Bryce Carlson (Brian Roberts) – In the fantasy baseball second base market, Brian Roberts is a performance enhancing choice… no pun intended.  First of all, Roberts is a workhorse.  He has averaged 157 games for the last three seasons.  You don’t need to worry about him straining his hamstring while stealing third followed later by a strained quad.  He is going to come to the ballpark every day and play.  Roberts also gives you solid offensive production in a lot of different categories which is key in fantasy baseball.  Roberts has an above average OBP which is the building block to almost every other offensive statistic.  Also, Roberts puts you in great position to own the SB category in your league which can be a tricky one.  Keep in mind that Roberts is a lead-off hitter, so he will not rack up a lot of home runs and does not have as many opportunities to drive in runs.  Still, Brian Roberts is a great option at second base.  Put him in your lineup everyday and leave him there.  He’s like the Showtime Rotisserie Oven… “Set it, and forget it!”

Jeff Walter (Brandon Phillips) – Once you get past Utley there are a number of solid options at second base. Who you should choose depends largely on need. You need someone to get on base while not contributing too many strikeouts? Pedroia is your guy. Do you have a need for speed? Roberts is your best bet. But if you’re looking for a second baseman that can help you in multiple categories and Utley is gone, your choice is between Phillips and Kinsler. When you look over the past few seasons their statistics are closer than you might expect. Both players can be counted on to hit around .275, knock 20 home runs, and swipe 20 bases. In fact each has a 30-30 season on their record (the only other second baseman with a 30-30 in the history of the sport is Alfonso Soriano). What separates the two? Kinsler will score more runs while Phillips will drive in more runs. Dusty Baker has already stated that he plans to bat Phillips clean-up (cozily between Joey Votto ahead of him and Scott Rolen and Jay Bruce behind), so expect the RBI opportunities to continue to be plentiful. Finally, if you, like me, have a hard time deciding between Phillips and Kinslers and your league has a defensive category, Phillips should be your guy. Phillips has consistently had a higher fielding percentage (and correspondingly fewer errors) than Kinsler over their careers. In fact, Phillips is good enough defensively to have won the 2008 NL Gold Glove.

Scott Oleniczak (Dustin Pedroia) – When drafting a fantasy second baseman, you want a consistent run scorer who excels in all the key offensive statistical categories, and for this reason you should draft 2008 AL MVP Dustin Pedroia.  Pedroia has averaged 106 runs and an astonishing .837 OPS over the last three seasons which ranks higher than Kinsler and Phillips.  While falling 1 run short of Roberts in his quest for a clean sweep over all three players in runs and .OPS category.   Even more impressive, Pedroia is averaging a minuscule 46 strikeouts over his last 3 seasons (Kinsler 76, Phillips 97, Roberts 105).  Pedroia is no slouch in the field averaging only 6 errors in a span of 3 seasons (Roberts 9, Phillips 8, Kinsler 15).  Pedroia falls slightly short in the HR and RBI category with a 3 years average of 13 homeruns and 68 RBI’s, however when  I’m building my fantasy team I’m getting my power surge from my corner infielders and outfielders.  In short, if you are looking for a second baseman that is well above average in all offensive categories and will help lead you to success in the all important strikeout and error categories, Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia is your guy.

Jason Oleniczak (Ian Kinsler) – Second base is the new shortstop.  Players like Kinsler, Pedroia, Phillips, Aaron Hill, and Robinson Cano are making second base what Nomar Garciaparra, Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, and Miguel Tejada, made shortstop in the late 90’s early.  No longer do you just look for second basemen that provide value in categories such as R, BA, OBP, and SB, but you can look for second basemen that provide pop.  Kinsler’s three-year SLG is .482, compared to .461 for Pedroia, .458 for Phillips, and .444 for Roberts.  From 1997 to 2009 he has averaged 23 HR and 100 RBI.  During that same time frame he averaged 27 SB and an OPS of .834 which barely ranks second to Pedroia’s .837. 2010 should be an interesting year in the maturation of Kinsler as he is expected to move from leadoff to 5th in the batting order.  Will there be a spike in his power numbers and a decline in stolen bases?  Possibly, but I would expect it to be fairly marginal on both sides.  Outside of Chase Utley, Kinsler is the cream of the crop at second base.  The added bonus with Kinsler is the borderline Steve Buechele power puff hair.  Lookin good Kinsler…lookin good.

9. Omar Vizquel – Vizquel finds his name on this list mostly due to his stellar defense. He was arguably the best defensive shortstop over the past decade as he added 4 Gold Gloves to his collection. For his career, he is an 11-time Gold Glove Award winner and is a true joy to watch play the infield. Offensively, Vizquel had a .270 AVG, .698 OPS, 644 Runs, and 151 SB for the decade. While not an offensive force, Vizquel does a great job of doing the little things that go unnoticed in the box score and his defense makes him a good choice for this list.

8. Edgar Renteria – For most of the decade, Renteria was one of the most consistent shortstops in the game. Renteria was a 4-time All Star this decade and also won back to back NL Gold Glove Awards in 2002 and 2003. Renteria enjoyed much of his success playing in the NL for the St. Louis Cardinals. For the decade, he had a .289 AVG, 109 HR, 688 RBI, .760 OPS, and 811 Runs. Renteria currently is reaching the end of the road in his career as an above average shortstop and is on the decline as far as performance goes.

