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USATSI

If you play the position scarcity game when drafting, you're probably going to want to make second base an early priority in 2026. Some of the stalwarts at the position, like Ozzie Albies and Marcus Semien, have taken what look like permanent steps back in recent years, while the recent top prospects like Jackson Holliday and Matt McLain just haven't done enough to establish themselves as anything more than low-end starts – and that's being generous to McLain. 

And for 2026, we're losing some big names at the position. Maikel Garcia, Jordan Westburg, Luis Arraez, and Xander Bogaerts all lost second base eligibility for next season. Add it all up, and no matter who you like or dislike, there are going to be some pretty iffy second basemen being drafted as starters in 2026. 

I'd argue there aren't even really enough second basemen I feel good about starting for a 10-team league right now. So, if you aren't aggressive about someone like Jazz Chisholm or Ketel Marte, you're going to end up choosing from a bunch of imperfect options. There are some batting average specialists who won't do much else, and some steals specialists who will leave you lacking somewhere else – if you want power, this really isn't where you want to look, though there were five 2B with 25-plus homers this season, up from one in 2024. So, there's a silver lining to this dark cloud, I suppose. 

You can find Scott White's rankings for the position here and mine (along with every other position) here, and this is one spot where trades, free agency, and prospect promotions can really impact the rankings this offseason. So, let's continue our State of the Position series with the weakest out there heading into 2026: 

2025 Second Base Review

  1. Brice Turang, MIL: .288 - 97 - 18 - 81 - 24
  2. Jazz Chisholm, NYY: .242 - 75 - 31 - 80 - 31
  3. Maikel Garcia, KC: .286 - 81 - 16 - 74 - 23
  4. Nico Hoerner, CHC: .297 - 89 - 7 - 61 - 29
  5. Ketel Marte, ARI: .283 - 87 - 28 - 72 - 4
  6. Jose Altuve, HOU: .265 - 80 - 26 - 77 - 10
  7. Brandon Lowe, TB: .256 - 79 - 31 - 83 - 3
  8. Ceddanne Rafaela, BOS: .249 - 84 - 16 - 63 - 20
  9. Jorge Polanco, SEA: .265 - 64 - 26 - 78 - 6
  10. Bryson Stott, PHI: .257 - 66 - 13 - 66 - 24
  11. Xavier Edwards, MIA: .283 - 75 - 3 - 43 - 27
  12. Jose Caballero, NYY: .236 - 52 - 5 - 36 - 49

You can see the tradeoffs you have to make at second base. You can find batting average and stolen bases, but it'll come with a big hit in power; if you want power, you're probably taking a hit in batting average. No player at second base provided positive value in batting average, steals, and home runs this season – Marte, Altuve, and Polanco were actually the only ones who were break-even in batting average and homers, and the latter two very close to being negative contributors in average. Chisholm was the only positive contributor in both steals and power, which is why he's the clear top choice in the rankings for Roto leagues, at least. 

Biggest Breakout from 2025

Maikel Garcia, Royals*

Okay, here's the problem: Garcia is the clear choice for this position … except he isn't eligible for this position in 2026. But he isn't the clear choice for third base, where he will be eligible. He managed to actually improve his already very good plate discipline while improving his quality of contact in basically every way possible, making Garcia's breakout look legit. He'll be a top-10 third baseman for 2026 (and would be a top-five 2B if he qualified). 

But he doesn't, so let's spend some time talking about … 

Brice Turang, Brewers

Turang was a top-five second baseman in 2024, but nobody was really excited about him as much more than a stolen base specialist. As it turns out, we underestimated him. Turang came into the season with a plan to swing the bat harder, and while it didn't manifest in much production early on, he eventually locked in and became a much more dangerous hitter than ever before. His 10 homers in August look like an outlier when he didn't have more than two in any other month, but the underlying data suggests it was no fluke. His average exit velocity jumped from 87 mph to 91.1, and his max EV jumped by nearly the same margin. He sacrificed a bit of plate discipline, but still struck out at a more or less average rate, and he leaned into the increased power by hitting the ball in the air more often. 

The non-August power production does make it hard to see Turang as a 20-homer threat, but I think that's oversimplifying a bit. The takeaway shouldn't be that Turang is suddenly a big power threat. It's that, while he looked like a one-dimensional speed specialist in 2024 and nothing more, he now has multiple ways to contribute. He'll score a bunch of runs, he should be helpful in batting average, he should be a non-zero source of power, and he still has 30-plus steal upside. There aren't many players at this position with even the potential to contribute across all five categories, and Turang looks like he could be one. Skepticism is reasonable, but I'll still take him as the third.

