Shortstop Rankings

Welcome to the weakest position in all of baseball!  We start with what they did last year.  Green indicates a player's rank has increased from the standard player rater, red indicates a player's rank has decreased from the standard player rater, and italics indicates a player missed significant time last season.

1. Ian Desmond (9.69)
2. Jose Reyes (9.51)
3. Derek Jeter (8.81)
4. Ben Zobrist (8.10)
5. Starlin Castro (7.79)
6. Jimmy Rollins (7.76)
7. Hanley Ramirez (7.48)
8. Alcides Escobar (6.64)
9. Marco Scutaro (6.50)
10. Elvis Andrus (5.47)
11. Erick Aybar (4.90)
12. Asdrubal Cabrera (4.79)
13. Danny Espinosa (4.27)
14. Alexi Ramirez (2.99)
15. Everth Cabrera (2.69)
16. Mike Aviles (1.82)
17. Rafael Furcal (1.57)
18. J.J. Hardy (1.45)
19. Josh Rutledge (1.32)
20. Jed Lowrie (1.05)

I suppose it could be debated that the catcher position is weaker but I'd much prefer the 20th ranked catcher than what's at the end of this list.  Either way, you're only going to want one, and grabbing one early would probably be wise.

Tier 1 - Troy Tulowitzki, Jose Reyes

  Tulo will be at the top of this list if he stays healthy.  Reyes has been at the top of this list for the past two years and now he moves to a hitter's division and a loaded lineup.  If you believe that Tulo has finally figured out how to stay healthy, by all means take him as the first shortstop.  If you still have doubts about that then take Reyes.  I still have doubts.

Tier 2 - Starlin Castro, Ben Zobrist, Hanley Ramirez
  Understand Zobrist's value is significatly better because of his OPS.  I would probably have him a tier lower in standard league.  Castro could easily outperform his 5th place ranking, while Hanley could easily falter some but he's still worth this spot based on what else is out there.  

Tier 3 - Elvis Andrus, Ian Desmond, Jimmy Rollins, Asdrubal Cabrera

  Northrop sees a huge drop-off between the previous tier and these guys.  Desmond did lead the position last year but few believe he can do it again.  I like the rest of these guys based on where they're being taken in drafts and I see the largest drop-off between these guys and the next tier.  It's perfectly ok to reach for one of these guys to avoid getting stuck with the next group of guys.

Tier 4 - J.J. Hardy, Danny Espinosa, Derek Jeter, Erick Aybar, Jed Lowrie, Alcides Escobar
  There's some big risk in this tier but there's also some rewards too.  Hardy, Espinosa, Jeter, and Lowrie have the ability to hit close to twenty home runs.  Aybar and Escobar should steal over twenty bases and are expected to hit towards the top of the order, although Escobar's ugly OBP has me scratching my head as to why.

Tier 5 - Andrelton Simmons, Marco Scutaro, Josh Rutledge
  With Simmons and Rutledge we haven't seen enough to know whether they belong in the class above or the class below but they're off to a decent start for their career.  With Scutaro, we've seen too much, but the investment the Giants made leads me to believe he still has a little bit left.

Tier 6 - Alexi Ramirez, Zack Cozart, Jean Segura, Dee Gordon, Everth Cabrera

  When filling my middle-infield spot, I would much rather take any of the players in the fifth tier of second basemen, so that's why I'm making a sixth tier for these guys.  These guys start at shortstop because of their glove first and foremost.  These young players might become great ball players as they mature, but they're unlikely to have much value in a league with OPS.

Look for my outfield rankings on Monday!