Now that we’ve recapped the top 20 catchers, top 20 1st basemen and top 20 2nd basemen, we’re starting to see clarity on depth of positions, and shortstops are robust, and they will metaphorically eat. Maikel Garcia was a top three 2nd baseman, here he’s 9th. That’s deeper, friend who is thrown by the obvious. So, here’s the final ranking from our Fantasy Baseball Player Rater with my comments. The Player Rater allows me to be impartial while looking at how I ranked them in the preseason. Anyway, here’s the top 20 shortstops for 2025 fantasy baseball and how they compare to where I originally ranked them:
1. Francisco Lindor – This is nothing against him, but shortstops were not nearly as good as I think we expected in the preseason. Lots of guys disappointed to a certain extent. Elly was good, but disappointed; Witt was good, but disappointed; Gunnar was great, if you expected CJ Abrams; Mookie, Oneil, Seager, McLain, Tovar, and Xavier Edwards were all varying levels of blech. There were a few guys who did better than expectations but they were guys you didn’t trust at all (Perdomo, Story, Bichette), which might had you selling high or you just didn’t pick up or hold. As for Lindor, I basically nailed his projections and he’s consistently underrated. The wild thing is even in our top 20 overall podcast the other day, Lindor was still underrated even as I said he was underrated. I guess admitting it is the first step. Preseason Rank #4, 2025 Projections: 112/32/93/.276/30 in 603 ABs, Final Numbers: 117/31/86/.267/31 in 644 ABs
2. Bobby Witt Jr. – Has a bit of a step back year, but the under-the-hood numbers actually say he was as good if not better in some ways. His Ks went up, but not by a lot and his HardHit% went way up and his bat plane stayed the same. I’d guess he was a tad unlucky with where he was hitting his fly balls, i.e., if he pulled the ball a bit more, he’d have a handful more homers. Also, immaterial but funny, if he called SacTown home, he would’ve hit 38 homers. Preseason Rank #1, 2025 Projections: 112/33/102/.314/37 in 611 ABs, Final Numbers: 99/23/88/.295/38 in 623 ABs
3. Geraldo Perdomo – If it wasn’t for Cal Raleigh, more would’ve been made of Perdomo’s insane year. Well, maybe not. Okay, I’ll explain. He didn’t have a flashy year. A guy who hits 60 homers is Big News like his ass. A guy who hits 20 homers and .290 like Perdomo? Isn’t. He is neutrally a .290 hitter though, so Perdomo might be less out of nowhere than first believed. His 27 steals are just so hard to figure, except to shrug and say pitch clock. Preseason Rank #46, 2025 Projections: 66/6/42/.261/13 in 471 ABs, Final Numbers: 98/20/100/.290/27 in 597 ABs
4. Elly De La Cruz – Shame he didn’t play in the 2nd half. Also, can I suggest Bob’s Hypnosis Emporium on Sepulveda? I went in there and asked them to get rid of all the pain from the 2nd half of the season when my teams with James Wood and Elly collapsed and…I’m sorry, I forget what I was saying but I’m going to now cluck like a chicken. Preseason Rank #2, 2025 Projections: 111/30/72/.267/51 in 602 ABs, Final Numbers: 102/22/86/.264/37 in 629 ABs
5. Trevor Story – A career high in at-bats at 32. Sorry, that’s confusing because of his career you might think I mean he had a career high with 32 at-bats. No, 32 was his age. He didn’t even pass 100 games the previous three years. If you drafted Story and held him all year, you deserve the year he gave you, but he also didn’t deserve the loyalty you afforded him. The best place for Story was in coincidentally Best Ball leagues because you drafted him and forgot about him. Preseason Rank #30, 2025 Projections: 41/8/38/.228/12 in 303 ABs, Final Numbers: 91/25/96/.263/31 in 612 ABs
6. Trea Turner – He won the NL batting title with the lowest NL average, and that isn’t nearly as unlikely as his 36 steals. His highest total since 2018. Goes back to my Pitch Clock 12 Rule. That rule states that the Pitch Clock can add 12 steals to a guy’s bottom line if he wants to steal because the pitch clock allows that kind of leeway. This rule is about to become The Josh Naylor 27, because the pitch clock can add a plus or minus 27 steals. Juan Soto adhered to the Josh Naylor 27. Preseason Rank #6, 2025 Projections: 91/20/72/.287/22 in 541 ABs, Final Numbers: 94/15/69/.304/36 in 589 ABs
7. Bo Bichette – Here’s the thing with Boba Chette: You could tell me he’s going to go 78/18/94/.311/4 in 582 ABs, and I would concede that is a solid line for fantasy, but it’s not the kind of line I appreciate. So if you tell me 78/18/94/.311/4 in 582 ABs is the 7th best shortstop, I’d still rank him around 15th. Preseason Rank #24, 2025 Projections: 71/16/73/.272/6 in 507 ABs, Final Numbers: 78/18/94/.311/4 in 582 ABs
8. Gunnar Henderson – Bichette then Gunnar then Grey goes to a therapist. I’m gonna try to be well-adjusted here and say Gunnar wasn’t bad in a vacuum for fantasy. Too bad I don’t play fantasy in a vacuum, and, speaking of vacuums, Gunnar both blows and sucks. I’m still waiting for Gunnar to say he played last year with an injury to his oblique for most of the year, and I guess he’s making me wait until spring training of next year to say it. The most underrated hilarious thing of the 2025 season is the Orioles brought in their fences. Shame they didn’t tell their players. Preseason Rank #3, 2025 Projections: 111/35/93/.289/17 in 569 ABs, Final Numbers: 85/17/68/.274/30 in 577 ABs
