Sorry for the extended holiday break. After last night’s podcast, we are back and ready to update you guys with our opinions on the latest sports news.

Most of you will be watching the NFL Playoffs today, which is a sad reminder that fantasy football has come and gone. However, the fantasy baseball magazines are already available for pre-order (and possibly available in stores already). That being said, the second base rankings were hell for me. As a matter of fact, I couldn’t even finish the rankings because I don’t see much value in owning some of the players. Yikes!

Follow along with our rankings after the jump.

Monty’s Thoughts on Individual Players

• Brandon Phillips-For the past three seasons, Phillips has hit 20+HR and has 23+SB. His BA over the past three years has been: .288, .261 and .276, so he won’t kill you in that department. His RBI total has been strong and run totals good in a very poor offense. Phillips won’t wow you in any particular stat category, but Phillips is a solid 5-category player. Phillips should be a great value for you, according to mock drafts right now, at the end of the 3rd /beginning of 4th round.

• Aaron Hill- He is one of the most difficult players to project fantasy numbers. His line drive rate is good, but his HR total of the three most recent seasons has been 36, 3 and 17. He is turning 27 and in his prime. Since a lot of his value is tied to how many HR he will hit, it is hard to say how many he will hit. He doesn’t steal bases for you; he hits for a good, but not great average, and he is in a weak Jays lineup, thus lower runs and RBI. I probably won’t take him in any draft, unless he falls really far, due to the high amount of variance in his potential performance.
• Rickie Weeks-Rickie showed signs of a breakout 2008 season, 9 HR in 37 games, but had season-ending wrist surgery. The former #2 pick in the draft has frustrated Brewers fans by giving them a taste of his ability during his time in the majors, but he has never putting it together for a full season. Weeks has the talent to be a Brandon Phillips-type, with his 5-tool potential, and is worth taking a flyer on later in the draft as your second 2B.

Chris’ Thoughts on Individual Players

• Wow! Second base falls off way to quickly. While I have a soft spot in my heart for Rickie Weeks, I can’t recommend drafting any players lower than him at second base. If you suffer a few injuries at second, you can find whatever stats you might need on the waiver wire. Asdrubal Cabrera should have a high BA and SBs, Orlando Hudson will be solid (but unspectacular), and Felipe Lopez hasn’t found a new team yet.

• Gordon Beckham- I don’t care if it is homerism, Beckham could be a breakout candidate in 2010. His second half numbers are pretty exceptional too. 11 HRs, a jump in OBP and SLG, and a 5-1 SB vs CS ratio. He only racked up 378 ABs last season too. In a full season, Beckham should be able to build on his initial success and establish himself as a solid option at 2nd base. I wouldn’t expect him to put up these numbers in 2010, but in a perfect world, he has 25 HR-20 SB potential.

• Howie Kendrick- I love (love!) Rickie Weeks, but every season he seems to re-injure his wrist. Kendrick hasn’t been healthy in his career either, but at least his injuries have been unrelated to his batting skills. Since he entered the league, Kendrick has been a player that scouts and stat analysts have loved. His ability as a hitter is so superior that his lack of walks aren’t a big deal for the stat oriented analysts. If he ever puts together a full season, Kendrick has the ability to be a 20-20 player. Personally, I think Weeks has a higher upside…but the nagging wrist injuries scare me a lot more than the random injuries Kendrick has suffered.

What do you think of the messed up 2nd basemen rankings? Let us know about it in the comments.