On to Shortstops #11-#30!

As a reminder, we rank for On Base Percentage (OBP) leagues and we are projecting the three-year impact each player will have on your dynasty roster.

Enjoy!

#11 – #20

All Matt McLain has done is hit, and it’s quite unlikely he qualifies at SS in 2025 unless Elly gets hurt; now with Gavin Lux in the mix, we could McLain in the outfield, but any team that moves McLain off his position for Lux isn’t winning anytime soon.

As to the prospects in this group, Kristian Campbell, Leodalis De Vries, and Sebastian Walcott, respectively, might be taken as high as the 4^th overall shortstop in a start-up Dynasty draft. I have been a part of enough start-up Dynasty drafts to know that prospects rule, vets drool, and not being aware of that fact can make life managing a Dynasty team harder than it ought to be. My typical strategy is to fade all the top prospects and build my team to win, then take a whole bunch of prospects, hope to hit on a few, and trade those to help me win year 1. Lesson is, always have a strategy going into a Dynasty draft. Of those three, my favorite is Walcott, by the way.

The Angels’ Zach Neto had quite a productive sophomore season, hitting 23 homers, stealing 30 bags, and having a respectable (for the Angels) 147 Runs + RBI in 155 games. His slash line left a bit to be desired, .249/.318/.443 with a reasonable 23.3% K rate. Everything looking up, right? Sorry to douse some water, but here we go. Two bugaboos slow the hype train: #1 Right shoulder surgery in November may have him missing the start of next season, according to the Angels GM. #2, some piss-poor splits. In his two big league seasons (including his rookie years #s since that actually helps), Neto is slashing a putrid .220/.296/.388 against righties in 665 ABs. He’s much better against lefties, with a pretty awesome .325/.388/.548. Neto is the everyday SS for the Angels for the foreseeable future, so they’ll let him hang in against all pitchers, but his splits gave me pause on his long-term ceiling. Though, to be fair, even with those extreme splits, he just had a 23/30 season.

A guy I roster on a few teams, and who had a weird sophomore season, is the Yankees Anthony Volpe. Defensively, he’s great, so very little chance of him losing his spot in the lineup. Volpe improved on a promising rookie season, improving his batting average to .243 (up from .209 in 2023) and cutting his Ks down to 22.6% (down from 27.8% in 2023). This came at the cost of power, as he only hit 12 homers (down from 21 in 2023). Growth and improvement is not linear, so I like the fact he worked on his hitting and saw gains. Now he needs to put it together in 2025. He’ll turn 24 at the end of April, with all signs still pointing in the right direction; though instead of a rocketship, we’re getting a 737 easing its way towards a cruising altitude.

The Twins’ Carlos Correa had a very productive 155 wRC+ for the Twins in 2024…in 86 games. The season before he played in 135 games, and was below average with a 95 wRC+ (100 is league average). Injuries again took a toll, and I just can’t anymore. Moving on, Masyn Winn had a first full season that slipped under many radars, playing for an underwhelming Cardinals team (as a Cubs fan, that made me so happy to write). He played 150 games, slashed a decent .267/.314/.416 with 15 homers, 11 steals, and 142 Runs + RBI. Winn is a little lower in our rankings due to his low OBP, but he had a career minor league walk rate over 10%, so there’s improvement from his 6.4% BB rate in 2024. A 20/20 guy for many years is quite easily attained.

Oh what to do with Bo Bichette? Coming off easily his worst pro season where his right calf doomed him to only appearing in 81 underwhelming games, with nine combined homers and steals. His BB% and K% rates were right in line with his career average, but his BABIP was the most glaring, a quite low .269 compared to a career average of .338. This is a guy entering his age-27 season and has only had one big league season with a batting average lower than .290 (last year’s .225). His low walk rate dings him in OBP leagues, and he may not be a 30/20 guy, but a 25/10 one with lots of counting stats and a more-than-respectable slash line is my target line for him in 2025. There was a trade in my main Dynasty, 16-teamer, that included Bichette going one way, and our #20 SS, Ezquiel Tovar going the other (Full trade was Tovar + Andrew Painter for Bo and Mitch Keller). Tovar is now entering his third full big league season (nine games played in 2022 notwithstanding), and is inching closer to league-average wRC+ (it was 95 in 2024). 26 homers looked mighty good, along with decent counting stats, 161 Runs + RBI. Only six steals after 11 in 2023 disappointed, as Tovar stole more than 30 in multiple minor league seasons. Tovar is above-average defensively, so should play in 150+ games if healthy. Steady improvement is better than none, so cautiously target Tovar if price is right.

