The Shortstop position is as deep as it has arguably ever been in the history of baseball. That is quite apparent by checking in on our 2018 Shortstop Rankings, where players into the late-teens would still be quality Fantasy Starters.
I am not a baseball historian, but at least in the manner of the modern Fantasy Baseball era, the pool of shortstops has never seemed so strong. There were years where the top of the position was arguably better. The period where Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Nomar Garciaparra and Miguel Tejada all at their peaks come to mind. But as a whole, the position has never seen such a large number of quality players.
My theory is that the shortstop is going the way of the point guard in basketball. Right now the NBA is in a gluttonous run of quality-to-superstar level point guards. The basic reasoning is on the AAU and amateur circuits, it makes sense to have the best player with the ball in his hands as much as possible, no matter their size. Hence we now have the Greek Freak Giannis Antetokounmpo and Ben Simmons basically playing point guard. Both are near 7-feet tall, but still, the smaller guys like Steph Curry and Dennis Smith are point guards as well.
So relating that theory to baseball, when we are growing up in little leagues around the world, the best player is usually playing shortstop and pitcher. These days, the positional focus has started earlier and earlier. Kids are deemed pitchers at age 12 and never really focus on other spots. So the best athletes are beginning to focus on playing shortstop earlier since that is just what they have always played.
This has led to a surge in more balanced hitters with power in the shortstop rankings. Carlos Correa, Francisco Lindor, Corey Seager and Trevor Story all might have been playing third base or outfield in another era. Now, they have the overall athletic ability developed at a younger age to maintain playing one of hardest defensive positions.
As we get to the 2018 SCFE Shortstop Rankings, let’s set up the parameters. Every player in the shortstop rankings played at least 20 games at the position last year. Every site, league, format, etc., use different regulations for positional eligibility so we will use this baseline for this set of shortstop rankings. This excludes players like Chris Taylor and Eduardo Nunez, who may be listed as SS-eligible in some formats.
I’ve also included the current Average Draft Position, as well as the Expert Consensus Ranking both overall and positional. These statistics are up-to-date as of February 28th per FantasyPros.com.
So let’s get to the 2018 SCFE Shortstop Rankings!
2018 SCFE Shortstop Rankings
| Rk. | Player, Team | ADP | ECR | ECR (Pos.) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Carlos Correa, Houston Astros | 15 | 13 | 2 |
| 2 | Francisco Lindor, Cleveland Indians | 20 | 21 | 3 |
| 3 | Corey Seager, Los Angeles Dodgers | 31 | 31 | 4 |
| 4 | Trea Turner, Washington Nationals | 6 | 4 | 1 |
| 5 | Alex Bregman, Houston Astros | 41 | 43 | 5 |
| 6 | Xander Bogaerts, Boston Red Sox | 75 | 69 | 7 |
| 7 | Elvis Andrus, Texas Rangers | 58 | 58 | 6 |
| 8 | Jean Segura, Seattle Seahawks | 80 | 75 | 8 |
| 9 | Trevor Story, Colorado Rockies | 105 | 95 | 9 |
| 10 | Didi Gregorious, New York Yankees | 100 | 128 | 10 |
| 11 | Javier Baez, Chicago Cubs | 117 | 138 | 11 |
| 12 | Marwin Gonzalez, Houston Astros | 136 | 167 | 13 |
| 13 | Andrelton Simmons, Los Angeles Angels | 188 | 203 | 15 |
| 14 | Tim Anderson, Chicago White Sox | 205 | 213 | 17 |
| 15 | Paul DeJong, St. Louis Cardinals | 157 | 185 | 16 |
| 16 | Marcus Semien, Oakland Athletics | 261 | 223 | 18 |
| 17 | Zack Cozart, Los Angeles Angels | 223 | 226 | 19 |
| 18 | Addison Russell, Chicago Cubs | 238 | 234 | 21 |
| 19 | Jorge Polanco, Minnesota Twins | 253 | 246 | 22 |
| 20 | Jose Peraza, Cincinnati Reds | 233 | 235 | 20 |
| 21 | Orlando Arcia, Milwaukee Brewers | 202 | 253 | 23 |
| 22 | Tim Beckham, Baltimore Orioles | 256 | 252 | 24 |
| 23 | Amed Rosario, New York Mets | 248 | 288 | 25 |
| 24 | Chris Owings, Arizona Diamondbacks | 300 | 302 | 27 |
| 25 | Brandon Crawford, San Francisco Giants | 265 | 320 | 29 |
| 26 | Dansby Swanson, Atlanta Braves | 294 | 316 | 30 |
| 27 | Ketel Marte, Arizona Diamondbacks | 410 | 312 | 28 |
| 28 | Asdrubal Cabrera, New York Mets | 302 | 327 | 33 |
| 29 | Freddy Galvis, San Diego Padres | 436 | 486 | 37 |
| 30 | Jordy Mercer, Pittsburgh Pirates | 310 | 591 | 44 |
- As you can see, I am much lower on Trea Turner than most analysts. I just need to see a full season from the guys before I deal with the early-round risk of drafting him.
- There are definitely some regression candidates in the shortstop rankings, but I think that most people are agreeing on them and they have been built into the rankings.
- To show you the depth in these rankings: Amed Rosario and Dansby Swanson have been seen as top overall prospects. Yet, they do not crack the Top 20.
- Marcus Semien is my favorite late-round shortstop. Although he missed significant time last season, he picked up his speed. He is a legit 20/20 threat that you are getting in the Round 20 in 12-team leagues.
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