Once again, the top 20 shortstops for 2014 fantasy baseball look a whole lot better than the top 20 2nd basemen for 2014 fantasy baseball. For the first time that I can remember, I want a shortstop from the top tiers. Usually I punt shortstops along with catchers due to how bad they are, but this year it’s pretty clear 2nd basemen are worse than shortstops and I like quite a few shortstops. Hey, you gotta be malleable in this fantasy baseball game. Malleable is also a great name for a baby girl. Feel free to take it for your daughter if you so desire. As with the other top 20 rankings, I point out where I think tiers start and stop and my projections. All the 2014 fantasy baseball rankings can be found under that thing that says 2014 fantasy baseball rankings. Unsuccinct! Anyway, here’s the top 20 shortstops for 2014 fantasy baseball:
1. Hanley Ramirez – Went over Hanley’s projections at the top 20 for 2014 fantasy baseball.
2. Troy Tulowitzki – This is the first tier. This tier goes from here until Andrus. I call this tier, “Shortstops don’t look bad at all.” The top shortstop in the tier, “Shortstops don’t look bad at all” doesn’t even play more than 130 games. Hahahahahahah *breathe, Grey, breathe* Whew, lost my shizz there for a second. I was just thinking about how Tulo ‘doesn’t look bad.’ Hahahahahahaha… *grabs a paper bag to breathe into, can’t find a paper bag, goes to the supermarket to get a paper bag, realizes they don’t have paper bags anymore, sees a Power Rangers lunch box, breathes into that instead* Okay, okay, I’m good now. I just need to take better care of my excitableness (Made-up Word of the Day!). The reason why I’m saying Tulo doesn’t look bad is because even if he gets hurt (which he will), he still gets 25 homers and a .300 average for those 125 games he does play. If he somehow stays healthy, then he’ll have a huge year. 2014 Projections: 81/27/92/.305/2
3. Ian Desmond – Segura was the best shortstop last year in a tie with Desmond. The list of how many shortstops have back-to-back 20/20 seasons is pretty short. Okay, there’s no list as much as a Post-It note stuck to Desmond’s head. To go with 20/20 seasons the last two years, he also has .292 and .280 averages. Also, he has 70+ runs and 70+ RBIs. Not a whole lot to not like. Is there reason for caution? Well, he did hit .253 one year and his power went from 25 homers to 20 homers in the last two years. Considering Reyes has gone from solid to crizzap the last two years, I’d say there’s a lot more caution with him than Desmond. If you were to say to me, “Grey, your mustache makes Tom Selleck blush and I’m here to guarantee you a 15/17/.260 year from Desmond,” I’d take that right now from my shortstop. And that’s the low end of his projections. 2014 Projections: 71/20/87/.271/17
4. Jean Segura – Okay, maybe I’m completely crazy. Maybe I should be committed and have someone pat the drool from my chin. Maybe I should be the meat in a crazy sandwich between Margot Kidder and Amanda Bynes. But — again with some stank — BUT the shortstops don’t look bad at all. Fo’eally. And I kinda love Segura. I contemplated moving Segura into the top 20 overall and could see skipping Hanley and Tulo for a 1st baseman or outfielder and going with the upside of Segura a round later. His previous year’s 12 homers is completely doable again. 44 steals doesn’t seem at all like a stretch either. One year in the minors, he stole 50. A 10-homer, 50-steal guy is a 2nd rounder if he’s not hurting you in average. Segura should hit at least .280 with no problem. His counting stats took a hit last year with the loss of Hart, Braun and the entire Brewers lineup. Hard to say where they will be this year, but I’d bet on the best shortstop last year, according to our Player Rater, getting better. He better, he better, I bet. 2014 Projections: 78/9/47/.287/36
5. Elvis Andrus – His lineup and park makes for a counting stats jubilee. (Don’t say the word jubilee out loud or someone will think you just asked to be a part of the Knockout game. “It’s not a hate crime because the victim said the word ‘jubilee.'” That’s a judge in a Knockout case.) It sucks — or swucks if you have fat fingers — that Andrus will never realize the 10-homer power I thought he’d have. (Yes, I only said that to try to reverse jinx him…Wait, is this reverse jinxing my reverse jinx? Dah!) 2014 Projections: 93/7/70/.279/34
6. Jose Reyes – This is a new tier. This tier goes from here until Simmons. I call this tier, “I’d draft from this tier, but I’d prefer to have a shortstop already or wait until later.” A speed guy’s hamstrings age like a dog only instead of seven years for every one year, their hamstrings age at a rate of 5 years for every one. So this year Reyes’s hamstrings are going to be 155. I wonder if he’ll only play one game this year to get into the Guiness record books for the oldest hamstrings ever. Reyes isn’t getting better. The fear is he’ll be getting worse. Much worse. His name value is a whole lot more exciting to me than his actual value. 2014 Projections: 87/13/56/.288/25
