for how many years in a row now has the same trio of Jose Altuve, Ozzie Albies and Marcus Semien driven the conversation at second base? You get occasional pop-ins like Trea Turner that one time and Mookie Betts that other time, but it always comes back to those three. And after a year in which two of them failed to live up to expectations, you can hardly blame people for investing their dollars elsewhere.

But maybe the premise is faulty. After all, the consensus top second baseman heading into 2025 is someone else entirely: Ketel Marte, who also leads the position in OPS over the past four years. So where has he been all this time? Injured, partly, and also straining to regain our trust after notable misfires in 2020 and 2022. He has it for now, but he's also not exactly a breath of fresh air at age 31.

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OK, but isn't Betts still in the second base mix? And wasn't Matt McLain closing the gap on the elites before missing last season with a shoulder injury? Believe it or not, neither one has second base eligibility heading into 2025, and it's not clear how soon either will gain it. Betts is in line to play shortstop primarily, though that's not set in stone, and the Reds acquired Gavin Lux in the offseason, potentially signaling McLain's shift to the outfield. Both probably should be playing second base, but we have no assurances along those lines.

(We do, however, have assurances for Jazz Chisholm, another potential second base standout who currently isn't eligible at the position ... and who might just overtake Marte for the top spot when he is.)

Overall, second base is defined mostly by doubt, confusion and, yes, staleness. The ADP shows that people have checked out at the position, paying no mind to scarcity when deciding when to take the plunge. It would be one thing if there were a handful of surefire studs like we see at first base, but people don't trust that the old guys at second base are what they once were.

So even though second base is the weakest position (excluding catcher, which hardly counts as a position), it's not a particularly stressful one to draft. The prices for its best contributors are reasonable enough that I don't have to extend myself to get one.

The Studs

	2025 ADP	2024 PPG	2024 BA	2024 HR
Ketel Marte ARI 2B	24	3.68	.292	36
Jose Altuve HOU 2B	47	3.05	.295	20
Ozzie Albies ATL 2B	49	2.83	.251	10
Marcus Semien TEX 2B	67	2.87	.237	23
Jordan Westburg BAL 2B	86	2.89	.264	18

It's true that you can find reasons to doubt any of the top four listed here. Marte was amazing in every way, but the power output went beyond what we've seen from him before -- and now you're paying for it. Altuve was solid across the board, actually delivering his most stolen bases (22) since 2017, but his plate discipline has begun to slip a bit at an age (34) when decline is to be expected. Meanwhile, Albies and Semien just didn't seem like themselves.

But I'm fine with any of them. Maybe taking Marte at the Round 2-3 turn isn't entirely foolproof, but the potential advantage he offers is perhaps the most significant at any position. The markup from a year ago is big and, from two years ago, outrageous, but I think such disparity is more a consequence of him being underrated previously than overrated now. Altuve is getting older, sure, but to whatever degree he may be declining, it's subtle and appears to be priced in. Albies and Semien are the more concerning cases but also the bigger discounts (Semien especially), and I do think a bounce-back is the likeliest scenario for both.

Perhaps my favorite to draft of this group, though, is Jordan Westburg -- so much, in fact, that I'm already including him with the studs. Prorate last year's numbers over 150 games, and he ends up with 25 homers and 88 RBI, both of which would have ranked second at the position, and I think even bigger things are in store this year with the Orioles moving in their disastrously deep left field fence. I consider Westburg to be my favorite breakout candidate, regardless of position, but enough others are buying in that I can't trust he'll still be there if I wait for him in drafts. I'm not intentionally passing up the top four for him, in other words.

Other Deserving Starters

	2025 ADP	2024 PPG	2024 BA	2024 HR
Brice Turang MIL 2B	119	2.69	.254	7
Luis Garcia WAS 2B	128	2.66	.282	18
Nico Hoerner CHC 2B	137	2.85	.273	7
Xander Bogaerts SD SS	153	2.43	.264	11
Bryson Stott PHI 2B	157	2.52	.245	11
Andres Gimenez TOR 2B	180	2.45	.252	9
Luis Arraez SD 2B	182	2.74	.314	4
Gleyber Torres DET 2B	189	2.40	.257	15
Luis Rengifo LAA 2B	213	2.92	.300	6
Jonathan India KC 2B	227	2.70	.248	15

Some lower-end choices: Jake Cronenworth, Brendan Donovan, Willi Castro

I almost never draft from this group because I find the studs to be so attainable, but if I were to select one, it would be to meet a specific need. If that need is speed, all the better, because there's no shortage of stolen base standouts here. The most obvious is Brice Turang, who swiped 50 bags last year, though I'll confess he's a bust pick for me after the way his batting average tanked in the second half. More likely, I'll wait a few more rounds to take one of Bryson Stott and Andres Gimenez, both of whom are probable bets for 30-plus steals with a dozen or so homers. They aren't high-impact players, but they clearly add something to a Rotisserie build. And I think that's partly why the studs at this position are relatively low cost even though the overall talent is lacking. Roto drafters are earmarking second base for an easy infusion of speed mid-draft and don't care to bother with anything that comes before.

But what if you're looking for a more rounded player here? Well, Luis Garcia just introduced himself as a power/speed threat with a solid foundation for batting average, though his platoon concerns threaten to drag him down. I actually feel like Xander Bogaerts will more reliably deliver the same sort of numbers and is being undervalued following an injury-plagued year. He would also be a preferred choice in points leagues over players like Stott and Gimenez.