9. Maikel Garcia – See his recap at the top 20 2nd basemen for 2025 fantasy baseball.
10. CJ Abrams – Perhaps the best news for Abrams is two players were suspended for gambling last year and he wasn’t one. Just had a thought, what if Abrams hears about the Rule of the Naylor 27? He’d be a 60 steal guy. Corange Juice Abrams seems uninterested in maxing his fantasy value in my mind (I think he’s a 50-steal guy) or I might just have the wrong idea about how good he is. Either way, I basically nailed his projections. Preseason Rank #8, 2025 Projections: 87/20/66/.244/34 in 557 ABs, Final Numbers: 92/19/60/.257/31 in 580 ABs
11. Zach Neto – This end of the year ranking is a little misleading because if you filled in for him while he was out, you got yourself more value than the 11th best shortstop. What’s slightly interesting (to me) is he was only the 5th best everyday shortstop for $/Game on the Player Rater (I excluded Colson, who was 2nd best, because he only played half a season). Top 4: Witt, Trea, Lindor and Story. Thought Neto would’ve been higher. Preseason Rank #23, 2025 Projections: 62/15/69/.241/26 in 477 ABs, Final Numbers: 82/26/62/.257/26 in 502 ABs
12. Willy Adames – If I may pat myself on the back for a second, Adames was another guy whose projections were nailed. Crap, I had ketchup on my hand, can you check to see if I got it on my back? Hello! Little help! By the way, Adames losing value in San Fran was one of the most obvious narratives coming into this year that held true. Kinda crazy Buster Posey didn’t see it coming. MLB needs to make a new rule for GMs, players have to tell their new club that they’re not going to be as good as they were previously. Preseason Rank #10, 2025 Projections: 81/27/92/.238/12 in 581 ABs, Final Numbers: 94/30/87/.225/12 in 591 ABs
13. Dansby Swanson – I get why he’s ranked here and not up by Bichette, but Swanson’s 24/20 and figure out average elsewhere sounds a lot more enticing than 18/4. One small thing on Swanson and a lot of players that I keep noticing: Guys are playing in a lot more games. Swanson played in 159 games. 11 shortstops played in 150 games or more. Maybe it’s confirmation bias because in the top 20 guys will have played more than guys who didn’t make it like Seager or Winn or others. Preseason Rank #21, 2025 Projections: 78/19/67/.248/15 in 527 ABs, Final Numbers: 84/24/77/.244/20 in 590 ABs
14. Mookie Betts – Not a ton was made of Mookie’s fall-off. Mookie Best to Mookie Mid. He went 20/8/.258. If he had one of his fairly common 145-ish game seasons, he wouldn’t have even been close to the top 20. His HardHit% is in the gutter (he understands bowling, right?), and his ground balls are up (not literally). Age comes for us all, and his profile is not aging well. More in next blurb. Preseason Rank #5, 2025 Projections: 107/33/102/.294/17 in 579 ABs, Final Numbers: 95/20/82/.258/8 in 589 ABs
15. Jeremy Pena – Betts’s 20/8 or Pena’s 17/20 in 25 less games and waivers to fill in for those games in mixed leagues? Is there any question which one you want? Betts’s 150 games is doing some heavy lifting with his stats, and Pena’s month that he missed is hurting his ranking here but he was much better than Betts. Pena and Neto would’ve been top 10 players with better runs and RBIs, that come from ABs. Preseason Rank #19, 2025 Projections: 74/14/72/.258/17 in 581 ABs, Final Numbers: 68/17/62/.304/20 in 493 ABs
16. Ceddanne Rafaela – See his recap at the top 20 2nd basemen for 2025 fantasy baseball.
17. Bryson Stott – See his recap at the top 20 2nd basemen for 2025 fantasy baseball.
18. Oneil Cruz – At some point this year, I decided I’m out on the Cruz Missile until further notice. His worst tendencies have planted roots in his underlying skills and his Ks started scouting nearby schools for when they start having kids. Going 20/38 and being this bad is a red flag. He’s reached the point where even the Pirates are done with his shenanigans and dropped him in the order and platooned him out vs. some lefties. I’d like to see him traded to a team that can help him, because the Pirates haven’t had a good coach since Ray Searage, and he was pitching. The last good Pirates’ hitting coach was prolly Jim Leyland, and I’m not joking. Now the Pirates’ motto seems to be a father who catches his kid smoking and puts him in the closet to finish the pack. “Get in there and hack yourself to death until you figure it out.” Preseason Rank #7, 2025 Projections: 81/28/86/.257/20 in 556 ABs, Final Numbers: 62/20/61/.200/38 in 471 ABs
19. Otto Lopez – See his recap at the top 20 2nd basemen for 2025 fantasy baseball.
20. Jacob Wilson – Trying to make this about this past year and not future years, but is there somewhere to bet Wilson’s going to win three or more batting titles in the next decade? If so, I’m taking that bet. Ooh, I’m hearing Emmanuel Clase will honor my bet. Nice! Preseason Rank #36, 2025 Projections: 51/7/54/.263/3 in 503 ABs, Final Numbers: 62/13/63/.311/5 in 486 ABs
