Tiers are an alternate form of rankings that concerns itself less with parsing individual players and more with denoting the biggest drop-offs. Players whose value is essentially the same are bundled together to help you prioritize which position to draft next. If the goal in a draft is to maximize the return of each pick, then a simple way to do so is to target a position that's nearing a drop-off and wait on a position that isn't. By crossing off names as you go, your path to victory should become clear.
- Position Strategies: C | 1B | 2B | 3B | SS | OF | SP | RP
- Position Previews: C | 1B | 2B | 3B | SS | OF | SP | RP
- Position Tiers: C | 1B | 2B | 3B | SS | OF | SP | RP
Below are the second base tiers for 2024, revealing a position that's suddenly replete with talent, at least in the middle stages of the draft. You'll notice one of the early tiers is completely vacant, though.
The First-Rounders: Mookie Betts
The Also-Elite: Jose Altuve, Ozzie Albies, Marcus Semien
The Near-Elite -- none
The Next-Best Things: Nico Hoerner, Matt McLain, Ha-Seong Kim, Ketel Marte, Bryson Stott, Zack Gelof, Gleyber Torres, Andres Gimenez^
The Fallback Options: Luis Arraez, Nolan Gorman, Tommy Edman, Brandon Lowe, Thairo Estrada, Jorge Polanco, Jonathan India†
The Last Resorts: Ryan McMahon, Edouard Julien, Brandon Drury, Davis Schneider, Whit Merrifield, Jeff McNeil, Gavin Lux, Brendan Donovan, Jordan Westburg
The Leftovers: Luis Rengifo, Brendan Rodgers, Jake Cronenworth, Michael Massey, Geraldo Perdomo, Joseph Ortiz, Amed Rosario, Luis Garcia, Brice Turang, Jose Caballero
^ one tier lower in points leagues
† one tier lower in categories leagues