If you step back and think about it, the proliferation of powerful, fast middle infielders is a modern miracle for baseball fans.
When I was a kid, we had Robin Yount and a fading Joe Morgan, but almost all of the dynamic power/speed combinations played outfield. Now, Brandon Phillips has a 30-30 season at second base, and we shrug, because Jimmy Rollins and Hanley Ramirez are posting even more impressive seasons in the same league.
It's kind of cool ... just saying. Let that be a preamble to my musings about fantasy infielders who should be targeted and avoided this spring.
Second base
Though rarely rich in elite offensive talent, the position is deep enough that every team in your average mixed league should be able to snag a quality player. Some readers have asked this spring whether Chase Utley is worth a first-round pick or a big-time auction bid. I say yes because he's not only the best player at his position by a healthy margin, he's also one of the few truly reliable packages of high batting average, power, run production and speed. Think about it. Beyond maybe Matt Holliday, are you sure any outfielder will outproduce Utley?
Robinson Cano is probably the second-best hitter at the position. His drop in batting average last year was predictable, but he's a young, high-contact, line-drive hitter in a great lineup. That's a blue-chip stock.
I had Aaron Hill for $5 in an American League league last year, and it's killing me not to keep him this season (I have to stick with B.J. Upton's power/speed upside at $12). Hill is young enough that he could still improve, he makes contact at a high enough rate that he won't hurt your batting average and his power blossomed last year. Yet no one hypes him as a star.
Mark Ellis is sort of an older version of the same model. I like him, too.
I've never cared for Jeff Kent's sanctimony, but at age 40, the dude can still hit. He seems a bit overlooked because he has lost time to injury the past two years. But he's as good a bet as any second baseman not named Utley or Cano to hit .285 with 20 homers.
Placido Polanco seems likely to be overvalued this year. He's a tremendous contact hitter, but his value is heavily tied to batting average, and his .341 mark last year was inflated by a .350 average on balls in play. Polanco will help your team, but bid for .310, not .340.
You might be able to get the Pittsburgh Pirates' Freddy Sanchez for less, and he's nearly as good a contact guy as Polanco with more power upside.
