Welcome to the position tiered rankings for 2015. The tiers are broken out into five tiers with five being the highest and one being the lowest. Five star players are players that will be taken in the first couple of rounds or will go for $30-plus. Four star players will have $20-plus. Three stars $10-plus, two stars $5-plus and the one star are players you want to avoid or players to stash on your bench.
The statistics for each player are my semi-final projections. The projections are going to change going forward, but if you follow me on Twitter @MattCommins I will tweet out when my projections are updated and posted on MattCommins.com. If I was a reader I would focus on the tiering of players and the overall idea of the projections. For example, if I project a player for 28 home runs that means I think he’ll hit for a lot of power.
Links the other position previews:
What you will find below are the fantasy tiers for second basemen. This is becoming a younger position, which means there are a lot of players with upside. I wouldn’t be surprised if a player in the one star ends the year as a four star player. If you play with a middle infield slot you want to make sure you fill that spot with a second baseman because the shortstop position is very shallow. Unlike first base you do not necessarily need to draft one of the five elite players because there are many players who will either provide solid production and/or provide high upside.
Four Star
| Player | AB | AVG | HR | RBI | R | SB |
| Jose Altuve | 650 | .310 | 7 | 69 | 85 | 45 |
| Anthony Rendon | 580 | .285 | 23 | 90 | 100 | 15 |
| Jason Kipnis | 560 | .265 | 15 | 80 | 85 | 28 |
| Robinson Cano | 600 | .303 | 17 | 84 | 85 | 5 |
| Brian Dozier | 570 | .243 | 22 | 70 | 109 | 20 |
Four-Star Value Pick: Jason Kipnis
I love buying low on players who had a down season but has shown consistent performance before the down season. Therefore, you should not be surprised I’m buying Jason Kipnis. Anthony Rendon is getting a lot of hype and rightfully so, but Kipnis has similar upside and a longer track record.
Three Star
| Player | AB | AVG | HR | RBI | R | SB |
| Daniel Murphy | 610 | .289 | 13 | 68 | 89 | 13 |
| Dee Gordon | 590 | .269 | 1 | 30 | 87 | 49 |
| Kolten Wong | 570 | .272 | 15 | 60 | 69 | 21 |
| Ben Zobrist | 570 | .272 | 9 | 72 | 94 | 9 |
| Ian Kinsler | 640 | .255 | 13 | 70 | 91 | 13 |
| Dustin Pedroia | 585 | .280 | 9 | 66 | 78 | 11 |
Three-Star Value Pick: Kolten Wong
In a shortened season Kolten Wong, very quietly, hit 12 home runs and stole 20 bases. What’s even more impressive is he hit those 12 home runs after he called back up in the middle of May.
Two Star
| Player | AB | AVG | HR | RBI | R | SB |
| Martin Prado | 570 | .274 | 13 | 68 | 85 | 3 |
| Brett Lawrie | 490 | .256 | 18 | 75 | 75 | 5 |
| Howie Kendrick | 550 | .289 | 10 | 68 | 65 | 8 |
| Neil Walker | 480 | .272 | 17 | 70 | 70 | 2 |
| Chase Utley | 450 | .267 | 9 | 65 | 73 | 9 |
Two-Star Value Pick: Bret Lawrie
All Bret Lawrie needs to do is to stay healthy for 140-plus games. Moving away from artificial turf and a change scenery should increase the likelihood of him staying healthy. If he can stay healthy he could provide production in five categories. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s a 15/15 player.
One Star
| Player | AB | AVG | HR | RBI | R | SB |
| Scooter Gennett | 480 | .288 | 10 | 60 | 60 | 7 |
| Arismendy Alcantara | 550 | .235 | 14 | 50 | 55 | 25 |
| Rougned Odor | 500 | .264 | 13 | 60 | 60 | 5 |
| Asdrubal Cabrera | 500 | .250 | 14 | 60 | 60 | 9 |
| Jedd Gyorko | 470 | .250 | 15 | 66 | 62 | 2 |
| Javier Baez | 550 | .219 | 23 | 55 | 55 | 15 |
| Aaron Hill | 520 | .261 | 15 | 60 | 60 | 1 |
| Danny Espinosa | 450 | .220 | 15 | 60 | 60 | 15 |
One-Star Value Pick: Arismendy Alcantara
Arismendy Alcantara is not a lock to begin the year in the majors, but if he does, he is one of the rare players who could provide production in every category. If Alcantara isn’t on the major league roster then Aaron Hill would be my value pick. Hill’s seasons in the majors have been bi-polar but I wouldn’t be surprised if he hits 20-plus home runs.
