Moving through the infield, we will look at the shortstop rankings. Shortstop is easily the worst position-the number of one-star players is depressing-but there is plenty of production to be found if you are willing to select it early or spend the auction money on it. As for the previous rankings in the series, check out first basemen, second basemen and third basemen. Now, here are the changes to this year’s ranking system:
- Players are no longer ranked by number (the 1-20 system). Instead, I am implementing a tiered system using stars (five stars is the best, one is the lesser of your options). These stars are equal across positions to make comparisons between them easier-for example, there are three five-star first basemen, but there may be more or fewer than that at other positions-if it comes to it, the first player at a position may be a four-star option. You can derive positional scarcity from the number of four- and five-star players available and make decisions from there. Players are loosely ordered within tiers, with my first preference to my last.
- I am no longer just covering 20 players per position-each list may be a bit different in length, but this list of shortstop is 49 players long. This should let players in AL- or NL-only league be as prepared as those in mixed leagues. There are two things I did to make this happen. First, I used the depth charts as my guide (this is also where the projections listed come from) and picked the starting player for every team at the position, giving me a minimum of 30 guaranteed choices. Second, for players with multiple position eligibility, I included them in the list for each position. It is possible they will have different star ratings at different positions, though, so make sure you reference the correct set of rankings. Victor Martinez is a three-star first baseman-it’s a very crowded position, and his numbers are very average for it-but at catcher, where the talent pool is shallower, Martinez is worth more. This allows me to show you at which position a player is most valuable. If there is anyone I missed that you want to know about, please ask me about them via e-mail or in the comments, and I’ll get back to you with my thoughts.
Five Stars Player PA AVG/OBP/SLG R HR RBI SB Hanley Ramirez 646 .329/.417/.572 105 29 80 27 Troy Tulowitzki 630 .301/.385/.536 97 26 88 10
Two shortstops stand tall above the rest, with Ramirez-much like Albert Pujols– worthy of his own special Five-Stars-Plus One tier, while Tulowitzki fits snugly underneath. Ramirez’s RBI total strikes me as a bit low, but it’s most likely due to his low 2008 total (67). Last year he crossed the 100 RBI line-much of this obviously depends on the offense around him, but 80 seems low. He’s a five-category player, which makes him five-stars no matter where he plays, but he’s also five-cats at the worst position in the game. Tulowitzki isn’t quite as good as Ramirez, but he’s the only shortstop on the same planet-partially from Coors Field, partially his own talent-despite the lower steal total. Just don’t get sucked into paying nearly Ramirez prices for Tulowitzki at auction just because you missed out.
Four Stars Player PA AVG/OBP/SLG R HR RBI SB Jose Reyes 638 .299/.367/.471 87 13 52 42 Jimmy Rollins 638 .286/.345/.475 87 18 67 28 Asdrubal Cabrera 623 .297/.366/.444 85 12 74 15 Derek Jeter 598 .298/.374/.433 72 14 57 14 Jason Bartlett 678 .282/.351/.407 83 11 58 26 Yunel Escobar 563 .307/.383/.448 77 12 62 4 J.J. Hardy 599 .274/.334/.460 74 22 73 1
PECOTA is expecting 2008 all over again from Reyes, which makes sense given that, prior to his injury-shortened 2009 campaign, PECOTA was expecting 2008 all over again from Reyes. If you could guarantee another 60-plus stolen base season, I would pop him into five-stars, but he had 56 in 2008 and hurt his leg last year-maybe I’ll feel differently by the end of spring training, but he’s the No. 3 guy either way.
I’ll trust this projection on Rollins entirely because of his second half. Sure, his OBP was just .306, which was a bit odd for the normally patient Rollins, but he did slug .495. I will say, though, that I don’t think his slugging will be as high as indicated here-there’s still a little too much 2007 in his forecast for my tastes. Being in that Phillies lineup and swiping 25-plus bags will boost his value plenty to merit this spot, though. PECOTA sees Cabrera having a season very similar to 2009, but with twice as many homers. That would be nice for his counting stats, especially since he’s good for 15-20 steals.
