2023 Dynasty Fantasy Positional Rankings: Shortstop
The shortstop is the captain of the infield, requiring athleticism, a strong arm, good range and a high baseball IQ. If you can hit—or, better yet—hit with power, you are a coveted asset for both a major league organization and a fantasy team.
It is common for organizations to move shortstops drafted from high school or college programs to a position down the defensive spectrum. Often this is done because the prospect may not show the requisite range for the position—in which case, they may shift to third or second base, depending on their arm strength. If they are athletic, they may move to center field to take advantage of their foot speed. There are other cases where a prospect is moved off the position due to being blocked in the majors. For example, with Carlos Correa entrenched in Minnesota, Royce Lewis by necessity started learning the outfield. In some cases, where we think the player is not likely to debut at shortstop in the majors, we did not include them here.
Our rankings are targeted specifically for dynasty leagues, with a focus on balancing a variety of scoring formats. To achieve this we focused on wRC+ as our primary measure. While wRC+ by its nature is OBP-slanted, we took into consideration high and low batting averages when ranking players. The goal of these positional rankings is to provide the best possible order based on a value of three to five years, which means older, productive veterans are discounted and may be ranked alongside or even behind prodigious talents yet to debut.
Keep all of this in mind when considering your team’s needs and the context of your league. If you are trying to compete in 2023, you should prefer J.P. Crawford over Cole Young (who we have ranked back to back) — but some of your league mates, especially those not competing, would likely prefer Young in a trade.
Because of the depth of the position, we have listed 100 shortstops and added additional targets, sleepers and fades.
1. Fernando Tatis Jr., SDP
2. Bo Bichette, TOR
3. Bobby Witt Jr., KCR
4. Trea Turner, PHI
5. Gunnar Henderson, BAL
6. Corey Seager, TEX
7. Wander Franco, TBR
8. Oneil Cruz, PIT
9. Francisco Lindor, NYM
10. Xander Bogaerts, SDP
11. Elly De La Cruz, CIN
12. Anthony Volpe, NYY
13. Carlos Correa, MIN
14. Dansby Swanson, CHC
15. Willy Adames, MIL
16. Vaughn Grissom, ATL
17. Jeremy Pena, HOU
18. Ezequiel Tovar, COL
A DW Target: Already having debuted in MLB at 21 years old, because of his plus defense and baserunning ability, the floor for the Venezuelan is higher than his susceptibility to chase would indicate. Although his swing decisions are raw, he makes good contact and his bat path leads to more in-game power than the underlying exit velocity data would imply. With all of his tools grading out as above-average or better, having Coors Field as his home park and the expectation that he will be the team’s shortstop of the future, Tovar has the capacity to be a solid contributor to a fantasy team, as soon as 2023.
19. Tommy Edman, STL
20. Jackson Holliday, BAL
21. Marcelo Mayer, BOS
22. Jordan Lawlar, ARI
23. Tim Anderson, CHW
24. Jackson Merrill, SDP
A GP Target: Merrill was limited to 55 games in 2022 due to a fractured wrist and a hamstring injury, but he re-emerged in the Arizona Fall League and impressed there. Merrill combines an advanced feel to hit with a solid plate approach and projectable power. He has a beautiful lefthanded swing with the plate skills and projection to match. A full, healthy season from Merrill could potentially lead to a significant jump up rankings.
25. Royce Lewis, MIN
A GP Fade: You’d be a fool to deny Lewis’ ability—it was on full display in his major league debut in 2022. However, injuries have limited Lewis over the last few years. He’s likely to miss a large chunk of 2023 and you have to wonder how the litany of injuries have impacted him. Lewis is an exciting player but one I’m wary of investing heavily in. While Lewis’ contact and power are above-average or better, his approach is fringe-average. With multiple injuries to his lower half you have to wonder how aggressive he’ll be as a baserunner going forward.
26. Amed Rosario, CLE
27. Nico Hoerner, CHC
28. Brooks Lee, MIN
29. Marco Luciano, SFG
30. Colson Montgomery, CHW
31. Noelvi Marte, CIN
32. Oswald Peraza, NYY
33. CJ Abrams, WAS
A DW Fade: Still only 22, the former Padres top prospect thus far has struggled in his major league career to impact the ball with any real authority. Although his exit velocities have increased as he has matured, his chase rate is still well below-average and he is showing susceptibility to being exploited by major league pitchers (in 2021 in Double-A, his chase rate was under 35% whereas last year, his chase rates climbed in Triple-A and MLB, respectively, to 40% and 44%.). Adding to the concern is that his defense at shortstop has been well below-average using Statcast OAA, meaning that his bat has a lot to overcome for him to be a valuable player. Because of the low walk rates, his OBP will never be high, which will also have the consequence of putting a lower cap on his stolen base totals despite having a 90th percentile sprint speed and above-average baserunning ability (over 40 stolen bases in fewer than 600 minor league plate appearances).
