Headlines

  • Dipoto: Mariners Interested In Re-Signing Josh Naylor
  • Anthony Volpe Playing Through Partial Labrum Tear
  • Orioles Promoted Mike Elias Prior To 2025 Season
  • Anthony Rizzo Retires
  • Cubs Place Kyle Tucker On Injured List
  • Blue Jays Place Bo Bichette On Injured List
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Rumors

MLB Trade Rumors

Remove Ads
  • Home
  • Teams
    • AL East
      • Baltimore Orioles
      • Boston Red Sox
      • New York Yankees
      • Tampa Bay Rays
      • Toronto Blue Jays
    • AL Central
      • Chicago White Sox
      • Cleveland Guardians
      • Detroit Tigers
      • Kansas City Royals
      • Minnesota Twins
    • AL West
      • Houston Astros
      • Los Angeles Angels
      • Oakland Athletics
      • Seattle Mariners
      • Texas Rangers
    • NL East
      • Atlanta Braves
      • Miami Marlins
      • New York Mets
      • Philadelphia Phillies
      • Washington Nationals
    • NL Central
      • Chicago Cubs
      • Cincinnati Reds
      • Milwaukee Brewers
      • Pittsburgh Pirates
      • St. Louis Cardinals
    • NL West
      • Arizona Diamondbacks
      • Colorado Rockies
      • Los Angeles Dodgers
      • San Diego Padres
      • San Francisco Giants
  • About
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Tim Dierkes
    • Writing team
    • Advertise
    • Archives
  • Contact
  • Tools
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • 2026-27 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Agency Database
  • NBA/NFL/NHL
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors
  • App
  • Chats
Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

The New Free Agent Second Baseman Market

By Tim Dierkes | April 4, 2011 at 8:39am CDT

As MLBTR's Transaction Tracker shows, second basemen Dan Uggla, Rickie Weeks, and Freddy Sanchez have agreed to extensions since the beginning of the year.  Extensions always reduce the appeal of projected free agent groups, and for 2012 second base took a big hit.

Nine free agents currently project as potential starters at second base in 2012: Clint Barmes, Jamey Carroll, Mark Ellis, Bill Hall, Aaron Hill, Omar Infante, Kelly Johnson, Jose Lopez, and Brandon Phillips.

Phillips would bring the second base class some name value after the losses of Uggla and Weeks.  Offensively Phillips does not stack up with either player.  But with Weeks getting $10-11MM per free agent year, the Reds have a case for retaining Phillips at an $11MM net price for one more year.  The Blue Jays have the option of retaining Hill for $8MM for '12, which would look reasonable with a return to form.

Barmes is expected to play shortstop for the Astros this year, though he'll miss most of April with a broken bone in his hand.  Hall will serve as his double play partner.  They'll earn almost $7MM combined this year, but both must re-establish themselves as effective everyday players.  The Rockies appear open to trading Lopez, who needs regular work to avoid slipping into utility status.  Carroll, who has a solid .356 career OBP, has a chance to establish himself as a regular if he can move past Casey Blake on the Dodgers' depth chart once Blake is healthy.  The Giants' Mark DeRosa could seek a starting second base job, though he hasn't played much there since '08.

Infante, the Marlins' starting second baseman, has a chance to further cement himself as a regular.  He hit .309/.353/.411 in 300 games with the Braves during 2008-10, and should be looking at the second multiyear deal of his career with a strong 2011.  Ellis and Johnson are looking to prove they're worth multiple years at $5-6MM per.  Both were easily worth that salary in 2010, so they're looking for repeat seasons.

Share 0 Retweet 9 Send via email0

2012 MLB Free Agents

Major Arbitration Paydays For 2012
Main
MLBTR’s Agency Database
View Comments (7)
Post a Comment

7 Comments

  1. ryan cothran

    14 years ago

    It’s amazing, even in a place like this where advanced statistics are well-known, how much a player like Kelly Johnson gets looked over. He has a career .799OPS, which is higher than any other free agent candidate and he gets a measly sentence at the end of post. Also, looking at draft position, Kelly goes much lower than Brandon Phillips, or even Rickie Weeks, despite having better career numbers at a similar age.

    Kelly Johnson, in my book, is the leading 2b candidate and it’s really no question.

    Reply
    • martinfv2

      14 years ago

      KJ overlooked at MLBTR? He is my boy, populates my fantasy teams annually. But you didn’t talk about his defense at all.

