Fantasy Insight: Top 10 Shortstops

Italicized (number) is projected draft round

1. Hanley Ramirez- Florida (1)

2. Troy Tulowitzki- Colorado (1)

3. Jose Reyes- New York (2)

4. Alexei Ramirez- Chicago (8)

5. Elvis Andrus- Texas (5)

6. Derek Jeter- New York (5)

7. Jimmy Rollins- Philadelphia (4)

8. Stephen Drew- Arizona (11)

9. Yunel Escobar- Toronto (18)

10. Starlin Castro- Chicago (15)

Sleeper: Asdrubal Cabrera OR Tsoyoshi Nishioka

1.    Hanley Ramirez

I’ll just let the numbers speak for themselves: .313 career average; .385 career OBP; .520 career SLG; .905 career OPS; averages of 24 homeruns, 39 bags, 112 runs, and 77 RBIS over his five seasons in the league. No other shortstop has numbers like that, and most other players don’t have numbers like that. The biggest issue with Hanley is the attitude. Last season was the ball-kicking incident, and he saw a big drop in runs and RBIs from the season before. Whether that was a lack of effort or not has yet to be determined, but Ramirez has Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria wrapped around his finger and that could be very bad (could this be the second coming of Manny Ramirez!?). However, the Marlins look revamped this season with a better bullpen and a young powerhouse offense, so hopefully a little hope can inspire Hanley to go all out.

2.    Troy Tulowitzki

Tulo is a beast at short, and if this wasn’t a fantasy ranking he would be the number one shortstop (unfortunately, for him, superior defense doesn’t count in fantasy). The Rockies vacuum broke out in his ’07 rookie year where he had 24 homeruns, 104 runs, and 99 RBIs. He bats in the middle of a strong Rockies lineup and plays half his games at hitter friendly Coors. 2009 was by far his best year where he hit 32 bombs with 20 bags. So, we know what kind of potential to expect from him. Tulo’s biggest issue is the injury bug. It’s a mixed bag with him; in ’07 and ’09 he played in over 150 games, but in ’08 he only saw 101 games and last year he appeared in only 122. But, oh the potential!

3.    Jose Reyes

One of the only worthwhile Mets. Reyes’ wheels aren’t as good as they once were, but you could still do far worse at shortstop. Between ’05 and ’08 Reyes was averaging 64 stolen bases a season. Then 2009 came and injury caused Reyes to miss all but 36 games. Last season he fought back and in 133 games hit 11 bombs with 30 stolen bases. Reyes was once an elite shortstop, but worries about his legs have caused him to slow down a bit and the numbers have suffered. However, when compared to other risky shortstops like Rollins and Jeter, Reyes looks elite. If he can continue to stay healthy he could easily return to his 190-200 hits, 15 homeruns, 60 stolen bases form. However, you have to be careful as a drafter, because all of Reyes’ potential comes from his legs, so once they go so does his value.

4.    Alexei Ramirez

Ramirez is pretty undervalued and underrated, and that could provide you with a late round steal in your draft. He’s able to do just a little bit of everything. Over his three seasons he’s averaged 18 homeruns and 13 stolen bases. His average is just that, average, and his walk rate is pretty putrid. But, he has a rare combo of power and speed at short, and that is a lot harder to come by once you get past the top three. Ramirez also plays in a pretty good ChiSox lineup, so he manages to score runs and get moderate RBI numbers. Ramirez is a little behind the pack as far as age goes (he’ll be 30 this season), but he’s been healthy his career and with 20-15 potential at short he could be a huge boost to your team.

5.    Elvis Andrus

Just like Tulo, Andrus derives a lot of his value from his ridiculous defensive proficiency. But, since this is fantasy, Andrus’ value is coming from his steals. He’s managed to average 32 over his two seasons in the Bigs. However, there’s plenty to be worried about. Andrus was never a fantastic hitter, and he’s only averaged to hit .266 over his two seasons in the majors. He did manage to hit .300 and .295 over his final two minor league seasons. Also, when it comes to power you don’t think Andrus. In 2009 he managed to hit six homeruns, but last season he had a total of only 18 extra base hits (0 bombs). Andrus could gain a lot more fantasy appeal if he could rack up some more hits and power to go with his steals, but for right now there isn’t a world’s worth of appeal.