Warning: This isn’t going to be pretty. Shortstops are bad. Its a terrible position. Here is a stretched out “top 20” (not that there are 20 worthy of being drafted). Ugh….

  1. Hanley Ramirez (FLA)
  2. Troy Tulowitzki (COL)
  3. Jose Reyes (NYM)
  4. Derek Jeter (NYY)
  5. Stephen Drew (ARI)
  6. Tsuyoshi Nishioka (MIN)
  7. Jimmy Rollins (PHI)
  8. Alexei Ramirez (CWS)
  9. Elvis Andrus (TEX)
  10. Starlin Castro (CHC)
  11. Alcides Escobar (KC)
  12. Mike Aviles (KC)
  13. Asdrubal Cabrera (CLE)
  14. Rafael Furcal (LAD)
  15. Ian Desmond (WAS)
  16. Juan Uribe (LAD)
  17. Alex Gonzalez (ATL)
  18. Dee Gordon (LAD)
  19. Jhonny Peralta (DET)
  20. Miguel Tejada (SF)


Close un-draftable calls: Ryan Theriot, Erick Aybar, Reid Brignac, Trevor Plouffe.

Hanley is the only great SS. Those who have owned Tulowitzki in the past know how frustrating it is to own him (except for the 12 HR in 2 weeks last season). Tulo is a good option but his price is way too high. I wouldn’t draft him over Longoria/Votto/Braun/Cargo/Adrian. I don’t even care about position scarce-ability with him, he’s not a good 1st round pick.

Reyes should have a nice season so he’s an okay pick except for being injury prone. I expect Jeter’s average to return to .300 but his power and speed are limited nowadays. Stephen Drew could be in line for another .290 23 HR season as he is starting to hit his prime. He is one of the only good value picks.

I have Nishioka ranked extremely high for a guy who typically gets drafted in round 21. I spoke of his talents in the my 2B rankings, but he is really a SS. Since SS is much more thin than 2B I’d use him at SS. He is a japanese rookie who should score 100 runs, hit at or near .300 and steal 20-30 bases. Thats about what Jimmy Rollins does, except Nishioka’s average will be much better. Rollins is a terrible 4th round pick compared to the 21st rounder Nishioka. And yes I’m typing his name a lot to get practice spelling it. Nishioka. Nishioka.

Alexei is underrated and has numbers not far from Jeter’s. Andrus steals a decent number of bases for a SS, but he’s typically drafted too high. To be honest I really don’t like any of the options after this. I could maybe like Castro, but I think he could hit that sophomore slump pretty hard. Alcides Escobar has the chance to steal as many bases as Andrus but the average will be bad. Aviles could hit for average. Asdrubal puts up mediocre numbers. I’m not an Ian Desmond fan. Furcal is injury prone. Uribe and Gonzalez will be nowhere near their 2010 numbers. Peralta and Tejada are good picks if its still 2007. Nishioka Nishioka.

I put Dee Gordon in there because if he comes up for the second half of the season he could still steal 25 bases. This guy might be one of the greatest base stealers of our era. But he’s still a prospect. Watch for him if he comes up and you want Jacoby Ellsbury numbers from a SS.

Good luck with this position. There really isn’t a right answer. Don’t take Hanley over Pujols. Don’t take Tulo in round one. Don’t ever reach on any of these guys. Don’t expect big things from this position. The best thing to do is wait a very long time and try to get someone that does one or two things well to aid to your team. Like average and HR (Drew) or average and steals (Nishioka). And yes there is a chance Nishioka doesn’t adjust to MLB pitching and I cut him in May. But he’s not much of a risk at round 21.

For statistics, comments, and projections on the top 1143 players of the 2011 Fantasy Baseball season purchase my highly accurate spreadsheet. It will put you into your fantasy baseball playoffs. $10 contact me at mbrown3486@gmail.com I will send an example of the 2010 spread sheet upon request.

Check out The Fantasy God’s other position break downs: