We’ve already gone through the top 20 catchers and top 20 first basemen for fantasy baseball 2025. Today we’re dipping our big toe into the top 20 second basemen. Make sure you go feet first here as it is shallow and I don’t want you cracking your medulla oblongata all over the place. The good news is that this isn’t the worst situation, the bad news is that it’s not much better. To summarize this nonsense (rhyme points!), this final ranking from last year is from our Fantasy Baseball Player Rater with my comments. The Player Evaluator allows me to be impartial as I look at how I ranked them in preseason (or at least the appearance of impartiality). Anyway, here are the 20 best 2025 fantasy baseball second basemen and how they compare to where I originally ranked them:
1. Brice Take – I loved Turang coming into the year. Thought he was underrated, but if you say this year was predictable, you’re a big liar. He went from an outside prospect for 10 home runs and 60 steals to a 20/20 guy? Oh…[climbs to the top of the Empire State Building]…kay. I also think we should mention how terrible the second basemen were. They weren’t shallower than the catchers and the 3rd basemen are actually worse later (we’ll get there), but the 2nd basemen were by far the worst at the top of the position. When I was in high school, I dated a girl who walked in while I was watching Jeopardy! (not a nerd at all), and she said, “What is this? Geo party?” Yes, you pronounce it Geo-party. The battle for the top 2nd basemen was a game of Jeopardy! with three of my high school friends. Preseason Rank #7, 2025 Projections: 68/6/63/.256/42 in 531 ABs, Final Figures: 97/18/81/.288/24 in 584 ABs
2. Jazz Chisholm Jr. – In fairness to Jazz, he really was the best 2nd baseman. He simply missed because of counting statistics, because of his injury time. If you filled him in even remotely decently in your fantasy league, you ended up with the best 2nd baseman. You had my girlfriend in high school! This isn’t about the postseason, by the way, but Aaron Boone benching the Jazz for Amed Rosario against a southpaw was further proof of my theory that Boone can’t be fired by Cashman, because if Boone is, the eyes go to Cashman. Boone is the buffer. As for Jazz, 30/30 this year and I think he’s 40/40 capable. Preseason Rank #3 for 3rd Basemen, 2025 Projections: 87/29/90/.248/31 in 531 ABs, Final Figures: 75/31/80/.242/31 in 462 ABs
3. Michael Garcia – Prolly my best sleeper last year, which is not a good sign for last year’s sleepers, and even Maikel didn’t really do what I expected of him. This may be a form of confirmation more than anything, but it seems like “fast” guys stole fewer bags this year and “slow” guys stole more. However, Maikel generally succeeded, hitting the ball harder and increasing his fly balls, which fortunately worked for him. Overall, he hit the ball better, and more. Probably more of a 12-homer guy, but he’s still a 40-steal guy if he shows it. Preseason Rank #18, 2025 Projections: 71/6/64/.266/34 in 567 ABs, Final Figures: 81/16/74/.286/23 in 595
4. Kettle Marte – My statement “Jazz would have been the best second baseman if he had just stayed healthy” might lose in an arm-wrestling match to “Ketel would have been the best second baseman if he had just stayed healthy.” They are basically 1A/1B if both stay healthy. I’m still not entirely sure how Ketel went from a 30-homer guy to a 12-homer guy and back to a 30-homer guy, but he did. Rank #3 Preseason, 2025 Projections: 91/25/80/.272/7 in 519 ABs, Final Figures: 87/28/72/.283/4 in 480 ABs
5. Nico Hoerner – In a sea of unpredictability, Hoerner is the lighthouse that shows us the way. His projections and year-end figures? No surprises there! The only sad thing was that in the preseason Hoerner was ranked 11th overall at 2nd base, and somewhere along the way we lost six guys at sea. Watch out for the jetty! Watch out for the lighthouse! Crap, now I’m going to call Hoerner The Lighthouse and people in March will be like, “What is this fool talking about now?” Preseason Rank #11, 2025 Projections: 79/8/53/.277/34 in 579 ABs, Final Figures: 89/7/61/.297/29 in 599 ABs
6. Jose Altuve – The shortened 2020 season has wreaked havoc on some guys’ career numbers. Altuve has an outside chance of 3,000 hits, but that chance would be higher inside if 2020 lasted 162 games. No, I’m not just talking about a shortened season because it’s Altuve. Okay maybe. Rank #4 Preseason, 2025 Projections: 91/22/62/.278/17 in 593 ABs, Final Figures: 80/26/77/.265/10 in 588 ABs
7. Brandon Lowe – There was a point in June when Lowe was at the top of the 2nd base division, only to fade away in the 2nd half. First because of the power (one home run in July) and then the average (.226 in August and .217 in September). An interesting lesson is what I always say about placing shallower positions, because if you get lucky with the best guy at a position, why waste a top pick on a top guy? That is, if you could get lucky in Raleigh or Turang (or Lowe, Maikel, Hoerner, etc.), you put a top guy at a deep position (Pete Alonso) and skip a top guy at a shallower position (William Contreras last year). Doesn’t always work: pass on last year’s top catcher in the 3rd for a top outfielder (Jackson Merrill). Rank #25 Preseason, 2025 Projections: 60/24/66/.236/3 in 371 ABs, Final Figures: 79/31/83/.256/3 in 507 ABs
