Shortstop is the fun zone of fantasy baseball, the donut shop with endless variety. Everything you want is here, just choose your own adventure. A whopping 16 players with shortstop eligibility finished in the top 100 fantasy players last season, assuming a 5×5 scoring system.
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In an earlier era, the shortstop position was seen as “glove first, hitting a bonus” situation, but that’s gone the way of the dinosaur now. MLB clubs understand you need offense and defense at this critical spot.
Because the position has so many good options, you don’t really need a specific strategy for filling the shortstop spot. You’re going to draft these guys by accident because you’re focused on getting the offensive stats you need. Take note that if your league requires starting a utility middle in addition to a second baseman and shortstop, that UM player will probably be a shortstop because that position is considerably deeper.
More positional previews
Proactive Picks
Zach Neto, Angels (Yahoo ADP 39.0)
Neto won’t be a screaming bargain, but he’s likely undervalued simply because he missed 36 games last year and it slightly muted his counting stats. Neto has improved his average every season and already has the category juice you demand in the early rounds. Even with a pedestrian Anaheim lineup supporting him, I’ll consider Neto in the second round and pounce on him in the third. You want players on the escalator, and Neto steps into his age-25 season.
Geraldo Perdomo, Diamondbacks (ADP 62.9)
Perdomo was the No. 11 player in 5×5 value last year but his ADP is nowhere near that for the fresh season. This presents an attractive “regress and win” opportunity where Perdomo can actually give back a significant amount of last year’s stats and still be a fantasy profit. Perdomo is a high-percentage base stealer, just entering his age-26 season, so I’m not worried about that column. And he’s the rare player who had more walks than strikeouts last year, and those players are always attractive targets. Maybe the 20 homers won’t come back, but there’s enough broad profile here to make Perdomo a cornerstone player.
Colson Montgomery, White Sox (ADP 160.9)
It’s fair to worry about the average, which was .239 with the White Sox last year and just .246 during 376 games in the minors. But Montgomery at least does exciting things when he does make contact, conking 21 homers in just 255 at-bats with Chicago. His Baseball Savant page is full of validation, with plus marks in expected slugging, hard-hit rate, barrel rate and bat speed. Montgomery feels like a cinch for 30-plus homers and he’ll get extra volume as the No. 3 hitter in Chicago. Picking him might require some batting average care later, but we can manage that.
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Likely Fades
Mookie Betts, Dodgers (ADP 38.5)
I’ve often stated that you never lose money on a player like Betts, but maybe the loss years are here. It’s his age-33 season. The steals have all but evaporated. He’s playing a more demanding defensive position. His OPS+ last year was merely 104, slightly above the league mean. He’s also coming off his worst season in all three slash columns. Player ascension isn’t always linear, but player decline almost always is. I take no joy in writing any of this, because Betts himself is a joy.
Corey Seager, Rangers (ADP 65.9)
It hurt me to fade Betts above and the same applies to Seager, one of the best hitters in baseball. Seager’s plate discipline is so perfect that there’s a popular zone-judgment metric that’s named after him. But the reality is that Seager has played just one full season out of the last seven (ignoring the 2020 truncated year) and that’s not a trend to swim against as he turns 32. Seager’s average has dropped into the .270s the last two years and he’s never been interested in stealing bases. I’ll stay open-minded if his price slips in my rooms, but I can’t consider him at current ADP.
Carlos Correa, Astros (ADP 200)
Esteemed colleague Fred Zinkie listed Correa as one of his third base sleepers, and I know from experience that disagreeing with Fred is not a +EV strategy. But I’d like to point out that Correa’s Yahoo ADP is about 60 spots higher than his global ADP, and he’s always going to carry batting-average and injury risk, in addition to the zero you’ll get in the stolen base column. This is also the weakest Houston lineup we’ve seen in a while; the Astros were 21st in runs scored last season.
Sleepers
Otto Lopez, Marlins (ADP 213.1)
Lopez already showed us category juice last year (15 homers, 15 steals), and his .246 average is somewhat misleading. Lopez gets plus marks for his contact rate and zone discipline, and his expected average based on contact data was a solid .269. The typical Miami discount applies, too; it’s a fairly pedestrian roster, which often makes players like Lopez a few rounds cheaper in drafts than is justified.
Ezequiel Tovar, Rockies (ADP 197.7)
Let’s play some Occam’s Razor with the Tovar case. He plays in Colorado. He was a 26-homer guy two years ago. The 2025 mess is mostly excused by injury. Tovar will swing at just about anything but he’s maintained a career .258 average despite that approach. He also has a reasonable chance at double-digit steals over a full season.
1. Bobby Witt Jr., Royals
2. Elly De La Cruz, Reds
3. Gunnar Henderson, Orioles
4. Francisco Lindor, Mets
5. Zach Neto, Angels
6. Trea Turner, Phillies
7. Mookie Betts, Dodgers
8. Geraldo Perdomo, Diamondbacks
9. Corey Seager, Rangers
10. Jeremy Peña, Astros
11. Bo Bichette, Mets
12. Maikel Garcia, Royals
You can find our complete shortstop rankings for the 2026 fantasy baseball season here.