7. Michael Young – Young started his career in 2000 as a second basemen for the Texas Rangers. He became the everyday shortstop for the team in 2004 before moving to third base last season. Young has been a consistent performer this decade as he has provided solid defense (2008 AL Gold Glove) along with above average hitting. For the decade, he had a .302 AVG, 137 HR, 720 RBI, and 819 Runs. Young’s most recognized feat this decade was getting the game-winning hit for the AL squad in the 2006 All Star Game in Pittsburgh, which led to him winning the MVP of the Midsummer Classic.

6. Hanley Ramirez – Hanley currently finds himself as one of the bright young stars of the game after only 4 seasons in the league. Over his brief career, Hanley has already had one 30 HR-30 SB seasons and is the first shortstop since 1960 to win an NL batting title, which came last season. He also was the 2006 NL Rookie of the Year for the Florida Marlins. For his career, he has a .316 AVG, 103 HR, 313 RBI, 470 Runs, and an impressive 164 SB. The future is bright for this kid as he expects to add a few more 30-30 seasons before his career is over.

5. Nomar Garciaparra – Over the first part of the decade, Nomar was one of the best shortstops in all of baseball. From 2000-2004, Nomar was a 3-time All Star and led the league with a .372 AVG in 2000, which was the highest AVG for any right handed hitter since Joe DiMaggio over 70 years ago. Since 2005, Nomar has seen his career filled with injuries except for the 2006 season where he was awarded the NL Comeback Player of the Year Award with the Los Angeles Dodgers. For the decade, Nomar had a .308 AVG, 133 HR, 596 RBI, and 580 Runs. When healthy, Nomar was one of the best shortstops in the game.

4. Alex Rodriguez – Despite playing most of the decade at third base, “ARod” finds his name on this list due to his impressive 4 year run at shortstop from 2000-2003. During his time at shortstop, “ARod” won 3 consecutive HR titles, 2 Gold Gloves, and the 2003 AL MVP Award. As a shortstop, he had a .304 AVG, 197 HR, 527 RBI, and 516 Runs. There is no question, “ARod” is one of the best hitters in the game and his 4 year run at shortstop this decade was extremely impressive, steroids or not.

3. Jimmy Rollins – Rollins truly didn’t become an elite shortstop until the second part of the decade. While always a solid performer, his career has taken off over the last three seasons. 2007 was Rollins best year of the decade as he won the NL MVP Award with a .296 AVG, 30 HR, 94 RBI, 41 SB, and an astounding 139 Runs. Also that year, Rollins won his first of 3 consecutive NL Gold Glove Awards. For the decade, Rollins had a .274 AVG, 146 HR, 621 RBI, 326 SB, and 945 Runs. He is currently one of the premier leadoff hitters in the game as he combines excellent speed with a rare form of power that is not commonly seen from that spot in the lineup. While I feel Rollins is an excellent player both offensively and defensively, it’s hard for me to see him ranked higher than ARod on this list.

2. Miguel Tejada – From 2000-2006, Tejada was one of the best in the game offensively as he put up some impressive numbers with the Oakland A’s and Baltimore Orioles. During those years, he averaged 29 HR, 116 RBI, and 102 Runs a year with only one season (2000) where he didn’t play in all 162 games. His best year was in 2002 when he was awarded the AL MVP with a  .308 AVG, 34 HR, 131 RBI, and 108 Runs. In 2004, Tejada led the AL with an impressive 150 RBI with the Orioles. He was a 6-time All Star this decade and was named the All-Star MVP in 2005. However, Tejada found his name linked to the highly publicized steroids controversy, which brought into question his use of the drug(s). Since 2006, Tejada has not hit more than 18 HR or driven in 100 runs in a season, which further shows the benefits steroids had on his production. Tejada would finish the decade with a .297 AVG, 251 HR, 1,046 RBI, and 960 Runs.

1. Derek Jeter – No one represents the Yankee tradition quite like Derek Jeter. The lifelong Yankee has been a consistent performer for the team since 1995 and is one of the most respected and well-liked players in all of baseball by both fans and fellow players. The man they call “Mr. November” has been a clutch performer throughout his career and added to that belief by winning the World Series MVP Award in 2000. For the decade, Jeter had a .317 AVG (tops among all shortstops), 161 HR, 727 RBI, 219 SB, and 1,088 Runs. He was also an 8-time All Star and was named the All-Star MVP back in 2000. Jeter also gets it done on the defensive side as his trademark jump throw and dive into the seats at Yankee Stadium are a few of the things that are associated with him. He won 3 consecutive AL Gold Glove Awards from 2004-2006 and remains one of the best in the game despite heading towards the end of his career. I can’t think of a better choice for this spot as he has become a model for the position and one that youngsters strive to be like.

This past decade has seen some pretty impressive players come from the shortstop position. The talent seen on this list is incredible and the position is anchored by players who possess speed, power, and great defense. The position should be in good hands for the next decade as Hanley Ramirez looks poised to take his name to the top.

Up Next: Top 9 Third Basemen of the Decade