8. Jorge Polanco – You probably could have picked up Polanco in September. That doesn’t mean he was on the list from April to August. No, it was available all year round. That doesn’t mean he wasn’t solid all those months. There’s a certain condition that affects fantasy baseball players (<–my mother's term!) where they see a guy doing well, but assume it won't stay that way, so instead of picking him up until he's no longer good, they don't pick him up. Remind me of this if I rank Polanco way too low next year. Preseason Rank #49, 2025 Projections: 47/15/54/.228/3 in 447 ABs, Final Figures: 64/26/78/.265/6 in 471 ABs
9. Ceddanne Rafaela – His 2024 stats were 70/15/75/.246/19 in 544 ABs. Now look at his latest stats. He’s Khris Davis, but for every category. Rank #21 Preseason, 2025 Projections: 67/17/71/.241/24 in 520 ABs, Final Figures: 84/16/63/.249/20 in 546 ABs
10. Bryson Stott – He’s Maikel Garcia with ugly splits. Call him Maikel 2nd String Cheerleader. Rank #12 Preseason, 2025 Projections: 66/12/61/.271/33 in 512 ABs, Final Figures: 66/13/66/.257/24 in 499 ABs
11. Ozzie Albies – I felt like Albies was disappointed, then I saw he had over 600 ABs and I started cackling, and I’m still cackling, days later. My family tried to get me to eat, but they can’t while I’m cackling. And the fear of cackling more, the only statistic negatively affected by ABs? Average, which was .240. He was basically – well, call him Dylan 400-Moore-At-Bats. Rank #2 Preseason, 2025 Projections: 91/27/82/.267/15 in 571 ABs, Final Figures: 74/16/74/.240/14 in 603 ABs
12. Gleyber Torres – He’s the guy with the most 17 home runs you’ll ever meet, who never actually hit 17 home runs. But he hit 38 home runs in 2019, that’s so funny. That will never stop being funny. Preseason Rank #27, 2025 Projections: 76/17/58/.262/5 in 591 ABs, Final Figures: 79/16/74/.256/4 in 532 ABs
13. Otto Lopez – This guy reminds me of what I said above about how fast players didn’t steal and slow players did. I haven’t mentioned this yet either, so here goes: Turang and Jazz were one level, Maikel through Lowe, then JoPo and Ceddanne, Stott to Edwards, and finally everyone else. Lopez or Stott or Edwards? All somewhat the same difference. Preseason Rank #30, 2025 Projections: 61/10/51/.282/25 in 519 ABs, Final Figures: 66/15/77/.246/15 in 544 ABs
14. Luis Garcia Jr. – I can’t keep track of whether he Jr. used or not. He’s regressed this year in every way except I think emotionally when he plays the Jr. deleted. Or maybe let’s add a Jr. see growth? I don’t know, I’m not a junior and don’t have one. Garcia Maybe Jr. was a sleeper who slept well. He is the problem with a 20/20 man’s confidence. If they go 16/14 they become deadly boring. Rank #9 Preseason, 2025 Projections: 69/20/74/.279/26 in 505 ABs, Final Figures: 67/16/66/.252/14 in 488 ABs
15. Sosa Island – He has already passed him into the top 20 first basemen for 2025 fantasy baseball.
16. Luis Arraez – Pretty close to achieving his ranking, but I have to be honest (poor twist: “Why do I have to be honest?”) Arraez didn’t really do what I expected. His ability to make the most persistently terrible contacts ultimately came back to haunt him. “Boo!” That is that he is being chased (by fans). Rank #15 Preseason, 2025 Projections: 91/5/51/.322/10 in 617 ABs, Final Figures: 66/8/61/.292/11 in 620 ABs
17. Xavier Edwards – Okay, I have a broken record now, but he stole 31 bags in 265 ABs last year. Then 27 sacks in 561 ABs? WDF for the classic what da fuq? Preseason Rank #17 for Shortstops, 2025 Projections: 84/4/39/.286/36 in 546 ABs, Final Figures: 75/3/43/.283/27 in 561 ABs
18. Jackson vacation – There were times during the season where I started to look forward to the 2026 holiday, but barely making the top 20 for best 2nd basemen is like Hellmann touting himself as the 2nd best mayo. There is no third best mayonnaise. One good thing for the O’s this season is that they gave Holliday 586 ABs to see what he could do. Well, I guess ‘good’ is relative there. Preseason Rank #17, 2025 Projections: 63/15/67/.257/12 in 437 ABs, Final Figures: 70/17/55/.242/17 in 586 ABs
19. Xander Bogaerts – I don’t have much love for Bogaerts, but I’m going to say something nice and insulting to him among the top 10 2nd basemen: If Bogaerts had 550 ABs and had better stats, he’d be the 9th best 2nd baseman. Lowercase yay and uppercase WOOF. Preseason Rank #14, 2025 Projections: 71/16/64/.261/10 in 505 ABs, Final Figures: 63/11/53/.263/20 in 491 ABs
20. Ernie Clemens – Ernie Clement being one of the top 20 second basemen is more insult than I could ever inflict. You are all exalted! Preseason Rank #38 for Shortstops, 2025 Projections: 53/10/55/.272/10 in 441 ABs, Final Figures: 83/9/50/.277/6 in 545 ABs
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