This seems like a massive decline for Jeter, but it’s still higher than his 2008 line and 2009 forecast-really, all that’s happened is the points of BABIP PECOTA thinks were extra were regressed out of his line. Bartlett won’t have the MVP-esque line of 2009 again, but somewhere between his past and his second half doesn’t seem too far-fetched, and that’s what PECOTA is suggesting. The 26 steals are delicious if he can keep his batting average and R total up.
Escobar isn’t stealing bases like everyone above him, but he’s good for a well above-average batting average, and he’ll pick up solid numbers of R, RBI and HR. Hardy is the same way, but with homers to replace the batting average. His 2009 will most likely decrease his value significantly in many leagues, but whoever picks him up will be happy with his rebound campaign. If you’re a bit iffy on him still, remember what kind of players are at shortstop after Hardy-even a meh edition of James Hardy is going to be as good or better than most of your alternatives.
Three Stars Player PA AVG/OBP/SLG R HR RBI SB Stephen Drew 678 .271/.336/.444 80 16 69 4 Erick Aybar 638 .287/.334/.410 74 9 57 12 Marco Scutaro 638 .278/.367/.399 83 12 60 9 Ryan Theriot 678 .291/.360/.378 89 5 48 18 Jhonny Peralta 664 .268/.337/.425 72 18 80 2 Miguel Tejada 458 .301/.340/.451 65 14 61 4 Alexei Ramirez 598 .283/.335/.461 75 24 79 10 Rafael Furcal 598 .282/.347/.398 81 9 42 13
I know you’re going to kill me for this, but the order in this tier doesn’t matter that much. It has a lot more to do with your personal preference-do you want power out of your shortstop? Drew, Peralta, Ramirez and Tejada are solid fits. Do you want stolen bases? Aybar, Theriot, Ramirez and Furcal are your best bets. Players like Scutaro and Aybar are well-balanced, with a little bit of power, a lot of runs, and some help on the base paths. None of these players do everything very well, but for the most part they do one thing very well or a few things well enough, so your personal rank, based on what your plan is with the rest of your roster, means more than whatever order I put them in.
I will say, though, Ramirez’s forecast seems weird to me. Despite the fact that he has changed his approach (he’s more patient and draws walks, but struggled to hit for power last year, a problem that caused even more trouble in the second half) he’s slated to hit with as much pop as in 2008. That’s why, despite his forecast, he’s ranked low within the tier.
Two Stars Player PA AVG/OBP/SLG R HR RBI SB Elvis Andrus 550 .269/.329/.400 67 8 51 34 Everth Cabrera 678 .249/.337/.364 78 7 45 34 Alcides Escobar 548 .286/.327/.387 66 6 46 20 Maicer Izturis 382 .286/.355/.427 49 8 45 10 Cliff Pennington 518 .245/.329/.345 56 6 38 17 Clint Barmes 540 .263/.314/.432 59 9 51 11 Jerry Hairston 498 .259/.329/.386 62 11 48 11 Luis Valbuena 576 .260/.329/.400 69 13 52 8 Orlando Cabrera 584 .276/.328/.385 66 8 60 12 Jeff Keppinger 539 .301/.364/.430 59 9 51 2 Cristian Guzman 506 .296/.326/.418 65 7 43 4
Andrus and Everth Cabrera are very similar, but Andrus gets the edge because of his home park. In a neutral context, I would take Cabrera. Escobar is also along the same lines, but projected to have significantly fewer steals. Izturis would be a three-star shortstop if he was an everyday player, but he’s going to bounce around the diamond and, sadly, not acquire a full season’s worth of at-bats.