7. Ben Zobrist – Went over Zobrist’s projections at the top 20 2nd basemen for 2014 fantasy baseball.
8. Everth Cabrera – A case could made for a guy like Hardy or Alexei Ramirez to be ranked up here and Everth further down. I’m not going to make that case. Snafu Larry might make that case for you. Everth has 45-steal speed. He could steal 70 bases if he were on base enough. He did in the minors one year when he hit .284. Unfortch, he’ll hit .250-ish and steal 45 to 55 bases. Not unfortch, that’s still very solid. Assuming he doesn’t get suspended for steroids again. Stop trying to top 5 homers! 2014 Projections: 82/4/39/.249/51
9. Andrelton Simmons – He hit 17 homers last year which seems like a lot. Excuse me, it seems like a lot for him. Ah, those pesky italics. You rang? No, Random Italicized Voice. Okay, better if you text anyway, I’m in a movie– You shush yourself! All right, I should go. Lates. Andrelton never approached that kind of power in the minor leagues. Maybe he found the secret to unleashing the power right after he was done plotting world domination. He’s an alien! The truly odd thing (besides how he drinks through his ears) is he actually has 20-steal speed not 20-homer power, which comes after he stole only 6 bases. I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see him be a 6-homer, 20-steal guy rather than those reversed, but if he can hold around 15 homers and get those 20 steals, he could be in for a solid year. What won’t be solid is his average. He hits way too many pop-ups, leading the league with a 17.8%. That’s five ways to Sunday bad. A guy that pops up almost twenty percent of the time has a real chance of hitting .220. Here’s hoping he can hit less pop ups without lowering his fly ball rate. Unlikely, but possible. 2014 Projections: 66/14/74/.259/12
10. Starlin Castro – This is a new tier. This tier goes from here until Asdrubal. I call this tier, “The FUPA.” There’s a decent body of shortstops above, and some good ones down below, so we’d be fine without many in the middle, but here is a hanging mass in the middle too — the FUPA. Weird how some guys have a poor year, but everyone expects them to bounce right back. I don’t think Castro is one of these guys. People have jumped off of Castro quicker than you jumped off that girl you woke up next to that in the light of day revealed a pusy cold sore. That’s one S as in pus; don’t sue me for libel. I feel like Asdrubal has more people believing he can hit 20+ homers again than Castro can bounce back and be half-decent. Yet, Castro came up with huge expectations, and they all went out the window. Yes, the Cubs have a guy right behind him that might already be better, but I really don’t see why Castro, at age 24, can’t be a 10-homer, 20-steal guy again with a solid average. Last year was terrible, but I wouldn’t write him off yet. 2014 Projections: 76/12/54/.274/18
