Paul Sporer’s Top 50 Shortstops by Paul Sporer February 10, 2021 Shortstop is a rich position with 12 of them are going in the Top 100 picks during winter drafts with 9 of those slotting Top 40 or better. I think 2B actually has a bit more depth with some big overlap in the middle globs that carries into the 40s as far as draftable players (assuming deep leagues, obviously) whereas shortstop starts to peter out around the mid-30s. Justin’s list I’ll have an update in early March to account for any moves, news, and/or injuries. Let me know what you think in the comments: how are you building your SS plan? do you want an extra SS for MI or do you prefer 2B? who is your sleeper at the position? Here’s my list. Other positions: 1B 2B 2021 SS Rankings RK PLAYER TM ELIG. COMMENT ADP 1 Fernando Tatis Jr. SD SS A new challenger has emerged for the #1 overall spot! K% cut in ’20 was nice, too 2 2 Trea Turner WAS SS Steady 1st round monster who could see his R production jump w/WAS additions 7 3 Trevor Story COL SS Arenado’s departure stinks, but it shouldn’t greatly imapct Story’s draft slot 11 4 Francisco Lindor NYM SS Bona fide stud even if the de-juiced ball eat a few homers 17 5 Adalberto Mondesi KC SS Can be tough to stomach at times w/volatility, but the speed plays all day in Roto 20 6 Xander Bogaerts BOS SS 4-category stud while usually delivering enough SBs to be a positive 35 7 Bo Bichette TOR SS Are we sure he’ll run? Even if he doesn’t, he’s a stud, but I worry abou the SBs 24 8 Tim Anderson CWS SS Pwr/spd stud who needs his strong BABIP to maintain AVG upside 39 9 Corey Seager LAD SS If ’20 pwr gains are legit, then the .300-30-100 season is coming 40 10 Gleyber Torres NYY SS Major K%, BB% gains netted zero results but 7% HR/FB did a lot of the damage 68 11 Javier Báez CHC SS Small season exposed flaws in BABIP-dependent profile, I’ll pay for a rebound 69 12 Tommy Edman STL 2B, 3B, SS, OF Quad-elig. stud atop a strong lineup w/the speed to spike a 30+ SB season 125 13 Carlos Correa HOU SS One of multiple Astros using strong Oct. to assuage fears of down ’20 130 14 Didi Gregorius PHI SS Near-lock for mid-20s HRs, 7-10 SBs, & 85+ R/RBI, a bargain at his market price 178 15 Marcus Semien TOR SS Some bumps in ’20, but new park and lineup are huge boosts; take the discount 140 16 Dansby Swanson ATL SS Solid accumulator holding 30 HR-15 SB upside w/health & a dip in K% 99 17 Paul DeJong STL SS Confident his 6% HR/FB would’ve moved toward career 15% w/4 more mos. 214 18 Jake Cronenworth SD 1B, 2B, SS 3 super-utils (Croney, Profar, Kim) might lead to even more eligibility here 196 19 Chris Taylor LAD 2B, SS, OF Might start as primary 2B, but even if add someone he can fill in anywhere 226 20 Ha-seong Kim SD SS Arriving younger (25) than most Asian lg players; 23 HR/21 SB per 600 since ’18 172 21 Jorge Polanco MIN SS Shifting to 2B w/Simmons aboard & will lose occasional PT to Arraez 210 22 Andrés Giménez CLE 2B, 3B, SS Ran 9x in 49 gms and now joins tm w/4th-most SBs since ’18 153 23 Willi Castro DET 3B, SS Not uber-concerned about 0 SBs in debut after 23 per 600 PA in minors (2608 PA) 257 24 Willy Adames TB SS Pwr continues to emerge but a 36% K% is untenable 318 25 Jonathan Villar NYM 2B, SS Still had 16 SB in brutal yr; will play super-UT for NYM w/~10 HR & 20 SB 150 26 Amed Rosario CLE SS Is he being traded? Is he moving to OF? Is he any good? Lots of ?s for the 25 y/o 218 27 Joey Wendle TB 2B, 3B, SS With health, his ’18 is very much in play: 7 HR, 16 SB, .300 AVG… solidly boring 309 28 Nico Hoerner CHC 2B, SS BABIP will almost certainly drive his overall value 406 29 David Fletcher LAA 2B, 3B, SS There are skills here, but they’re leveraged best in very deep leagues 225 30 José Iglesias LAA SS A near perfect replica of Andrelton Simmons for the Angels 402 31 Elvis Andrus OAK SS Not sure he’s toast after 29 bad games in ’20 435 32 Nick Ahmed ARZ SS Plays enough to spike an NL-Only double-double (missed just 16 gms since ’18) 344 33 Andrelton Simmons MIN SS Not much changes w/the move to MIN 405 34 Kevin Newman PIT 2B, SS Had a run similar to ’20 in his breakout ’19 (.595 OPS in 44 gms 6/30-8/23) 467 35 Isiah Kiner-Falefa TEX 3B, SS What are we really buying if it doesn’t come w/that C-elig.? 287 36 J.P. Crawford SEA SS If he holds or adds to the K% improvements, maybe there’s something here 375 37 Mauricio Dubón SF 2B, SS, OF Positional flexibility should get a decent # of PA & could yield a double/double 274 38 Wander Franco TB SS Do we really think TB is playing the 20 y/o this yr w/52 gms at A+? 311 39 Miguel Rojas MIA SS The market isn’t overpaying for his 40-gm spilke 366 40 Luis Urías MLW 2B, 3B, SS He’s just 24 y/o with a mere 422 PA on his ledger, don’t give up yet 374 41 Niko Goodrum DET 2B, SS BABIP meltdown & K% surge killed ’20; basically a poor man’s Villar 372 42 Orlando Arcia MLW SS If the gains from ’20 stick, there’s a path to 20/10 w/600+ PA 444 43 Jazz Chisholm MIA 2B, SS Worth having on your radar for ’21, but almost certainly a midseason call-up 442 44 Royce Lewis MIN SS Worth having on your radar for ’21, but almost certainly a midseason call-up 615 45 Freddy Galvis BAL 2B, SS I meeeaann he did hit 23 HRs in ’19 and is headed to Camden Yards… just sayin’ 470 46 Brandon Crawford SF SS Pwr gains weren’t just park (.231 road ISO), but needs to show they’re real first 497 47 Jeter Downs BOS SS Worth having on your radar for ’21, but almost certainly a midseason call-up 506 48 Oneil Cruz PIT SS Worth having on your radar for ’21, but almost certainly a midseason call-up 710 49 Leury García CWS SS Madrigal could eat a lot of time, but LF isn’t locked down 597 50 Jose Garcia CIN SS Even in 68 PA it was clear he’s not ready, but they don’t have a set SS right now 600 SOURCE: NFBC ADP Since 1/9