The most important draft strategy I can recommend is to simply be prepared. Part of that means having multiple players targeted at various points in the draft, in case you need to pivot. Having early-, mid-, and late-round targets at each position will help you avoid moments where you have to make tough choices in a split second. Below are some of my favorite second-base targets at various points in the draft. I am using NFBC ADP from the last week for reference.
Early Round Target
Jose Altuve – HOU
Jose Altuve should be on every fantasy manager’s radar this season as an early-round target at second base. Houston plans to deploy him in the outfield this season. That means he will eventually accrue outfield eligibility on top of his second-base eligibility.
Altuve sets himself apart from the rest of the second base pack with his ability to hit for average. He has a career .306 AVG, in spite of expected stats suggesting he should do worse. Despite just four seasons with an AVG worse than .280, nearly every projection system predicts him to have a sub-.270 AVG. I just do not see that happening. Every year he seems to beat his projections, and at some point, we have to ignore them.
Altuve’s 17% strikeout rate last year was the second worst of his career. Most players would love to have that kind of strikeout rate. His .295 AVG last season was 50 points better than league average for second basemen. He also posted his third 20/20 season, while also improving his runs and RBI from the previous season. Altuve also drives and pulls the ball extremely well, and has an 85% contact rate for his career. This is a talented hitter who seems to have avoided the aging curve affecting his contact ability.
Altuve also should benefit from Isaac Paredes’ and Christian Walker’s additions to the lineup.
All of this should make Altuve a priority early-round target at second base.
Mid Round Target
Gleyber Torres – DET
Gleyber Torres had a down year in production in 2024, but we could see that turn around in his new home this season.
In the five seasons prior to last year (not including 2020), Torres had at least 24 home runs in four of them, at least 70 runs in three, at least 70 RBI in three, double-digit steals in three, a .270 AVG or better in three.
What made last season somewhat of an outlier in production was a dip in hard contact, and an unlucky HR/FB rate. His 8% HR/FB rate from last season was a 4% drop from the year before and 5% lower than his career norm. That happened despite Torres hitting more fly balls last season, while also driving the ball better than ever. He also posted the second-best groundball rate of his career last year.
Torres also improved his chase rate from 2023 but saw his contact rate overall tick down a percent. Still, his contact rate last season was better than his career average, which bodes well for his development in Detroit.
Considering players like Maikel Garcia and Zack Gelof go around him in drafts, Torres has great value as a mid-round target. He should outproduce both in most roto categories.
Late Round Target
Thairo Estrada – Colorado
Thairo Estrada has looked great in Spring Training for the Rockies and is in line for a productive season. After a down year in 2024, his value has dropped, but he makes for a great sleeper as a late-round pick.
Prior to last year’s downturn, Estrada had turned in back-to-back 14-homer, 20+ steal campaigns. He did that with a .260 AVG in 2022 and a .271 AVG in 2023. Those seasons came in San Francisco, which ranked as the third-worst hitter’s park in 2023. This season, he will play half his games in Coors Field, which has perennially been among the best hitter’s parks in baseball. Not only could this improve his home run output, but his batting AVG as well, as the park also inflates BABIP.
Estrada has not typically been a hard hitter, which should keep him from surpassing that 20-home-run mark. Still, he drives the ball well and pulls the ball, which keeps his AVG floor high, and should keep his bat in the lineup, likely at second base.
Estrada could be the sleeper of the year at second base and is my top late-round target at the position.
For more of the great fantasy baseball rankings and analysis you’ve come to expect from FantraxHQ, check out our full 2025 Fantasy Baseball Draft Kit! We’re here for you all the way up until Opening Day and then on into your championship run.
