Fantasy baseball 2B rankings for 2016 2016 FANTASY BASEBALL RANKINGS:

First | Short | Third | Outfield | Catchers | Starters | Relievers | Prospects Welcome to the 2016 fantasy baseball rankings for second base. Believe it or not, this notoriously shallow position is getting a little deeper, meaning you can wait on this position in fantasy baseball drafts. Jose Altuve headlines the elite at the position; Anthony Rendon returns to full health; and we like breakout candidates Rougned Odor and Kolten Wong to take another step forward. We're also holding out hope that Jason Kipnis can finally put it all together, and that veterans Ian Kinsler, Dustin Pedroia and Brandon Phillips still have something left in the tank. At least there's a lot of name value at second base, if nothing else. MORE MLB FANTASY: Must-have sleepers | Free draft prep | Fantasy Alarm Draft Guide Let's take a look at the full fantasy 2B rankings to identify the studs, stumblers and sleepers for 2016.

1 Jose Altuve, Astros The no-doubt No. 1 2B again after leading the AL in hits and steals for the second straight year. He also hit 15 homers, making him more than just a speedy, on-base guy. While the homers will likely decrease, it's nice to know he's not a total drain in the power department. 2016 FANTASY BASEBALL RANKINGS:

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2 Dee Gordon, Marlins All speed, all the time. After stealing 122 bases the last two seasons, there's no doubt why you draft Gordon in the early rounds and focus on power later.

3 Robinson Cano, Mariners Despite a slow start, Cano still finished with 21 homers in his second season with Seattle. Cano's ceiling isn't as high as it used to be with the Yankees, but he'll still accumulate stats steadily throughout the season and is a safe pick at 2B.

4 Matt Carpenter, Cardinals Carpenter cracked 28 homers in 2015, up 20 from 2014, and drove in 84 RBIs with 101 runs. While the homers are bound to come down, Carpenter remains one of the more trustworthy picks at 2B; he'll get you stats one way or another. Just don't count on 20-plus homers again.

5 Brian Dozier, Twins You know what you're getting with Brian Dozier: 20/20 potential with a crappy average. Despite average on-base skills, Dozier has still scored 100-plus runs in each of the last two seasons. You have to take the good with the bad.

6 Anthony Rendon, Nationals Anthony Rendon was terrible in 2015, but we'll blame his poor showing on a variety of injuries that limited him to 80 games. Now healthy, we're expecting Rendon to return close (but not all the way) to his 2014 form when he hit 21 homers and stole 17 bases. Think 15/15 and you should be happy with a player eligible at 2B and 3B. 2016 FANTASY BASEBALL RANKINGS:

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7 Rougned Odor, Rangers Odor got off to a terrible start to 2015 but broke out after returning from a minor league demotion. We think that's a sign of things to come for Odor, who has good speed and more power than you might think packed into that 5-11 frame. Odor smells like a sleeper.

8 Jason Kipnis, Indians What to do with Kipnis? We know he has 20/30 upside, but he hasn't been able to put it all together for a full season. He only had nine homers and 12 steals last year, but on the bright side he did hit .303. We know the talent is there, so Kipnis is worth the risk as a mid-round, bounce-back pick.

9 Kolten Wong, Cardinals Wong's stats were very similar to Kipnis' last year in his second MLB season. While we expect him to take another step forward, we don't think Wong's ceiling is quite as high as Kipnis', so we'd prefer the more experienced veteran in fantasy drafts.

10 Ian Kinsler, Tigers Kinsler appears to be on the downside of his career. About the best you can hope for from the 33-year-old these days is double-digit homers and steals to go with 80-90 runs and 70-80 RBIs. Not terrible, but certainly not as good as he used to be.

11 Brandon Phillips, Reds Brandon Phillips climbed back into fantasy relevance last year with 12 homers and 23 steals while hitting .293. Can he repeat those modest yet surprising stats? Probably not the 20-plus steals, but it won't cost you much to find out.

12 Dustin Pedroia, Red Sox Pedroia continues this mini-run of uninspiring veteran 2Bs. He can get you 12-15 homers if healthy, but note that Pedroia has only stolen eight bases in the last two seasons combined. 2016 FANTASY BASEBALL RANKINGS:

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13 Howie Kendrick, Dodgers

14 Daniel Murphy, Nationals

15 Addison Russell, Cubs Russell, only 22, is a former top prospect and a serious breakout candidate with good power and speed. He's not likely to hit high in the Cubs lineup, but he can still contribute plenty to fantasy teams. There's top-12 upside here.

16 Neil Walker, Mets

17 DJ LeMahieu, Rockies Fantasy owners should actually like LeMahieu because of his speed (23 steals in 2015), not his power potential in Coors (only 6 HRs). He hit .301/.358/.388 last year and is a solid MI pick. 2016 FANTASY BASEBALL RANKINGS:

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18 Logan Forsythe, Rays The 17 homers and even .281 average last year seem like mirages for the career .252/.323/.379 hitter.

19 Joe Panik, Giants Quietly hit .312/.378/.455 with eight homers and three steals in just 100 games with San Francisco.

20 Starlin Castro, Yankees Not sure how much the move to New York will actually help Starlin Castro, but it can't hurt.

21 Ben Zobrist, Cubs 2016 FANTASY BASEBALL RANKINGS:

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22 Brett Lawrie, White Sox

23 Steve Pearce, Rays

24 Jonathan Schoop, Orioles