11. Brad Miller – Went over Miller’s projections in the top 20 2nd basemen for 2014 fantasy baseball.
12. Jurickson Profar – Went over Profar’s projections in the top 20 2nd basemen for 2014 fantasy baseball.
12. Jimmy Rollins – With his 4th pick, Uncle Pete takes Jimmy Rollins. Damn, Uncle Pete, should’ve done a bit more research and not just went by gut. “I remember one game where Rollins personally destroyed my Mets. I think it was 2007….Maybe 2008.” That’s Uncle Pete explaining his draft pick. Rollins isn’t destroying anything anymore, except maybe fantasy teams that draft him. He had a particularly bad year in 2013 because of the lack of Phillies offense. Assuming they get a tad better for his counting stats, and he can stave off Father Time another year, he shouldn’t be completely done. BTW, wasn’t Father Time in Morris Day’s band? 2014 Projections: 71/12/57/.249/20
13. Alcides Escobar – When you said, “Hey, garbage,” half of the Royals lineup turned their head last year. Alcides was a prime culprit of producing utter poppycock, and not the good poppycock that is candied popcorn, but the poppycock that looks more appropriate spelled poopycock, except then you have someone from GLAAD breathing down your neck. Literally. Escobar needs to just get his average up to his career norm and everything else should follow with him being a solid MI. 2014 Projections: 64/6/60/.263/32
14. Asdrubal Cabrera – Man, he really peaked early in his career, huh? Not to answer, but to ponder. At age 26, he hit 25 homers and looked like a firebrand of biblical proportions. A Drubal to end all Drubals. Turned out that 25-homer year was all rubbish. He doesn’t have 25 homer power. No matter what his 2011 says. But as long as you don’t expect that, he does have a place on fantasy teams. 2014 Projections: 69/15/73/.262/10
15. J.J. Hardy – This is a new tier. This tier goes from here until Jeter. I call this tier, “Stupid Others!” What I mean by the tier name is Others like these players more than me. I will cap Others, but they don’t deserve it. It being the respect of the capitalization! If a shortstop is gonna do PEDs, wouldn’t you think it would be J.J. Hardy? I wonder why he doesn’t. Solve that mystery, Hardy boy! 2014 Projections: 61/23/70/.245/2
16. Alexei Ramirez – Technically, last year won’t be considered a career year if he does it again this year. With that said, last year was a career year, if you catch my drift. 2014 Projections: 64/8/69/.268/20
17. Erick Aybar – Erick Aybar and Alexei are tomato-tomato with a different emphasis. Erick Aybar could have a career year and steal 30 bases with 10 homers…Oh, wait, he did that already. In 2011. 2014 Projections: 79/6/51/.278/15
18. Jed Lowrie – Went over Lowrie’s projections in the top 20 2nd basemen for 2014 fantasy baseball.
19. Dee Gordon – He can steal 70 bases if he can play and get on base. That’s sweet; too bad it’s giving me caveats. 2014 Projections: 58/1/24/.242/39
20. Jhonny Peralta – Here’s what I said about Jhonny when he signed with the Cards, “After hearing about the signing, Pete Kozma’s agent said, “I told him to go with Khozma. He complained it looked like a terrorist nation.” Kozma’s agent is his newly-divorced mom. Peralta doesn’t change a whole lot for fantasy on the Cards. He’s a 15-ish homer, .250-ish average guy. Much better in real world terms, which involves people being compared to Ruthie from Real World: Hawaii.” And that’s me quoting me! 2014 Projections: 61/14/70/.256/4
21. Derek Jeter – I wonder if he’ll continue to date supermodels and actresses as he gets into his 40’s. At a certain point, he’s either going to come off as Matthew McConaughey from Dazed and Confused or he’s gonna start dating women his own age. Can’t really imagine that. Can you see Jeter dating, say, Hilary Clinton? 2014 Projections: 64/8/40/.270/7
22. Xander Bogaerts – This is a new tier. This tier goes from here until Romine. I call this tier, “Damn, the shortstops are deep.” Bogaerts played some 3rd base and shortstop this past year, but even if he doesn’t have shortstop eligibility to start the year, he’ll be playing shortstop to start the year. I already went over my Xander Bogaerts fantasy. It had an Amish man riding a unicorn. 2014 Projections: 69/14/73/.250/6 (if he starts the year with the club)
23. Chris Owings – See the top 50 fantasy baseball prospects for Prospect Scott’s take on Owings. He could be your 2014 Rookie of the Year. (I will point to this if he is, and forget about it if he’s not. Like the grounds on The Shining, I got hedges for days!) 2014 Projections: 62/10/53/.258/14
