MLB's most valuable 2nd basemen in 2012

Second base may be the hardest position in baseball to take stock of, as the skill-sets range widely. Some second basemen include: Darwin Barney, Dustin Pedroia, Daniel Murphy, Jamey Carroll and Robinson Cano. Those players feature assets ranging from defense, to left-handed power to nothing (unless we are counting grit and passion).

This article is going to explore the best values that team got this season from their second basemen (as of 10-1-12).

I began first by sorting out all qualified second baseman for the 2012 season, coming up with a list of 22 players seen in the table below. I then calculated $/WAR for all the players except Jemile Weeks (can't divide by zero, even I know that), as well as the average and the median for the set of numbers.

The average $/WAR for all second basemen is $1.638/WAR, with 11 second basemen placing as better than average values for the position, while 11 were less than average values for the position. Looking a bit closer into the numbers, one can see that of the 11 above-average-value players at the position, six of them posted better-than-average wRC+, with five of them checking out as below-average offensive players. Defensively, according to Fangraphs's Ultimate Zone Rating stat, nine of the 11 "good values" were above-average defensively.

Of the below-average values, six of the 11 players posted an wRC+ higher than 100. Defensively, five of the 11 "bad values" were above-average defensively according to UZR.

It would appear from looking at this data that second base is a position where value comes from defense, and therefore it is worth investing good money in a good defender such as Darwin Barney. But let's take one more look at the information before we jump to that conclusion.

Sorting by average salary, 12 of the players were below-average for the position ($4.85 mil). Of those 12 however, 10 had better than average $/WAR. This would point towards second base being a good position to focus on defense, and develop internally so that the team does not have to pay big money for a starting 2B.

In conclusion: second base is a metaphorical buffet of skills and assets, but presently the most cost-effective one is defense.