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buster olney
multiple authors
Spring training camps are underway, which means it’s time to look at the state of baseball. As part of our 2026 MLB season preview, ESPN’s Buster Olney surveyed people from across the industry to help rank the top 10 players at every position as part of his annual positional rankings series.
Today, we rank the best of the best on another basis.
The aim of this exercise is to identify the best players for the 2026 season and not who can be the best in five years or in their careers. We will be releasing one post per day over the next two weeks. Here’s the rest of the schedule: Starting pitchers (monday), relief pitcher (Tuesday), catchers (Wednesday), first baseman (Thursday), third baseman (February 23), shortstop (February 24), corner outfielder (February 25), center fielder (February 26), designated hitter (February 27).
Will be the most coveted free agent in the fall tariq skubalPossibly impressive offer that may well break the record for a starting pitcher – $325 million contract signed by yoshinobu yamamoto In 2023. But as far as impending free agent position players are concerned, jazz chisholm jr. With some gaudy numbers on his resume, it appears he is a candidate to land the biggest deal of all time.
After swiping 40 bases in 2024, he was a 30-30 player for the Yankees last season with 31 homers and 31 stolen bases. He has been a two-time All-Star and won the Silver Slugger Award. He has been on the cover of MLB: The Show. Speed, power, it’s all there. One evaluator says Chisholm could hit 40 homers in a season: “The strength in his wrists – absolutely incredible.” He ranks fourth among all second basemen in FanGraphs’ defensive metrics, just behind Xavier Edwards and right ahead Bryson Stott.
But what Chisholm lacks – what he needs this coming season as he generates interest in his upcoming free agency – is consistency: seasons with more peak performances and fewer valleys, lasting longer when he’s impacting games. Last April, he batted .151/.279/.312 with 35 strikeouts in 27 games. Then, in 23 games from June 16 to July 11, he hit .315/.390/.652. In 21 games from August 10 to September 2, he hit .271/.398/.700 with nine homers and 16 walks. In the final 31 games – including seven postseason games – he scored only 10 runs and batted .207. Under that 30-30 feat, his triple slash was .242/.332/.481 for an OPS of .813.
Look, recession is inevitable– shohei ohtaniThe greatest player we’ve ever seen went through a period during the playoffs last year. But the reaction from sports evaluators is that they simply want to see Chisholm’s talent impact games more.
Of course, he’ll get paid when he hits free agency. Whether he gets a big deal will depend largely on how consistently he hits this season; He probably has as much – or more – at stake than any position player in the big leagues.
Chisholm ranks highly among the game’s top 10 second basemen entering the 2026 season.
top 10 second basemen
1. Ketel Marte, Arizona Diamondbacks
You can understand why Arizona held a high asking price for Marte before deciding not to trade him. Over the past three seasons, he has produced about 15 fWAR, or about $135 million worth, while earning $40 million under the terms of his contract. Even that season when he invited investigation by going AWOL after the All-Star break the house is being looted – a decision for which he ultimately apologized to my team – He was still an incredibly effective player, with 28 homers, 87 runs scored and a 145 OPS+ in 126 games. He is excellent offensively, and while the stats show he is average defensively, he still remains the dominant player in this position.
He led all second basemen in fWAR last season, doing what he does best – excelling on defense and winning his second Gold Glove Award; Scored 89 runs in 156 games; and stealing bases at a high rate (29 in 35 attempts). Hoerner hit .297 and had a strikeout rate of 7.6%, third lowest in the big leagues (behind louis erez And jacob wilson).
3. Jazz Chisholm Jr. New York Yankees
Based on Chisholm’s production in WAR, ESPN analyst Paul Hambekides says he believes his contract value as a free agent could look like this – $80 million over two years, or $140 million over four years. But Chisholm probably needs to balance his home/road split to garner interest from teams other than the Yankees. These were his 2025 numbers:
At Yankee Stadium: .277/.364/.528, for a 150 wRC+
At all other parks: .207/.299/.432, for a 101 wRC+.
Re: Consistency. Teams will pay for it.