Biggest Bust from 2025

Matt McLain, Reds

We've got options here, and if you wanted to make the case for Ozzie Albies, who was drafted about two rounds ahead of McLain on average, I won't argue with you too much.

Here's why McLain is my choice: His top-90 ADP just never made much sense to begin with. Albies has been an elite Fantasy option over the course of multiple seasons in the past, but McLain had a single 89-game stretch in 2023 to go on. And he was very good in that stretch, hitting .290/.357/.507 with 16 homers and 14 steals, the kind of legit five-category production you rarely find at the position. But he also suffered a season-ending oblique injury in August of that season that lingered up to the start of spring training in 2024, and then he underwent shoulder surgery and had a stress reaction in his rib that kept him out for all of the 2024 season, and it's like there was almost no injury discount for McLain in 2025 drafts.

If the injury risk was all that was there for McLain, maybe the price could be justified – though, typically, a player coming off multiple season-ending injuries would probably be pushed a lot lower than this. But there was obvious performance risk, too. His xBA was .256 in 2023, and his underlying plate discipline metrics showed an awful lot of swing and miss, which also showed up in his 28.5% strikeout rate. That's not such a bad thing if you hit the ball really hard a lot, but McLain didn't really show that skill either, ranking in the 59th percentile in hard-hit rate. Average-ish pop with big swing and miss is generally not a skill set we like to bet on, but McLain avoided scrutiny in those accounts based on a superficially impressive rookie season. 

I'm not writing him off entirely for 2026 and beyond, but he needs to hit the ground running in a big way early in the season to avoid losing playing time in a still-crowded Reds infield. At least he'll be a lot cheaper this time around. 

Biggest rankings movers from 2025 to 2026

Up: Brice Turang, Brewers; Luke Keaschall, Twins; Nico Hoerner, Cubs; Brandon Lowe, Rays 

Keaschall is an interesting one. He played 162 games as a prospect, where he showed a bit of pop, a great approach at the plate, and a knack for making things happen on the bases. In 49 games at the MLB level this season, he showed those exact same skills. Which is a good reason to buy into him, even if the particulars (especially the .302 batting average) seem tough to replicate. Something like a .275 average, 15 homers, and 40-ish steals seems reasonable enough, and that could come along with really solid run numbers, even in a Twins lineup with a lot of holes. I think you can make a case for him as early as the No. 5 second baseman. 

Hoerner has basically had the same season three years in a row. The reason he is moving up in the rankings for 2026 is because his 2025 price was depressed. After all, he wasn't ready for the start of the season after undergoing offseason elbow surgery. He ended up missing just the first series of the season and showed few lingering effects from the surgery. It worked out in this case, but we can all remember situations where players struggled while coming back from serious injuries, so I don't think the lesson here should be, "Just ignore similar situations in the future." 

Lowe is one to watch this offseason. He has one year left on a team option for $11.5 million for 2026, and while I don't think there's any risk of the Rays turning that option down, I do think there's real risk that he'll be moved once they do pick up the option. Lowe basically had the same season he's been having for the past three, but he managed to stay healthy enough to put up a position-best 31 homers. He benefited from playing at Steinbrenner Field with its short porch in right field, which probably helped him to a few extra homers. The Rays are planning to return to Tropicana Field, a much tougher offensive environment, in 2026, but that may not matter for Lowe if he is moved. His value will swing a little bit depending on where he lands, but Lowe remains a strong bet for power at a position where that is exceedingly hard to find. 

Down: Ozzie Albies, Braves; Marcus Semien, Rangers; Luis Garcia, Nationals

Albies was starting to look and feel like himself in the second half, after apparently dealing with the lingering effects of a fractured wrist suffered in July of 2024. He hit nine of his 16 homers in the second half and started to show signs of being the power hitter he used to be from the right side of the plate, which is always a big deal for him. And then he suffered a fractured hamate bone in his left hand in late September, an injury that will likely require surgery. Does that mean he can't get back to being a useful Fantasy option in 2026? Certainly not. But where I was more or less willing to give him a mulligan for 2025 before the injury, now I think you have to discount him after another injury to that left hand/wrist area. 

I think we're just done expecting Semien to turn the clock back. There was a stretch early in the summer where it looked like he was figuring it out again, but he put up a sub-.700 OPS between July and August before his season came to an end with a foot injury. He hasn't had an OPS above .700 in a season since 2023, and while he can still provide decent power and speed production as a middle infielder, it comes with a bad batting average and increasingly middling counting stats. 