24. Jonathan Villar – There’s seriously so many shortstops I’d draft. Villar is on a garbage team, but he can steal 50 bases. Don’t make me pull out the interrobang for that. To read more, here’s Sky’s Jonathan Villar sleeper post. 2014 Projections: 55/4/52/.238/38
25. Zack Cozart – Put this guy in the same file folder as Bourjos, Fowler, Brantley and any other guy that stole a bunch of bases in the minors but hasn’t done the same in the majors. Cozart had a 30-steal season in the minors. In Triple-A too, so it wasn’t like it was long ago. If you just jumped out of a DeLorean and said you came from the future and told me Cozart just had a 15 homer, 30 steal season, I wouldn’t be shocked. I’d be furious that’s the information you bring me from the future. Also, guess who’s going to see a ton of fastballs from pitchers because they’re gonna be dealing with Hamilton stealing? Cozart, doode, that was an easy question. C’mon. He could be a garbage 13-homer, zero steals guy or a lot more. Worth the buck or two to find out. 2014 Projections: 79/14/64/.252/5
26. Didi Gregorious – Didi, Didi, can’t you see? Sometimes your hitting hypnotizes me. That’s the Gregorious D.I.D.I. Ofttimes, your hitting bores me, but there’s some small chance of upside with power and speed. 2014 Projections: 62/10/65/.262/3
27. Jordy Mercer – He sounds like the full name for a Chrysler. This showcase showdown winner will get an all-new…convertible…Jordy Mercer! The Jordy Mercer gets 36 miles per gallon and could hit 15 homers and be this year’s Brian Dozier. 2014 Projections: 71/12/54/.249/5
28. Eduardo Nunez – He can do what Jeter can do now (and be ranked about ten spots higher), but I’m not sure the Yankees let him get the necessary ABs, see? Alphabet humor! 2014 Projections: 52/5/48/.278/15
29. Andrew Romine – He’s got some speed and leafy greens. 2014 Projections: 53/2/49/.249/15
30. Josh Rutledge – Went over Rutledge’s projections in the top 20 2nd basemen for 2014 fantasy baseball.
30. Jose Iglesias – He reminds me a bit of Adeiny Hechavarria and not just because he’s known for his glove…Actually, that is the reason. I just can’t lie to you. Wait, I meant lie next to you. Rawr! UPDATE: Iglesias out for the year. 2014 Projections: 46/7/51/.277/9
30. Brian Dozier – This is a new tier. This tier goes from here until the end. I call this tier, “Barf.” Went over Dozier’s projections in the top 20 2nd basemen for 2014 fantasy baseball.
31. Nick Franklin – Went over Franklin in the top 20 2nd basemen for 2014 fantasy baseball.
32. Stephen Drew – Last year was about the best we could hope for from Drew. He hit 13 homers and six bases. Don’t expect balloons to fall from your ceiling if you draft him. My ranking and projections are assuming he signs with a team and gets an everyday job. Hopefully, it’s not a job on a team with a guy ranked above him. 2014 Projections: 52/9/57/.242/3
33. Yunel Escobar – Joe Maddon loves Yunel, so if Joe Maddon is in your fantasy league, draft Yunel and trade him to Maddon for a better shortstop. 2014 Projections: 64/8/59/.252/5
34. Brandon Crawford – When Giants fans talk about a time that is BC, they mean before Brandon Crawford gets up and ends the inning. 2014 Projections: 48/8/51/.242/2
35. Adeiny Hechavarrria – If you have a category in your league for Web Gems, he shoots up the rankings. Last year in 148 games, guess how many runs and RBIs Adeiny had. Go ahead, I’ll wait. *scratches chin, burps, flips through TV channels, stops on Antique Roadshow, goes through closets for Ming dynasty-era jade, gives up* He had 30 runs and 42 RBIs! Wow! Since 1900, Adeiny had the 2nd lowest number of runs with at least 578 plate appearances. Number one was the incomparable Leo Cardenas, who was a born-again Christian and refused to score. 2014 Projections: 37/4/47/.239/14
36. Rafael Furcal – His last full year was 2009 when he had the line of 92/9/47/.269/12. Last year he had Tommy John surgery and he’s 36 years old. If you’re wondering why I’m even mentioning him, he signed on to be a leadoff hitter for a team. I’ll give you two guesses who signed him. It’s not the Astros. Nope, not the Padres. Your Miami Marlins! 2014 Projections: 54/4/28/.252/11
37. Danny Espinosa – The bad news is he doesn’t have a starting job. The good news is you don’t even have to think about drafting him. The partially related news is at least he’s not Ruben Tejada. 2014 Projections: 27/6/22/.231/4
