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Braves: Ozzie Albies close to becoming best second baseman in baseball

By Jake Mastroianni

ATLANTA, GEORGIA - OCTOBER 04: Ozzie Albies #1 of the Atlanta Braves bats in the third inning in game two of the National League Division Series against the St. Louis Cardinals at SunTrust Park on October 04, 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
ATLANTA, GEORGIA - OCTOBER 04: Ozzie Albies #1 of the Atlanta Braves bats in the third inning in game two of the National League Division Series against the St. Louis Cardinals at SunTrust Park on October 04, 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /
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HOUSTON, TEXAS – OCTOBER 30: Jose Altuve #27 of the Houston Astros reacts against the Washington Nationals during the third inning in Game Seven of the 2019 World Series at Minute Maid Park on October 30, 2019 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
HOUSTON, TEXAS – OCTOBER 30: Jose Altuve #27 of the Houston Astros reacts against the Washington Nationals during the third inning in Game Seven of the 2019 World Series at Minute Maid Park on October 30, 2019 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images) /

The competition

The top five second baseman in WAR this past season, according to FanGraphs, was Ketel Marte (7.1), DJ Lemahieu (5.4), Max Muncy (4.8), Albies (4.6), and Jonathan Villar (4.0).

As you can see, Ozzie is already a top five second baseman in all of baseball. but there was a very big gap between him and the top two.

Just outside of the top five were Kolten Wong (3.7), Gleyber Torres (3.6), Jose Altuve (3.5), and Whit Merrifield (2.9).

To me, Marte and Torres are the biggest competition for Ozzie going forward. Marte is just 26-years-old and Torres is 22.

Both appear to be destined for stardom for a while. Villar and Muncy are more like utility players in my mind and not true second baseman.

LeMahieu and Altuve are both getting towards the end of their careers and should take a step back as they enter their 30s.

Mike Moustakas made the 2019 All-Star team as a second baseman over Ozzie, but I think Moose goes back to his natural position at third base in 2020.

MLB Network does a ‘Top 10 Right Now’ before the start of every season, and last year they had Ozzie ranked fifth among second baseman.

Their top five were Altuve, Merrifield, Jed Lowrie, Robinson Cano, and Albies.

They had LeMahieu seventh, Torres ninth, and Marte wasn’t even in the top five.

If I had to rank them right now, it would look like this:

1. Marte

2. Altuve

3. LeMahieu

4. Albies

5. Torres

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