Fantasy Baseball: SS Rankings (Roto)

Time to round out the infield with my SS rankings. While traditionally not a position with high fantasy expectations, shortstop is currently so loaded with young talent that it’s actually the most well represented infield spot in the early rounds of drafts. Specifically, there are 7 players coming off the board within the first 36 picks. At the same time the difference in ADP between the 7^th SS taken (Story) and the 9^th (Russell) is almost 90 picks so the drop-off between tiers is fairly extreme.

If you’ve checked out any of my other positional ranks this year you’ve noticed I’m trying out a new format. Instead of tiered commentary I’ve broken down my analysis into two sections; overall draft approach to the position and thoughts on individual players. Hope you enjoy the new setup and as always I’d love to hear your feedback.

Note: I’m using a combination of Yahoo and ESPN positional eligibility which cumulatively will be more lenient than some individual sites so a few players you see here may not actually be SS eligible in your league. Additionally, I’m including players who are expected to gain SS eligibility in-season.

C | 1B | 2B| 3B | SS | OF | SP | RP

Positional Strategy

• Get one of the top 7 guys.
  • This seems obvious, but I feel like many owners are still reluctant to invest such a high pick on a few of these players, particularly Villar and Story.

• If I wait I’m looking for speed not power.
  • Speed is scarce this year yet SS seems to have several viable options.
    • Nunez, Peraza, Andrus, Anderson

• I generally don’t want the low average power guys like Miller or Semien.
  • Of course this depends on how you construct your roster, but personally I find it more effective to target that skill set with a different position.

• Don’t overlook safety/stability.
  • Gregorious and Cabrera are two players going outside the top 250 that are plenty usable.
    • They’re ideal late picks if your primary SS is a younger/riskier option (Swanson, Anderson, etc…).

Player Notes

• Francisco Lindor and Xander Bogaerts are so good.
  • This isn’t analysis, just a reminder to not overlook the fact that neither of these guys has a clear weakness in their game.

• I’m all in on Trevor Story.
  • Power and speed are the sexy categories in roto and there’s a legitimate chance Story’s combined total in these two areas will approach 50.

• Don’t reach for Jean Segura.
  • I don’t doubt he’s a productive player, but I’m not paying for last year’s numbers.
  • The team/ballpark change leads me to believe we see a noticeable reduction in both homers and steals.

• Who is the real Eduardo Nunez?
  • Don’t expect 15+ homers again especially now that he’s playing in the worst possible park for right-handed power.
  • Lineup and playing time concerns make me think we get about 70% of last year’s production.

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