Anyone else for points leagues? Jonathan India may be the second baseman who gains the most in that scoring format relative to Roto given that he walks at a higher-than-average clip and could be a doubles machine in his new home park. Don't sleep on Nico Hoerner either. His ADP here is a little high for my liking, but he's going as late as 180 on some platforms due to his murky (but nonetheless promising) timeline following elbow flexor surgery. He does a lot of the little things that are rewarded in points leagues and is also a standout base-stealer for Roto.

The Sleepers

	2025 ADP	2024 PPG	2024 BA	2024 OPS
Jackson Holliday BAL SS	187	1.68	.190	.565
Brandon Lowe TB 2B	206	2.68	.244	.783
Zack Gelof ATH 2B	223	2.06	.211	.632
Colt Keith DET 3B	251	2.07	.260	.689
Christopher Morel TB DH	265	1.98	.196	.634
Kristian Campbell BOS 2B	298	-----	.330*	.997*
Nolan Gorman STL 2B	310	1.95	.203	.671
Thairo Estrada COL 2B	320	2.02	.217	.590
Caleb Durbin MIL 2B	335	-----	.275*	.839*
Spencer Horwitz PIT 1B	352	2.50	.265	.790
Nick Yorke PIT 2B	558	2.27	.303*	.834*

*minor-league stats

The two who immediately jump out here are Jackson Holliday, the consensus No. 1 overall prospect a year ago who struggled with repeated chances in the majors, and Kristian Campbell, a consensus top-five prospect this year who has a real chance of winning the job this spring. Holliday is going about 100 picks earlier right now, but Campbell could close the gap as the buzz begins to build in Red Sox camp. Presuming they have an equal shot of being on the big-league roster, I may slightly prefer Campbell just because he hasn't failed me yet, but Holliday only turned 21 in the offseason and may be better positioned to succeed now that he's gotten his looks and taken his lumps. Either one is a blind faith sort of pick built more on hope than clear-eyed projection, but they make for worth gambles in leagues where you can afford to throw away a top-200 pick (i.e., shallower ones).

My favorite pick from this range, though, is Brandon Lowe, who I regard as one of my top sleepers for this year. While the previous group, the other deserving starters, featured a multitude of stolen base specialists as well as a batting average specialist (looking at you, Luis Arraez), Lowe represents the position's best opportunity to make up ground in the home run category. His 21 home runs last year were the third-most at the position, and he reached that number in just 107 games. He gets a bad rap both for injuries and occasionally falling victim to the Rays' usual lineup shenanigans, but there's no doubting what he brings to the table when healthy. One of these years, he might just stay in the lineup and perform like a top-five second baseman.

Another preferred sleeper of mine is Thairo Estrada, who spent all of last year hampered by a wrist injury but could bounce back with numbers on the level of Bryson Stott and Andres Gimenez for a fraction of the cost. He likely has more batting average potential, too, now that he's playing half his games at Coors Field.

The Base-Stealers

	2025 ADP	2024 SB	2025 hope	Also eligible
Jose Altuve HOU 2B	47	22	20-25	-----
Brice Turang MIL 2B	119	50	40-50	-----
Luis Garcia WAS 2B	128	22	20-25	-----
Nico Hoerner CHC 2B	137	31	30-40	-----
Bryson Stott PHI 2B	157	32	25-30	-----
Andres Gimenez TOR 2B	180	30	25-30	-----
Maikel Garcia KC 3B	184	37	30-40	3B
Luis Rengifo LAA 2B	213	24	25-30	3B
Zack Gelof ATH 2B	223	25	25-30	-----
Willi Castro MIN LF	245	14	20-25	3B, SS, OF
Hye Seong Kim LAD 2B	311	-----	25-30	-----
Dylan Moore SEA LF	312	32	25-30	3B, SS, OF
Thairo Estrada COL 2B	320	2	20-25	-----
Caleb Durbin MIL 2B	335	31*	25-30	-----
Jose Caballero TB 2B	348	44	30-40	3B, SS
David Hamilton BOS SS	419	33	30-40	SS
Otto Lopez MIA SS	423	20	20-25	-----

Second basemen have a higher stolen base threshold to meet than catchers or first basemen, and accordingly, I've only listed the players who I expect to swipe 20 bags or more. Sure, you might get 10-15 from Albies, Semien or  Bogaerts, but that's sort of the baseline expectation for a second baseman in a time of stolen base surplus. Highlight too many players, and you've effectively highlighted none.

Even raising the threshold, you can see how long this list is. Clearly, second base is a position where you can look to make up ground in the category, namely with mid-round selections like Turang, Hoerner, Stott and Gimenez. Others like Luis Rengifo and Willi Castro don't have as much of a track record as base-stealers but have contributed a significant total at some point in the recent past. (Rengifo's 24 last year seem even more significant when you consider that they came in just 78 games). Maikel Garcia, Dylan Moore, Jose Caballero, David Hamilton and Otto Lopez aren't likely to help much outside of stolen bases -- and I suspect that new Dodgers second baseman Hye Seong Kim is of a similar vein -- but their impact in that one category could be considerable if you find yourself chasing it late.