      Reply
  2. baseballdude

    14 years ago

    aaron hill to the tigers?? The tigers probably will spend some $$ next off season , and the tigers need a 2nd baseman.

    Reply
    • Lunchbox45

      14 years ago

      and who’s going to play second base for the jays?

      Reply
      • NL_East_Rivalry

        14 years ago

        Maybe he means after the season. If Hill thinks he can get more elsewhere, maybe the Tigers will bid more than the Jays. Jays then could sign someone else. Not saying it will happen, but just reasoning.

        Reply
        • Lunchbox45

          14 years ago

          He has 2 club options left on his contract. So the jays won’t need to outbid anyone.

          Reply
  3. Brandon 20

    14 years ago

    Phillips has almost an un-official captain type role in Cincinnati and has stated he loves playing there. Also the fact that they are winning (and look to continue to do so for the next few years) I’m guessing he’ll work a deal with the Reds to stay on the team at least until a prospect is ready to take the role full time in a few years.

    Things happen when a player hits FA though…who would have seen Lee passing over the Yankees for the Phillies afterall?

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.

Log in Register

    Top Stories

    Dipoto: Mariners Interested In Re-Signing Josh Naylor

    Anthony Volpe Playing Through Partial Labrum Tear

    Orioles Promoted Mike Elias Prior To 2025 Season

    Anthony Rizzo Retires

    Cubs Place Kyle Tucker On Injured List

    Blue Jays Place Bo Bichette On Injured List

    Phillies Place Trea Turner, Alec Bohm On Injured List

    Sean Murphy To Undergo Hip Surgery

    Trea Turner To Undergo MRI Due To Hamstring Strain

    Davey Johnson Passes Away

    Mets Option Kodai Senga

    NPB’s Kazuma Okamoto, Tatsuya Imai Expected To Be Posted For MLB Teams

    Shelby Miller Likely Headed For Tommy John Surgery

    Red Sox To Place Roman Anthony On Injured List

    Lourdes Gurriel Jr. Diagnosed With Torn ACL

    Braves Claim Ha-Seong Kim From Rays

    Jason Adam Likely Headed For Season-Ending Quad Surgery

    Mariners Promote Harry Ford, Release Donovan Solano

    Phillies Sign Walker Buehler To Minors Contract

    Red Sox Extend Aroldis Chapman

    Recent

    Angels Designate Scott Kingery For Assignment, Promote Denzer Guzman

    Giants Place Dominic Smith On Injured List

    Phillies Notes: Wheeler, Romano, Turner, Bohm

    Rockies Place Chase Dollander On Injured List

    Red Sox Shut Down Liam Hendriks Due To Forearm Tightness

    Tarik Skubal Day-To-Day After Leaving Game Due To Side Tightness

    Masyn Winn Shut Down For Remainder Of Season

    Red Sox Sign John Brebbia To Minor League Contract

    Rays Select Garrett Acton

    Guardians Notes: Brito, Bazzana, Thomas

    MLBTR Newsletter - Hot stove highlights in your inbox, five days a week

    Latest Rumors & News

    Latest Rumors & News

    • Every MLB Trade In July
    Trade Rumors App for iOS and Android App Store Google Play

    MLBTR Features

    MLBTR Features

    • Remove Ads, Support Our Writers
    • Front Office Originals
    • Front Office Fantasy Baseball
    • MLBTR Podcast
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • 2026-27 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Agency Database
    • MLBTR On Twitter
    • MLBTR On Facebook
    • Team Facebook Pages
    • How To Set Up Notifications For Breaking News
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors

    Rumors By Team

    • Angels Rumors
    • Astros Rumors
    • Athletics Rumors
    • Blue Jays Rumors
    • Braves Rumors
    • Brewers Rumors
    • Cardinals Rumors
    • Cubs Rumors
    • Diamondbacks Rumors
    • Dodgers Rumors
    • Giants Rumors
    • Guardians Rumors
    • Mariners Rumors
    • Marlins Rumors
    • Mets Rumors
    • Nationals Rumors
    • Orioles Rumors
    • Padres Rumors
    • Phillies Rumors
    • Pirates Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Rays Rumors
    • Red Sox Rumors
    • Reds Rumors
    • Rockies Rumors
    • Royals Rumors
    • Tigers Rumors
    • Twins Rumors
    • White Sox Rumors
    • Yankees Rumors

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives
    • RSS/Twitter Feeds By Team

    MLBTR INFO

    • Advertise
    • About
    • Commenting Policy
    • Privacy Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

    MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

    Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

    hide arrows scroll to top

    Register

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version