Garcia is going to fall in the rankings after failing to build on his breakout season, but he's still a name to know for your MI spot. The everyday role we were hoping for never materialized, but he continues to show very strong skills as the big side of a platoon, putting up a .291 expected batting average and .481 expected slugging percentage this season. His actual numbers trailed that, and he took a step back as a base stealer, but there's still room for Garcia to be a solid power/speed option who helps you in batting average, and that's a useful MI, if not necessarily a great starting option at 2B, given how much he sits. 

Offseason preview

Who needs an upgrade most? 

Some of these are contingent – the Tigers could obviously opt to re-sign Gleyber Torres, and if not, top prospect Kevin McGonigle could step into the lineup at either middle infield spot (more on him later). The Red Sox still have Kristian Campbell as a potential long-term answer at second base, too, while the Padres could stick with Jake Cronenworth at second if they think first base is an easier spot to find an upgrade. 

The Giants, Pirates, and Royals especially stand out as teams that could and maybe should be aggressive, though with Jonathan India and Casey Schmitt around, it's not a huge need for the Royals and Giants if they want to identify other spots for upgrades. The Pirates also have some vaguely interesting-ish options like Nick Gonzalez or Nick Yorke, though neither should serve as an impediment to finding an upgrade for a team that probably needs upgrades everywhere on the diamond. 

Top impending free agents

  • Gleyber Torres
  • Jorge Polanco*
  • Luis Arraez

*$8 million player option

It's not a great crop on the market! Torres settled for a one-year prove-it deal with the Tigers and then proceeded to kind of prove it, mostly thanks to his highest walk rate since the shortened 2020 season. He'll likely sign a long-term deal this offseason, though it won't be for the kind of superstar money he once looked destined for. He's a solid starter, but not much more than that – in either Fantasy or real life. 

Polanco had a nice bounce-back season, though he's probably stretched as an everyday player in the field and is best deployed as a primary DH moving forward. Given how hard it is to find guys who can thrive in Seattle, the Mariners probably need to just bring him back. 

Arraez … might have to settle for a surprisingly cheap one-year deal at this point. The majors' premiere contact hitter found the limits of his approach this season, hitting .292 but with his worst overall offensive impact since 2021. He's a one-trick pony, a useful source of batting average if your Roto team needs it, but he's just too much of a zero everywhere else to be more than a specialist, no matter where he lands this offseason. And I get the feeling he might find the market for his services colder than expected. 

Trade candidates

Lowe is too expensive for the Rays, Gorman has never found the ability to hit for contact, and Stott has never quite convinced the Phillies to trust him as an everyday player. Stott's status is further in question thanks to top prospect Aidan Miller, a shortstop who could figure into the team's second base plans if they opt to keep Trea Turner at shortstop in the near term. Miller has only played eight games at Triple-A, but if they are confident in him making the leap, Stott could be one way for a very expensive roster to keep prices down as he heads into his second arbitration season. 

Top 2026 rookies to know

McGonigle and Wetherholt are shortstops in your program, but they may be more likely to wind up at second base in the long run. McGonigle is arguably the top hitting prospect in baseball, coming off a season where he reached Double-A as a 20-year-old and hit .305/.408/.583 across three levels in his first full season as a pro. He doesn't necessarily have the huge physical tools, but every part of his game is optimized to get the most out of what he has, and he'll be up early in the 2026 season if he doesn't make the Opening Day roster. 

Wetherholt might actually be the better defender at shortstop, but he's not Masyn Winn, so he'll be sliding to either second or third base when he makes the majors. It was a little surprising that didn't happen in September after he hit .314/.416/.562 at Triple-A. The raw power is more frontier than the .249 ISO might make you think. He makes a lot of contact, hits the ball to the pull side, and has at least above-average athleticism. He might be more likely to end up at third base, assuming the Cardinals finally move on from Nolan Arenado this offseason, but he could fit in very well at second, too. 

There's a significant drop-off once you get to the guys who are actually second base eligible, and Bazanna is the most noteworthy here as the No. 1 pick in the 2024 draft. He hasn't torn through the minors quite like we hoped yet and has shown more swing-and-miss than expected as a pro. He could be a decent power/speed threat (nine homers, 12 steals in just 84 games this season), but he'll need to make contact more consistently to live up to his potential. He'll get the chance as soon as Spring Training.