This continues my series where I rank the top 10 players at each position, moving on to shortstop, where the Braves lost one of the top 10 players this offseason. If you missed any of the previous editions to this series, follow the links below.
Top 10 Shortstops
- Trea Turner
- Carlos Correa
- Francisco Lindor
- Xander Bogaerts
- Corey Seager
- Bo Bichette
- Wander Franco
- Dansby Swanson
- Jeremy Peña
- Oneil Cruz
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What’s wild about this list is three of the top four guys and four of the top eight were free agents this offseason, with three of them ending up on new teams.
My top shortstop is Trea Turner, and I may be a little biased because he’s one of my favorite players in the league, which is why I’m sick that he ended up back in the NL East with the Phillies. I would understand flipping him and Correa, who thankfully didn’t end up signing with the Mets and is back in Minnesota. That would have been a nightmare.
Francisco Lindo clocks in at #3, and even though he’s a Met, I couldn’t blame anyone if they handed him the top spot. Following a slow start to his career in New York, he bounced back with a monster year in 2022, and I expect him to continue to perform at that level for the foreseeable future.
The newest member of the Padres is at #4, followed by Corey Seager, who haunts the Braves every time he plays them.
Coming in at #5 and #6 are the future at the position. Bichette is already an All-Star player at 25 years old, and Franco should join him as early as this year, despite having somewhat of an underwhelming campaign in 2022.
At #8 is Dansby Swanson. He turned in a career year in his final season with the Braves and was a top-three player at the position, but I need to see it for more than one year before he cracks the top five.
Last year’s World Series MVP, Jeremy Peña, comes in right behind Swanson, and if the World Series was our warning, he will be in the top five on the list this time next year.
I could have gone in a number of directions with the finals spot. Willy Adames and Tim Anderson are deserving, but I went with one of the most exciting young players in the game Oniel Cruz. He’s a true five-tool talent and produced a number of highlight plays as a rookie. Cruz should be one of the ten best shortstops in Major League Baseball this year.
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What do you think? Whose too high, whose too low, and who was snubbed from the list? Who is on your top 10 shortstops list?
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Austin McAfee/Icon Sportswire
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