4. Bryce Turang, milwaukee brewers
He was one of MLB’s breakout stars last season, performing so well that he received some down-ballot support in the National League MVP voting. Turang batted in 97 runs with an OPS+ of 121 in 156 games, and he’s continuing to improve his power production – he had 28 doubles and 18 home runs to go along with 24 stolen bases in 2025. It was all part of a larger design: Turang’s exit velocity increased from 85.1 mph to 89.2 mph (his strikeout rate was also increasing). His defensive numbers dipped last year, with his defensive runs dropped from a remarkable 22 in 2024 to seven last season.
5. Brendan Donovan, seattle mariners
He could play third early in the season, or get some time in the outfield, but if the Mariners decide to play top prospect Cole Emerson in the left side of the infield, Donovan could get a lot of games at second. No matter where he lands, he will be on base and create opportunities for runs. He had a 119 OPS+ with 32 doubles and 10 homers in 119 games, and he appears to be a prime candidate to lead the way for Seattle against right-handed pitching. Last year, Donovan hit .315 with a .383 OBP against right-handed batters.
6. Gleyber Torres, detroit tigers
Torres accepting a one-year qualifying offer from Detroit is a strong sign that he knows he needs a strong offensive performance to set himself up for a multiyear contract (with the benefit of breaking away from draft pick compensation). As Torres has gained experience, he’s been drawing more walks and getting on base at a higher rate – he accumulated 136 hits and a career-high 85 walks last season, while his strikeout rate dropped from 20.1% in ’24 to 16.1%.
7. Xavier Edwards, miami marlins
The change from shortstop to second base really benefited him last season – he saved 12 defensive runs and averaged nine outs while playing only 96 games at second. The 26-year-old collected 159 hits and 49 walks for a .343 on-base percentage in 139 games last season.
8. marcus semien, New York Mets
He is still a highly rated defender and now at age 35 is part of David Stearns’ effort to improve the Mets’ run prevention. But a decline in his offense over the past two seasons led the Rangers to make him available for trade:
2023: 126 OPS+
2024: 103 OPS+
2025: 97 OPS+
9. Bryson Stott, philadelphia phillies
If the Phillies had taken over bo bichet — they and thought they were going to catch him – Bichette would then probably have played second base for Philadelphia, while Stotts would have moved to third. Stotts will hit for some power and steal some bases (24 last season), but his struggles against lefties last year were acute: a .225/.287/.575 slash line with one homer in 123 plate appearances.
10. ernie clement, toronto blue jays
He has made this list on the basis of how well he performed last October. Facing the best pitching under the most pressure, Clement made contact in the postseason, batting over .411 in 18 games. With Bichette’s departure and transfer andres jimenez As for shortstop, Clement ranks second, a position where he excelled last year, allowing 10 defensive runs in just 423 innings.
honorable mentions
jose altuve, Houston Astros: : Houston is obviously well aware of his defensive issues at second base, which is why they tried him in left field. But Altuve can still do damage offensively – he hit 26 homers and had an adjusted OPS of 112.
Luis Arraez, san francisco giants: : He wanted to return to his former position, so he signed with the Giants, who are buying into his goal of becoming playable at second base and his ability to make contact.
jackson holiday, baltimore orioles: : Still only 22, he improved in his second year in the majors, hitting 17 homers and becoming more of a threat against left-handed pitching. But a hand injury (hamet bone) will likely keep him out for the beginning of the season.
brandon lowe, pittsburgh pirates: : Here’s the good stuff: 31 homers and a .477 slugging percentage last season. Not so good: Minus-14 defensive runs saved and minus-13 strikeouts above average.
luke keshall, minnesota twins: : You can make a reasonable case that he should already be in the top 10 after his strong performance in 49 games last year, when the former second-round pick hit .302 and generated 2.0 bWAR.
ozzy albies, atlanta braves: : He remained largely injury-free last year, playing in 157 games, but his numbers dropped to a .671 OPS and 89 OPS+. The Braves have a $7 million club option for 2027.
Chase Meadroth, chicago white sox: : One of the players obtained in Garrett Crochet Traded, Meedroth earned 1.3 bWAR in 122 games in his 2025 rookie season.
