Updated Fantasy Baseball Shortstop Rankings - 5x5 Mixed Roto Leagues

With Spring Training upon us, and the fantasy baseball draft season in full swing, it's time to look at the shortstop position and see who may or may not be fantasy-relevant and worthy of a draft pick this season.

RotoBaller's lead MLB rankers - JB Branson, Pierre Camus, Ariel Cohen, Nicklaus Gaut, and Nick Mariano - have all updated their 2022 fantasy baseball mixed league roto rankings to help you prepare for draft day. You can also find our other draft rankings for all sorts of league formats, continually updated throughout the preseason, right here in our main fantasy baseball Rankings Wizard tool.

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Updated Fantasy Baseball Shortstop Rankings

In case you missed it, our very own "Big Pick Nick" Mariano was named the #1 overall most accurate industry expert ranker for the 2018 season, and Ariel Cohen was the top ranker in 2019. In addition, ATC Projections by Ariel Cohen have been the #1 most accurate projections system for the past three years. Be sure to follow their updated rankings and projections all season long!

Tier 1

There's not much to say about Trea Turner other than this: I fully endorse taking him #1 overall in drafts if you go with a hitter over a pitcher and now that Tatis is hurt, it's really a no-brainer for me. Dual 2B/SS eligibility for a five-tool player like Trea who is going to lead off for one of the most potent lineups in baseball is just icing on the cake.

Bo Bichette is the clear #2 SS and going in the mid-first round, right around where Mariano and Cohen have him ranked. He's a fine consolation prize if you miss out on Trea and is poised to have another huge year in a loaded Jays lineup.

After those two guys, there's a big gap until we get to Tim Anderson and Trevor Story, who our rankings have ahead of Marcus Semien and Xander Bogaerts. There's a lot of skepticism about Semien's numbers last year in Toronto and whether or not he can replicate that type of power this year. The big knock on Bogaerts is the lack of stolen bases and going with Anderson or Story is going to give you 10-15 more steals for sure.

I wrote about Story's arrival in Boston here and I think it's going to be a good thing for his fantasy value. Anderson has one of the best hit tools in baseball and just needs to play a full season in order to realize his full potential in fantasy. He played 123 games in 2019 and 2021 and still managed to average 17.5 home runs, 87.5 runs, 58.5 RBI, and 17.5 steals. If he plays closer to 145-150 games, we are looking at a guy who is going to have a chance to lead the league in runs scored while hitting 20 homers and swiping 20 bases.

Tier 2

I mentioned Semien and Bogaerts already as guys who are borderline Tier 1 but are being over-drafted compared to our rankings. Wander Franco falls into that category as well as he's being taken on average a good bit earlier than our experts suggest. There's a lot of hype around Franco so if you absolutely buy into him breaking out, then grab him early, but if you're not sold yet or don't want to pay a premium, then Francisco Lindor is a viable option at a similar ADP and a proven track record. Lindor underperformed last season but is still a toolsy player and is primed to bounce back this year.

The big three here that are potential values at their current ADPs are Javier Baez, Jorge Polanco, and Adalberto Mondesi. Baez and Polanco are both coming off 30+ homer seasons and are positioned well to produce again. Polanco is going to slot into the two-hole between Byron Buxton and newcomer Carlos Correa while Baez will be the cleanup hitter with his new team, the Detroit Tigers.

Mondesi is the guy who is the diciest of the group. His skills have had fantasy managers salivating for several years now, but he's missed a ton of time due to injuries and has struggled to make consistent contact with a career strikeout rate of 30%. But the speed/power combo is unmatched here as Mondesi's ATC projection has him hitting 17 homers and swiping 41 bases. And if he makes more contact than usual, we could see him improve on his career .249/.283/.419 slash.

Tier 3

Players such as Carlos Correa and Corey Seager are borderline Tier 2 options who offer some reliability and both could end up having really solid seasons for their new teams. But the upside picks in this tier are rookie Bobby Witt Jr. and Jazz Chisholm Jr. The price on Witt has steadily increased this Spring as the buzz builds around him and we have no way to know just how bright his star will shine but 33 home runs and 29 stolen bases between Double-A and Triple-A last year can't be ignored.

Bobby Witt Jr. - Kansas City Royals (2)* pic.twitter.com/usNtivcWgC

— MLB HR Videos (@MLBHRVideos) March 24, 2022

Turn on the audio and listen to the beautiful sound of that bat as he squared up that pitch for his second homer of the Spring.

