2011 Fantasy Baseball Rankings: SHORTSTOP

Hanley Ramirez tops our 2011 Fantasy Baseball Shortstop Rankings. A 15 HR September could not propel Troy Tulowitzki into our consensus #1, even though Tulow was the #1 SS in 5×5 leagues on a per-game-basis last year. If you’re drafting in the first round this year, one could not blame you for grabbing one of these guys as the drop-off is pretty sharp after they’re off the board. Might as well wait 6 rounds before taking the plunge.

Onto our Composite Rankings…

RANK	PLAYER	Brian	Mike	Killboy	Jesse	Eric	COMP
1	Hanley Ramirez – FLA	1	1	1	1	1	1
2	Troy Tulowitzki – COL	2	2	2	2	2	2
3	Jose Reyes – NYM	3	4	3	5	3	3.6
4	Jimmy Rollins – PHI	4	3	4	7	4	4.4
5	Derek Jeter – NYY	5	5	8	3	5	5.2
6	Alexei Ramirez – CHW	6	6	5	6	6	5.8
7	Elvis Andrus – TEX	8	9	7	4	7	7
8	Stephen Drew – ARI	7	7	6	8	8	7.2
9	Rafael Furcal – LAD	10	10	10	10	9	9.8
10	Starlin Castro – CHC	9	12	9	9	11	10
11	Ian Desmond – WAS	11	8	11	13	10	10.6
12	Yunel Escobar – TOR	12	13	12	12	14	12.6
13	Miguel Tejada – SF	15	16	15	11	15	14.4
14	Marco Scutaro – BOS	13	11	–	19	12	15.2
15	Jhonny Peralta – DET	14	14	19	14	18	15.8
16	Asdrubal Cabrera – CLE	16	15	18	–	13	16.6
17	Juan Uribe – LAD	20	–	14	–	16	18.4
18	Alcides Escobar – KC	19	–	16	15	–	18.4
19	Jason Bartlett – SD	17	17	–	16	–	18.4
20	Omar Infante – FLA	–	–	13	–	–	19.4

 

Some thoughts…

ELVIS ANDRUS…The shortstop position isn’t as deep as it once was, so if you’re in a keeper league chances are you’re on the outside looking in on the elite SS pool. Enter Elvis stage left.  He’s only going to contribute well at two categories (SB, R) but such is life these days.  He is still very young and if he can find the .350 BABIPs of his minor league seasons, a .300 season is a possibility.  He’s bulked up this off season as he looks to avoid another goose egg in the HR category. .275/85/5/45/33

STARLIN CASTRO…It’s hard to find a SS with a .300 average, so when a 20 year old bats .300 in his rookie season you should pay attention.  Castro’s also shown some speed in the minors, so hopefully the Cubs give him the opportunity to steal more than 10 bases this year.  This kid is no where near his prime, and should only be starting in deep leagues or NL only leagues, but keep an eye this one. .305/65/5/50/18

OMAR INFANTE…Omar Infante will start everyday and hit at the top of the order. Over a full season he will be an above average producer in runs, reach low double digit homers and steals while hitting over .300. I’ll take that from a SS. .305/86/11/51/11

SLEEPER: MARCO SCUTARO…Scutaro set a career high in games in 2010 with 150, though he dealt with some nagging injuries. Marco was still the #8 SS last year. A healthy 2011 Scutaro equals big things. Heck, bat him 12th in that Sawx lineup and he’s still a great fallback option at SS. .275/85/10/55/5

BUST: RAFAEL FURCAL…Bookending his hot streak last year was a slow start and a terrible finish. Look for this season to be like last year minus the hot streak. .280/80/10/50/20