2016 AL East Rankings by Position: Second Base

As we continue on with our annual pre-Spring Training AL East Rankings, we now land at the position of second base.

And boy, is it going to be tough to call.

Before we get into it, just a reminder:

• I love being able to discuss these rankings. I don’t claim to know everything about the AL East, but I tried to be as impartial as possible. If you disagree, let me have it!
• We are primarily focusing on the player projected to start at the position, but if it is close, the backup will be looked at.

Last year, I previewed by projecting the following rankings: 1 – Boston, 2 – Baltimore, 3 – New York, 4 – Toronto, 5 – Tampa Bay.

However, only the top two saw the projected starter as the actual person who started the most games at that position, and even those players missed significant time.

The end of the year rankings were much different: 1 – Boston, 2 – Tampa Bay, 3 – Toronto, 4 – Baltimore, 5 – New York.

Brock Holt filled in when Dustin Pedroia was hurt, and was fantastic. Devon Travis had a breakout year for the Jays before being injured (and will miss part of 2015 as well). Logan Forsythe had a breakout year in Tampa, and Jonathan Schoop was very good, but his backups were not.

2016 RANKINGS

1. Boston Red Sox – Dustin Pedroia, Brock Holt, Deven Marrero

Dustin Pedroia’s hard-nosed play has put a lot of wear and tear on his 32-year-old body. In 2015, Pedroia missed significant time for the first time since 2010. His numbers were still quite good, however. Pedroia hit .291/.356/.441, which is actually below his career average. Pedroia added 12 HRs, 19 2Bs, 42 RBIs, and 46 runs. Pedroia is a player who is always getting on base and is a very patient hitter who does not strike out a lot. He also is an excellent defender. The only question for the Red Sox will be his health in 2016.

The plus is that if he gets injured, super-sub Brock Holt can fill in in a pinc. I discussed Holt a lot when talking about first base, mentioning how the Red Sox would be better off with him as the starter over Hanley Ramirez. Holt does a little bit of everything for the Red Sox and can play all over the field. Missing Pedroia would be a loss for the Red Sox, but having a backup like Holt gives them the best utility player in the American League. He is the reason that the Red Sox are number one on this list, because his ability is much better than that of the backup for the second team in the rankings.

Next: A new face in the AL East...