34. Thairo Estrada, SFG
35. Ha-Seong Kim, SDP
36. Javier Baez, DET
37. Adalberto Mondesi, BOS
38. Adael Amador, COL
39. Masyn Winn, STL
40. Zach Neto, LAA
41. Jordan Westburg, BAL
42. Ceddanne Rafaela, BOS
43. Brady House, WAS
44. J.T. Williams, NYM
45. Edwin Arroyo, CIN
46. Brice Turang, MIL
47. Addison Barger, TOR
48. Carson Williams, TBR
49. Brayan Rocchio, CLE
50. Luisangel Acuna, TEX
51. Orelvis Martinez, TOR
52. Colt Keith, DET
53. Angel Martinez, CLE
54. Joey Ortiz, BAL
55. Ronny Mauricio, NYM
A DW sleeper: Mauricio has been ranked quite highly across the industry for years but has not been able to fully manifest the tools into on-field production. The contact quality—especially for a 21-year-old—is excellent. At Double-A last year, Mauricio’s contact rate, exit velocities and barrel rate were essentially the same as that of Gunnar Henderson. The biggest difference was the chase rate, which is quite a large flaw that Mauricio needs to improve. Even still, because of his age-to-level raw power, he is projected to be a league-average hitter at peak with above-average power and a little speed. There are quite a lot of similarities in his profile to Christopher Morel, but with even more risk.
56. Yiddi Cappe, MIA
57. Cole Young, SEA
58. J.P. Crawford, SEA
59. Cristian Hernandez, CHC
60. Trey Sweeney, NYY
61. Mikey Romero, BOS
62. Jose Salas, MIN
63. Eric Brown, MIL
64. Matt McLain, CIN
65. Michael Arroyo, SEA
A GP Sleeper: A young, projectable middle infielder with advanced bat-to-ball skills and elite swing decisions, Arroyo is a high-upside flyer you can acquire for very little in dynasty leagues. Arroyo debuted in the Dominican Summer League as a 17-year-old and hit .314/.457/.484 over 49 games. Arroyo’s baseline skills project well long term and portend a strong debut in 2023 when he comes stateside. In a similar fashion to Adael Amador in 2022, it’s worthwhile to bet on a young player with advanced plate skills.
66. Nick Gordon, MIN
67. Luis Rengifo, LAA
68. Liover Peguero, PIT
69. Eddinson Paulino, BOS
70. Kahlil Watson, MIA
71. Aeverson Arteaga, SFG
72. Jordan Groshans, MIA
73. Maikel Garcia, KCR
74. Jorge Mateo, BAL
75. Greg Jones, TBR
76. Osleivis Basabe, TBR
77. Dylan Moore, SEA
78. Jose Rodriguez, CHW
A DW Sleeper: Based solely on data-driven analysis, Rodriguez is underrated in the fantasy industry. His minor league production in concert with his ability to get the bat on the ball and steal bases implies an average major league hitter with 15-home run power and the potential for 20 stolen bases. Despite a free swinging approach (a high chase rate), he finished extremely strong at the end of the year, improving on both sides of the ball. If he is able to build off how he finished, including being more intentional with his defense, Rodriguez could become a starter in a major league infield.
79. Lenyn Sosa, CHW
80. Wenceel Perez, DET
81. Roderick Arias, NYY
82. Max Muncy, OAK
83. Denzer Guzman, LAA
84. Axel Sanchez, SEA
85. Ricardo Cabrera, CIN
86. Darell Hernaiz, OAK
87. Cristian Santana, DET
88. Peyton Graham, DET
89. Ryan Kreidler, DET
90. Tyler Freeman, CLE
91. Isiah Kiner-Falefa, NYY
92. Gabriel Arias, CLE
93. Victor Acosta, CIN
94. Jose Tena, CLE
95. Jacob Amaya, MIA
96. Nasim Nunez, MIA
97. Xavier Edwards, MIA
98. Miguel Rojas, LAD
99. Kyren Paris, LAA
100. Cam Cauley, TEX
The Next Prospects: who will be next to join the list?
1. Adrian Pinto, TOR (50/Extreme)
2. Kevin Made, CHC (45/High)
3. Pedro Ramirez, CHC (50/Extreme)
4. Eddys Leonard, LAD (45/High)
5. Brainer Bonaci, BOS (45/High)
6. Manuel Sequera, DET (50/Extreme)
7. Ignacio Alvarez, ATL (45/Extreme)
8. Matthew Lugo, BOS (45/High)
9. Leonardo Balcazar, CIN (45/High)
10. Jonathan Mejia, STL (50/Extreme)
11. Cutter Coffey, BOS (50/Extreme)
12. Jesus Baez, NYM (50/Extreme)
13. Leo Jimenez, TOR (50/Extreme)
14. Carlos Colmenarez, TBR (50/Extreme)
15. Cristofer Torin, ARI (50/Extreme)
16. Dyan Jorge, COL (50/Extreme)
17. Angel Genao, CLE (50/Extreme)
18. William Bergolla Jr., PHI (50/Extreme)
19. Danyer Cueva, TEX (50 Extreme)
20. Armando Cruz, WAS (50/Extreme)
21. Yendry Rojas, SDP (50/Extreme)
22. Manuel Beltre, TOR (50/Extreme)
23. Jonathan Ornelas, TEX (45/High)
24. Adinso Reyes, DET (50/Extreme)
25. Braden Shewmake, ATL (45/High)
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