Jazz profiles much like Mondesi in that he doesn't walk much and strikes out too often but is a good bet for 20/20 this year in Miami. It's all about risk tolerance here as Seager and Correa offer some solid, reliable production while Chisholm and Witt are players from whom we haven't seen a ceiling yet.

What do you do with Fernando Tatis Jr.? You shouldn't draft him anywhere close to his ADP, but if he's available around pick 100, then it's not the worst gamble in the world. I'm not convinced he plays this season and I'm not sure even a half year of his production is worth a pick in the first 10-12 rounds.

Tier 4

If you're waiting this long to get a shortstop, there are still some really solid options here and a few guys who our experts project ahead of the field in this tier would be Willy Adames, Brendan Rodgers, and Dansby Swanson.

Adames has the biggest disparity here between his RotoBaller ranking and consensus ADP. After hitting below the Mendoza line for the first 25 games of 2021 in Tampa Bay, Adames erupted for 20 home runs in Milwaukee and slashed .285/.366/.521 in the final 99 games of the season for the Brewers. He and Swanson project for similar production this year and despite both hitting in the latter half of their teams' lineups, they both benefit from being in really good offenses where they have plenty of opportunities to drive in runs and score runs.

Rodgers is coming off his first full season in the majors and 15 home run campaign. While there's a lack of offensive talent in Colorado, he should be one of the few bright spots for the Rockies and is being projected for 18-20 homers with an increase in playing time. He was incredibly effective against LHP last year with a .983 OPS. The lack of steals is a bummer but you're not really getting those from this group anyway and the added 2B eligibility is nice. The former first-round pick has major potential for a big year.

Speaking of eligibility, Jake "the Rake" Cronenworth offers the rare 1B/2B/SS combo in this tier and is about as safe of a fantasy asset as you can have but can you get similar production from Brandon Crawford about 3-4 rounds later? I like them both, but I'll take the discount on Crawford, who is perenially undervalued.

Tiers 5, 6, 7

Tier 5 takes us all the way down around the 180-200 pick range so we are talking late rounds in your conventional sized leagues. Anything beyond Tier 7 and now you're down into the 350 and beyond group so let's keep this focused on players you're more likely to draft in traditional leagues.

Luis Urias is a very popular sleeper around the industry but his ADP (191) has yet to catch up. He's 2B/3B/SS eligible and like Adames, primed for a big year in Milwaukee this season. Amed Rosario is another solid pick down here as he should slot into the two-hole ahead of Jose Ramirez in Cleveland and is an on-base machine.

I feel like we are missing someone though, is there another young shortstop who is getting a lot of preseason hype?

Oneil Cruz crushed this home run in Port Charlotte pic.twitter.com/8hnOVTEoUn

— Jimmy T (@JimmyTrdinich) March 21, 2022

Oh yeah, it's that guy! O'Neil Cruz is the talk of the industry and you simply don't see 6'7" rangy dudes with that kind of power with middle infield eligibility. He's a bad ball hitter and has drawn comparisons to Vladimir Guerrero Sr. in that regard. But he's a free swinger who is going to swing and miss a ton, too. The most recent update was that he will start the season at Triple-A, but with the Pirates having very little talent on the big league roster, it shouldn't be long until he's up and playing every day. He's crushing the baseball this Spring so grab him where you can, but the chances are his ADP is going to continue to rise with each monster homer he hits.

To round things out down in Tiers 6 and 7, we have a few other young guys with upside in Josh Rojas, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, and Gavin Lux. Rojas will lead off for the D-Backs and had 27 combined home runs and steals. He should continue to get a chance to play every day. Meanwhile, IKF landed with the Yankees in the offseason and should have a chance to be their everyday shortstop, too. He didn't hit for power but swiped 20 bags and will join a better offense in the Bronx.

Gavin Lux is a guy who I know some people around the industry are infatuated with (I'm looking at you Kev) but might not have a path to consistent playing time. He's a riskier pick, but has already looked good this Spring and could be a post-hype breakout in the making with opportunity.

The less sexy options here are J.P. Crawford and Jonathan Villar as we move further down the rankings. Both guys have clear paths to playing time and solid on-base skills. Villar even has a little pop in his bat as he hit 18 home runs last season. His days of stealing 30+ bases are behind him but the move to Wrigley Field for home games could certainly help his HR total.

That's all I have for you but make sure you keep reading all of our MLB content to prepare for your drafts and follow me for DFS and betting content all season long, too! Good luck, RotoBallers!

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