Second Basemen and Shortstops are two of the most difficult positions to find great value in. They’re better than catchers in that they play almost every game and their knees actually function well enough to move them, often times with great speed. That being said, a middle infielder’s greatest assets are stolen bases and run generating ability.

Keep this in mind when drafting, it may just blow your mind: The average number of home runs hit by the Top 300 position players in the major leagues is 14. The average number of stolen bases by the same is 7. 132 of those 300 players hit 14 or more home runs, almost half of them. But, only 90 stole 7 or more bases. That’s less than a third. Only 27 players averaged 20 or more stolen bases over the last 3 seasons, 12 of those were middle infielders.

What does that mean? It means that stolen bases are the most undervalued category in fantasy baseball. When the Top 300 position players in fantasy baseball stole a total of 2256 bases, and the Top 10 base stealers stole 21% of those bases, sounds to me like grabbing a couple of speedsters real quick should be a pretty big priority.

Anyways, I didn’t mean to get on my stolen base soapbox again. Here’s some sleepers and busters:

Sleepers:

1. Jayson Nix – Colorado Rockies – If I offered you a kid playing in Colorado who could hit 16 home runs and steal 21 bases for you, is that something you’d be interested in? (Thanks, Bob Ryan!) Remember how I waved off that whole concept with Carlos Guillen as two average stat totals don’t make someone good? Well, that only applies to positions that aren’t directly next to second base. He’s currently slated to start at second for the Rocks, and despite never being in a Major League game before, he’s already a prime candidate for R.O.Y.

2. Yunel Escobar – Atlanta Braves – Is he a powerhouse? Nah. Is he a speedster? Not really. He’ll get you 10-12 HRs and 10-12 SBs this year. He’s currently slated to start at shortstop right now, but second base is a thin group, so cut me some slack. The guy qualifies at almost every position in the infield, which is a great asset to have come Mondays and Thursdays when most teams are taking on a day off.

3. Aaron Hill – Toronto Blue Jays – This guy SHOULDN’T be much of a sleeper, but the man who went 87/17/78/4/.291 last season somehow found himself the #14 over ranked second baseman. I’d understand if it looked flukey a la Carlos Pena, but the guy has only been in the league for 3 seasons and his stats have improved every season. What’s a guy gotta do to get some love around here?

Busters:

1. Brandon Phillips – Cincinnati Reds – I have never been a believer in Brandon Phillips. He was supposed to be something special early in his career, and he wasn’t. Then, he was supposed to be a huge bust, then suddenly he was good. Now, he’s supposed to be a top tier second baseman, and I just keep waiting for the punchline. Plus, Dusty Baker has a penchant for destroying young bright careers.

2. Howie Kendrick – Los Angeles Angels – For the past two years, this guy has popped up on sleeper lists everywhere. But, he can’t seem to stay healthy. Then, when he is, he’s just not panning out to be the next great thing. Factoring his past two seasons’ stats into a full 162 game season (P-SHAW!) only comes out with 70/7/53/7/.324 That’s not really what I would consider the #9 overall ranked second baseman.

3. Ian Kinsler – Texas Rangers – This second base Sleepers & Busters is tough. Either the players are good, you know they’re good, and they’ll continue to be good, or they suck, you know they suck, and you’d never draft them anyway. So, I’m going out on a limb to say that Ian Kinsler can’t do in 2008 what he did in 2007 to warrant the ranking of 6th best second baseman. What’s my basis? Man, have you checked out the Rangers’ lineup? Man, it turns out that Robin Ventura was the cousin of God, and here’s Nolan Ryan’s karmic payback… Good luck with all that.

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