This speaks far more to the quality of second basemen than their value. Tell me, who are the second basemen that are getting big contracts and teams want to keep for a long time? Guys like Robinson Cano, Ian Kinsler, and Dustin Pedroia are valued because of their bat. The fact that Kinsler and Pedroia are goo defensively is a bonus. If they weren't they would still be playing second, because they hit (see Cano).
Um... what's wrong with Cano's defense? He's an average defender at 2B. In fact over the last five years he has a positive UZR mostly because he had a stellar 2012 season defensively. That would make him a slightly above average defender at 2B over that time though, of course, he's more realistically just slightly below average. If you can find a 2B with that kinda bat to bring here, we're all for it. But that's not the discussion. The discussion is ALR vs. Espi remembering that as you pointed out there just aren't many strong 2B bats out there making their defense, in general, much more important.