Things get a bit uglier from here, as we lose dominance of any one category. PECOTA seems to be a bit harsh on Pennington-his BABIP was a little high last year, but even adjusting for that should have him a little higher than this. He’s not much to look at, but if he can steal 20 bases and not embarrass you from a batting average perspective, then he’s worth a two-star rank. Barmes may pick up a few homers and a few steals for you, but otherwise there isn’t much to love here, just like at second. Hairston has some value as long as he plays a majority of the time, like Izturis, but isn’t quite as valuable thanks to Petco Park. Valbuena looks a little better here than at second, but that isn’t saying much-he’s still on the lower end of the two-star because of a low average, low OBP and not enough speed to push him any higher.
PECOTA thinks Orlando Cabrera will replicate 2009 with the Reds. The switch to the NL should offset any further decline in his game. Guzman’s batting average and maybe his runs are reason to select him late, but that’s all he brings to the table. Keppinger, just like at third and second, would be a better pick with a guarantee of everyday play somewhere on the diamond, though the depth charts seem to think that’s what will happen given his projection of 539 plate appearances.
One Star Player PA AVG/OBP/SLG R HR RBI SB Juan Uribe 401 .259/.305/.427 41 12 42 2 Brendan Harris 325 .276/.340/.412 35 6 28 1 Brendan Ryan 466 .268/.322/.372 60 6 30 13 Emilio Bonifacio 495 .267/.326/.353 62 3 31 18 Cesar Izturis 453 .277/.322/.360 47 2 28 10 Julio Lugo 402 .247/.329/.347 40 5 35 11 Ronny Cedeno 399 .255/.311/.394 46 10 44 4 Yuniesky Betancourt 548 .288/.315/.417 58 9 60 4 Jack Wilson 518 .279/.326/.395 51 8 51 3 Edgar Renteria 466 .285/.339/.401 60 8 42 7 Tommy Manzella 445 .243/.289/.344 41 5 36 4 Omar Infante 377 .294/.352/.406 44 5 42 3 Ian Desmond 360 .244/.309/.400 35 9 32 9 Alex Gonzalez 356 .250/.305/.419 38 13 40 1 Ramon Santiago 333 .255/.319/.382 36 6 31 1 Craig Counsell 297 .263/.360/.387 33 3 23 2 Mike Aviles 246 .285/.315/.445 30 6 26 2 Adam Everett 356 .248/.307/.374 38 6 41 3 Willie Bloomquist 218 .267/.326/.358 28 2 14 7 Bobby Crosby 199 .246/.318/.380 21 4 20 3
The worst fantasy players at the worst position in fantasy baseball-boy, I’ve been looking forward to writing this section. If you get stuck with one of these guys as your starting shortstop, you are in trouble unless one of them pulls what will now be referred to as “A Bartlett.” I don’t see any Bartlett candidates here-Aviles maybe, just because he’s stuck behind Betancourt and anything that hurts the feelings of Royals‘ fans is possible. Otherwise though, this is just ugly.
Uribe may be the most appealing, but he doesn’t have a starting job thanks to the Freddy Sanchez trade. Harris doesn’t do anything well, but he doesn’t actively offend you either. The next four guys don’t do much, but may pick up double digits in steals, so at least that’s something. Cedeno may be the last tolerable option I can offer. After that, we’re looking at more like the 0.5-Star tier. Betancourt is slated to have a better season than he has had in a few years. Pass. Wilson is a solid shortstop when you take his defense into account, so unless you’re in one of those leagues you can ignore him. Renteria’s forecast has too much power in it (which is sad). The rest of these guys are back-up players that may take a starting job down the road, but there’s no guarantee and therefore no reason to waste anything but a late, late pick on them-except for Gonzalez. He’s starting and is just that bad.
Thank you for reading
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Where would you rank Brignac and or Starlin Castro? From what I read Brignac has a chance to win the second base job.
Also, the nice thing about Tulo is you probably don't need to use your first round pick to grab him.
I also never factor R/RBI in my drafting unless a player's projected to surpass 100 in one or the other category. I generally look at HR/SB and maybe BA, just as how I look at WHIP and Ks and maybe ERA for pitchers.
http://baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=10120
His are listed Five-Stars, Four-Stars, etc., just like these.
