Like the 2nd basemen to target, this is necessary. You want to take flyers on late middle infielders. I like a few top shortstops this year: Hanley, Desmond and Tulo, but if you don’t get them, don’t sweat it and definitely don’t ‘panic reach’ for another shortstop just because you feel like you need one. This is a (legal-in-all-countries-except-Lichtenstein) supplement to the top 20 shortstops for 2015 fantasy baseball. The players listed have a draft rank after 200 on other sites. Click on the player’s name where applicable to read more and see their 2015 projections. Anyway, here’s some shortstops to target for 2015 fantasy baseball:
Jean Segura (Yahoo 247, ESPN 211) I already gave you my Jean Segura sleeper, and I ranked him about 100 picks above most big box sites. Yet…Again with some stank…YET! I sense no one wants to own Segura. I get it. He burned you last year like Bruce Jenner’s burning all his jockstraps. He burned me too. Here’s a good thing to remember. This isn’t last year. I know, crazy. When you were younger, you forgot what happened on New Year’s Eve. Now, you forget what year it is. Why do we even care about Segura? Oh, I don’t know, because he was the best shortstop in all of fantasy in 2013 and he’s only 24 years old. I’m not saying throw out his 2014 completely like it didn’t happen, but what makes us, say, throw out Pablo Sandoval’s last three subpar years? It’s not like his great year in 2011 was that amazing. Segura wasn’t good last year, but that doesn’t mean he won’t ever be good again. This year he could be the Liam Nessons.
Danny Santana (Yahoo 187, ESPN 232) I knew I was going to be more excited about Dannys Antana than other sites, but I wasn’t expecting to be over a hundred slots different than some. Antana is going to be the leadoff hitter on the Twins. Burp, fart, IBS symptoms. Right? Well, the Twins were the 7th best offense last year. So, that burp, fart, IBS symptom is bringing indirect relief and you don’t even know it. Also, Antana last year had 7 homers and 20 steals in only 101 games while batting .319. So, ya know, basically, interjection, better than 15 of 17 shortstops ESPN has above him. No, he won’t hit .319 again, but he is fast and can hit .260 and steal 30 bases without killing you in power. If he gets 10 homers and 30 steals, he’s going to challenge the top three at the position. Yeah, I’d take that in the 23rd round of a ten team league if I were playing John and Joe Schmohawk at ESPN. (By the by, sign up for our Commenter Leagues now. We’re not making any new leagues, so the ones that are there are it.)
Chris Owings (Yahoo unranked, ESPN 313) I went over him in the 2nd basemen to target. You know that because you read everything I write. Even that Brad Miller sleeper post last year. Oy gevalt!
Wilmer Flores (Yahoo unranked, ESPN 461) I get the sense that Flores is being ranked low because even the Mets don’t want him. I say they don’t want him because the Mets have been apologizing all winter for having Flores at shortstop. First, they said something like, “We’re not too worried about having Flores as our shortstop.” Like he’s that much worse than Tejada, who they’ve trotted out there for the last few years. The Mets management is worried about Flores, but signed Cuddyer for two years. Doesn’t that say how serious we should take anything the Mets management says. The Mets fans even tried this offseason to start a Kickstarter campaign to buy a billboard to tell the Wilpons to sell the team. (Don’t even start with the logic about buying a billboard. Yeah, that’ll get the Mets to sell the team. “Oh no, Mr. Wilpon, they have a billboard!”) The Mets don’t like Flores, but that should be taken as a positive. Flores hit 15 homers and .321 in Triple-A in 2013 and followed that up with 13 homers and .323 last year in Triple-A. Then he hit 6 homers in only 78 games in Metco. He’s only 23 years old and he’s not bad. I’d even go as far to say he’s good. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if he shocked the world and hit 20 homers and .270. At shortstop? That’s near-top 5 stats for the position. Also, Sky has already given you his Wilmer Flores sleeper.
Jose Ramirez (Yahoo unranked, ESPN 489) Unranked and 489 overall? Whose ombudsman wife did Jose Ramirez sleep with? The unranked thing by Yahoo is pretty much their MO if you’ve been following along with the first two positions to target posts. They don’t rank after 250, which is kinda bonkers, but it’s crazier to think ESPN ranks Ramirez at 489. Some players above him are Ryan Flaherty, Matt Dominguez, Jake Lamb, Joey Gallo, Welington Castillo, Sam Fuld, Carlos Quentin, Jon Singleton… Oh, that’s just naming a handful of players that don’t have starting jobs that are above him. Not to mention, Jose Ramirez is slotted in the two hole above Michael Brantley, Carlos Santana, Brandon Moss, Yan Gomes and Jason Kipnis on a potential top ten offense. The same Jose Ramirez that is 22 years old, and stole 38 bases in Double-A in 2013. I like Lindor as much as the next cat, but waiting on rookies to be promoted is a fool’s game. Sometimes they’re up in June, sometimes they’re up next year.
Alcides Escobar (Yahoo 214, ESPN 199) I’m not a huge Alcides fan, but at 200+ he’d be a steal. On a related note, Alcides is projected for 4 HRs and 29 steals at ESPN, and Segura is projected for 7 HRs and 32 steals, and ranked after him. Jose Ramirez is projected for 3 HRs and 20 steals, and ranked almost 300 spots after Alcides. Oh… *pounds out a chicken cutlet, fills it with spinach and ricotta cheese, rolls it up, ties it with twine, bakes it on 450 for 18 to 22 minutes, pulls it out and breathes in the aroma* …kay. Someone reading over your shoulder, “Did he just drop a Chicken Florentine Pause? I haven’t seen that since a summer I spent in Tuscany.”