(Phil Barrington)

#21 – #30

Here we go! There are 10 dudes listed in my grouping and so many of them are personal targets or players I think have a lot of value. Let’s start with the value grabs shall we?

Dansby Swanson, Jeremy Peña, and Xavier Edwards are not perfect SS1s for your roster. But they are solid options to fill the MI spot. Swanson may not rise again to the offensive powerhouse level he was in his 2022 walk year. But he quietly flirted with a 20/20 season last season (16 homers and 19 steals) and was a league-average bat overall (99 wRC+). Contact and Statcast metrics have held up year over year to boot. So you know what you’re going to get with him in ’25: Another shot at 20/20 along with roughly 150 R+RBI.

Peña is perhaps his statistical twin as far as potential fantasy contributions. Expect similar HR/SBs but fewer R+RBI as the Astros aren’t as potent a lineup as the Cubs. Peña’s superior eye will translate to a higher OBP and he’s 3 years Swanson’s junior. While he doesn’t have quite the same track record of stability, I’d personally lean Peña if I had my druthers.

Edwards is a strong bet to be among the league leaders in steals if he can hit well enough to keep playing time. Blake Snell’s favorite prospect for years, Edwards finally latched onto a starting role last summer and his extrapolated SB rate would make you drool (71 steals over a full season if you do math like me). That high of a count is a tough task to maintain, but most public projections underestimate his potential in my eyes. Speaking of eyes, he judges the zone well and when a pitch is hittable, he hits it almost 90% of the time. The question mark is if he’s able to hit with authority consistently. An 86 MPH avgEV and 1.8% Barel% do not lead us to good conclusions. I’m not staying away from Edwards, but not actively pursuing him either.

But, I am pursuing several of the prospects in this group. Anyone who knows me knows my infatuation with Carson Williams and Jordan Lawlar. Williams is a glove-first, toolbox of a shortstop. Spending all of ’24 in Double-A, we don’t have a lot of statistical data on Williams’ power and speed. But we do have results: 20 homers and 33 steals, along with a .256/.352/.469 line. I get elated whenever I watch clips of his. Then I douse myself with cold water and look at his sub-70% contact rates. No question that he’s an offensive work in progress but his glove will allow him plenty of plate appearances at both Triple-A and likely the big leagues this year.

Lawlar is probably the poster boy for prospect fatigue right now. A top 10 prospect yearly for the last few years, multiple injuries allowed him to only play in two dozen MiLB games last year. A severe hamstring pull after recovering from thumb ligament surgery aren’t exactly related, but they are notable in someone so young into his career. When healthy, Lawlar has speed for days and could slot into the Arizona starting lineup anywhere on the infield dirt. There are questions surrounding his power but he’s far from an Xavier Edwards-type bat. If you’re looking for an upside play at shortstop, he’s definitely one to kick the tires on.

Jesus Made, JJ Wetherholt, and Colt Emerson are three other prospects here that I’m not actively trying to roster but that’s not to say I wouldn’t want to roster them. Made is rightfully the top dawg in the online hype machine. Real-life scouts to internet GMs all think he’s a righteous dude and dream at night of his future potential. I think Made is obviously someone to target but the hype surrounding him likely pushes his cost too high in any trades. Wetherholt is a floor-over-upside type that could prove me wrong in that simple descriptor. I want to wait until I see the fantasy pudding before looking to acquire him though. In FYPDs I’m taking players like Konnor Griffin before selecting Wetherholt. But if you have a top 10 selection, I wouldn’t fault you for grabbing him when able based on that supreme hit tool floor with proximity on his side.

Emerson is someone who I may start targeting after his injury-riddled 2024. Drafted in ’23, he was similar in scouting reports to Wetherholt and had a banger of a debut season. The dreamy .374/.496/.549 line in 24 professional games as a 17-year-old had him all the rage. Last year started in Low A where he was really good. But a quick promotion to High A and a series of intermittent injuries resulted in an average line that I think is hanging in many prospectors’ heads.  There could be a small window as we enter ’25 before people start to remember how good Emerson can be.

(Chris Knock)