This list freaked me out more than my own cheat sheet does. This position is scary to me. I'm worried that the scarcity of talent will drive prices up too high for me. Especially in a keeper league, many teams are likely to hold on to their decent SS. My dilemma is whether to pony up for a 4/3 star SS or just use my money to try to win with other positions.
Can you guess which of these players might be most likely to hit their 90th percentile? (A sleeper, I guess). You started to do this at the end, but even among higher tiers I'd be interested to know who you think the best gambles are given that many of us might be forced to reach for SS in our drafts.
I'm thinking of punting this position to be honest.
Thanks again for the write up!
This only matters from a fantasy perspective if you are in a deep league or just need steals really desparately.
Yes, the park makes them look bad, but it's not like they can't hit on the road. Everth hit .276/.368/.382 on the road last year, for what it's worth.
But, even with that, I did recommend Andrus over Everth if you force it. Just in a neutral context, I prefer Everth.
For me you have to be building lots of position scarcity into the rankings to get Tulo to 5-stars (not the most consistent track record, unlikely to steal that many bases again with so many CS). He helped me win an NL-only league with money on the line last year, but I don't think he's all that safe as a 2nd round pick. And he has less upside than what Reyes and Rollins have shown (even though he might be a bit safer at this point). Just me though, maybe I am over-valuing the SB a little.
My issues with Tulo in the past had to do with consistency on the road and against RHP. He seems to be over a lot of that, so I have faith he'll do well again.
I wouldn't use a second round pick on him, but he'd be a steal as a fourth rounder and good value as a third rounder. Also, don't diss Rollins too much. His OBP sucked but he was a great multicategory producer fantasy-wise. In fact, his poor OBP may depress his value and, like Tulo's injury/inconsistency concerns, make both players better value picks for later rounds.
A guy like Jeff Keppinger sitting at the bottom of the two-star pile is actually very valuable if you can get him really late and have .300 avg with 50+ runs/rbi and hopefully crack 10 homers. I doubt he'll get enough at bats in Houston this year at the top of the lineup, but sometimes injury leads to guys similar to him slotting at the top of the lineup and getting a ton of at bats.
I take the same approach with Catchers. If I can't get Mauer or McCann, I'll grab AJ much later. He's the only other catcher with 500+ ABs, .290+ avg & .400+ slg. While not spectacular, it adds up over the course of the year with that many ABs.
For catchers, if you miss out on someone decent, it's better to ignore average and draft for home runs. Since catchers have reduced playing time anyway, a low batting average won't hurt as bad. Same thing with shortstops though it's easier to target steals with shortstops.
Drafting primarily for batting average, especially an empty batting average, is a losing strategy because batting average has some variance and if the player has a bad year in the BA category, the other categories will also suffer.
Always had a bad percentage, but LAA is less concerned about that then any other team. Had about the same percentage as Figgins last year. Strong balanced offense should allow RBI and run scoring opportunities.
And Aybar can hack the ball on the ground fairly well, and knows what job is. Has more than incidental power to provoke walks. Rising walk rate. Batting just ahead of OBP, pitch taking Abrue.
Aybar has a very nice pedrigree, with a 300 ba minor league average to support his great average last year, developing gap power, and a glove that locks him into the everyday lineup - switch hitter to boot.
Verdict.
Will get on base, have exceptional running opportunities, and will be strongly encouraged to run.
Get average steals, and those nice counting stats that come with them. Vastly cheaper and potentially better version of coming back from serious leg injury Reyes and his dysfunctional team.
I have not seen Tulo go before pick 15. I may be drafting with imbeciles, but there is no denying that there is a significant drop off. Personally, I am by no means reaching for him. I am looking for Cabrera or Alexei Ramirez (Still a SS on Yahoo) after 10.
Your Thoughts??
I don't really have any other "keeper worthy" players as several guys are coming off contract, and I traded away some talent at the year's end last year. My only possibilities would be D. Lee, R. Martin, AJ Burnett, or Y. Escobar - all are not players I'd want to keep.