Top 10 MLB 2B of 2020: Projecting This Year’s Best

Hernandez is prone to occasional mental errors - both in the field and on the basepaths - but he's been one of the most stable offensive second baseman in the league in recent years, with FanGraphs saying that he's been the seventh best offensive performer at the position since the start of the 2016 season.

After spending parts of seven seasons with the Philadelphia Phillies, Hernandez landed a one-year deal in free agency with the Indians this offseason after being non-tendered. A change of scenery may prove to be energizing for the 29-year-old, especially when you consider that he's joining a lineup that includes Francisco Lindor and Jose Ramirez.

Hernandez joins an Indians team that missed the playoffs in 2019, despite winning 93 games. With both Lindor and Ramirez having relative down seasons last year - and some minor additions like Hernandez - the Indians could challenge the Minnesota Twins for the American League Central title in 2020.

On a Twins team that had five players hit 30 or more home runs in 2019, it was easy to overlook Arraez's excellent MLB debut. The guess here, though, is that it will be increasingly hard not to pay attention to the 22-year-old in 2020.

A year ago, Arraez hit .334, posted a .399 on-base percentage and tallied a 2.1 fWAR in 92 games for a Twins team that won 101 regular season games.

Perhaps it's unfair to expect Arraez to continue hitting at that type of clip over the course of a full season, but he should be a strong table setter for a lineup that includes Josh Donaldson, Mitch Garver, Nelson Cruz, Jorge Polanco, Miguel Sano, Eddie Rosario and Max Kepler.

It's almost not even fair that the Dodgers were able to acquire Mookie Betts from the Los Angeles Dodgers without ever even seriously considering parting with Lux.

Lux, who hit .392 in 49 games at Triple-A in 2019, is the No. 2 overall prospect in baseball according to MLB Pipeline. After getting a cup of coffee at the major league level in 2019, he's expected to open the 2020 season as Dave Roberts' starting second baseman, pushing Max Muncy to first base on a full-time basis and Kike Hernandez into a more traditional utility role.

With Lux joining a lineup that includes Betts, Muncy, Cody Bellinger and Justin Turner, among others, the Dodgers feel like a shoo in to win at least 100 regular season games for the third time in four years. They are the favorites to win the World Series in Lux's first full major league season.

Though he's spent the bulk of his career playing third base, Moustakas was serviceable in 359.2 innings at second base a season ago for the Milwaukee Brewers. That was enough for the division-rival Reds to reward him with a four-year/$64 million deal in free agency, despite employing Eugenio Suarez, one of the league's better third basemen.

Moustakas, now 31, probably isn't going to be a Gold Glove Award contender at second base, and has never been a high on-base guy. But he's going to bring thump to a lineup that already included the aforementioned Suarez and Aristides Aquino, and added Nick Castellanos in free agency as well. Over the past three seasons, Moustakas has averaged 34 home runs and 89 runs batted in. The Reds are going to hit in 2020, that you can be certain of.

Additionally, while the Reds believe they could win the National League Central in 2020, they don't have a roster that's especially deep in postseason experience. Moustakas has played in the World Series twice, winning one of the Kansas City Royals in 2015, so he brings that with him.

The Cardinals may not have a team full of nationally-recognizable names, but players like Wong are why they were able to win the National League Central and reach the NLCS a season ago.

In his age-28 season, Wong had his best individual season yet, slashing .285/.361/.423 with 24 stolen bases and a 3.7 fWAR. He also won his first Gold Glove Award after a campaign where he posted 19 defensive runs saved.

In the final guaranteed season of a team-friendly five-year deal, Wong and the Cardinals will have their work cut out attempting to repeat as National League Central Champions. You can bet, though, that they've had quite a bit of time to think about being swept by the eventual World Series Champion Washington Nationals in the NLCS and are eager to get another crack at October baseball.

The Marlins are unquestionably the fifth best team in a crowded National League East, but they appear to have a much better roster than a season ago. Part of the reason for that is they acquired Villar from the Baltimore Orioles in December.

A year ago, Villar played every regular season game for the O's, hitting .274 with 24 home runs, 73 RBIs, 40 stolen bases and a 4.0 fWAR. Normally a team attempting to cut costs themselves, the Marlins capitalized on the fact that the Orioles didn't want to pay Villar more in his final year of arbitration eligibility and traded for the 29-year-old. He'll make $8.2 million in 2020.

Again, the Marlins are a pretty safe bet to finish in the basement of arguably the league's deepest division. However, by adding Villar, Corey Dickerson and Jesus Aguilar to their lineup, the Marlins could easily improve quite a bit on their 57 wins from a season ago. And they're likely to find quite a few suitors for Villar ahead of the July 31 trade deadline.

Right or wrong, Altuve has become the face of the Astros' sign-stealing scandal, which means he's going to have a hell of a time compartmentalizing and just being able to focus on playing baseball in 2020.

However, for as much as it feels like Altuve has been around for forever, he's still only 29 years old. He was limited to just 124 regular season games a season ago, but if healthy, he could put up the type of production that allows him to climb back up this list a year from now.

The truth is that regardless of how many distractions the Astros will have to overcome in 2020, they still have an excellent lineup. Altuve is at the forefront of that, and given that the team lost Gerrit Cole in the offseason and will likely start the season without Justin Verlander, they'll need him to have a bounce-back season to fend off the Oakland Athletics in the American League West.

Though much of the attention in Atlanta over the past two seasons has understandably been dedicated to Ronald Acuna Jr., Albies has cemented himself as one of the best young players in baseball.

Albies made the first of what figures to be many National League All-Star teams in 2019, hitting .295 with 24 home runs, 86 RBIs and a 4.6 fWAR. What's more, Albies already has 28 defensive runs saved in his brief MLB career, meaning he's quickly become one of the most reliable fielders at his position.

The Braves may not be as deep pocketed as some of the other teams in the National League East, but they've done a pretty remarkable job finding talent and developing it over the past five seasons. Albies, 23, is one of those talents and they've already inked him to a deal that will keep him in Atlanta through at least 2025.

The Yankees are already running out of numbers as is because they've retired so many, but after LeMahieu's first season in New York, there were some fans that only half-jokingly suggested that he should be the last Yankee to ever wear the No. 26.

Though it shouldn't have been especially shocking when you consider he won a batting title in Colorado, LeMahieu had a monster first season in pinstripes, slashing .327/.375/.518 with 26 home runs, 102 RBIs and a 5.4 fWAR, en route to finishing fourth in American League MVP voting.

LeMahieu is entering the final season of an extremely team-friendly two-year/$24 million deal. It feels like a pretty safe bet that the 31-year-old will put together another special campaign before he becomes a free agent.

Quietly, Marte blew up in 2019 and became one of the most valuable position players in baseball, slashing .329/.389/.592 with 32 home runs, 92 RBIs and a staggering 7.1 fWAR.

The 26-year-old is capable of playing just about any position on the field - he actually spent the most time in center field a season ago - but the expectation is that after the Diamondbacks acquired Starling Marte, Ketel will primarily play second base for Torrey Lovullo's squad in 2020.

Quietly, the Diamondbacks won 85 games a season ago. This offseason, they added the aforementioned Starling Marte, along with Madison Bumgarner and Kole Calhoun. If the Diamondbacks can make a legitimate push for one of the two National League Wild Card spots, it'll be much harder to overlook their best player.