The top 20 shortstops for 2026 fantasy baseball are Daddy Warbucks and all of you are greedy Little Orphan Annies with your hands out wanting more, more, more. That’s all right, due to a high-yield savings account in the British Virgin Islands that he hasn’t paid taxes on for twenty years, Warbucks has plenty to go around and you should be plenty satiated for cashola, I mean, shortstops, i.e., there’s a lot of shortstops and you should be drafting them early and often. Okay, let’s get to it! Here’s Steamer’s 2026 Fantasy Baseball Projections for Hitters and 2026 Fantasy Baseball Projections for Pitchers. Subscriptions are up and running, and you can already get Rudy’s Draft War Room. Anyway, here’s the top 20 shortstops for 2026 fantasy baseball:
NOTE: All my 2026 fantasy baseball rankings are currently available on Patreon for the price of a Starbucks coffee, if you get one of those extra grande frappuccino jobbers. Don’t wait for the rankings to come out over the next month, and get them all now.
NOTE II: Free agents are marked as such and not yet projected. They are ranked for where they’re currently worth drafting.
To watch us discuss the shortstops rankings:
1. Bobby Witt Jr. – Went over him in the top 10 for 2026 fantasy baseball.
2. Elly De La Cruz – Went over him in the top 10 for 2026 fantasy baseball.
3. Gunnar Henderson – Went over him in the top 20 for 2026 fantasy baseball.
4. Zach Neto – This is a new tier. This tier goes from here until CJ. I call this tier, “A perfectly ripe avocado.” You carve around the outside, crack it open and there it is. Perfectly green hue, a gentle tap of the knife into the pit and it comes out without any effort. It’s like Ice Cube singing It Was A Good Day, but about avocados. That’s this tier.
As for Neto, last year: 82/26/62/.257/26 in 502 ABs after missing 34 games. This is a guy who is also 25 years old and peaking. A 30/30/.250 hitter who is peaking? That avocado is gorge. The only thing that scares me about Neto is the Angels. They can’t have nice things, right? There was a curse placed on them by the lead singer of Sublime when he drank a bubbling cauldron filled with Mickey Mouse’s tail, while practicing Santeria, then died. RIP but only Gwen Stefani can reverse this curse. Or LC from The Hills. There’s only so many random celebrities from the Anaheim-area! Thankfully, Neto seems better than all of this. Maybe a tad too high on the Launch Angle (17), but HardHit% up, Barrel% up, EV up, Ks up, but not absurd (26.9%), his chase rate was down and he made more contact in the zone. I’m fully in. Let me suckle from that avocado’s slightly weird texture. 2026 Projections: 90/30/74/.256/31 in 577 ABs
5. Francisco Lindor – He averages 30/30 and gets no respect at all. Lindor gets no respect while I literally say he gets no respect and give him no respect. If I had any sense in my medulla oblongata, I’d rank Lindor up by JRam and be done with it. For some reason, I can’t. I don’t know why. He gives me lower half of the top 10. Do these vibes make any real sense? Not especially. Lindor is great; he should be as high as seven overall here, shouldn’t he? No, I can’t. I mean, I could, but won’t. Sadly, for him, and only for him, I can’t trust him fully right now. The average befuddles a bit, it’s just a little too low for my tastes and to get him higher than this. I’d still draft him at 10, so it’s not like I hate him but counting on a 32-year-old to get better feels like a fool’s errand, which sounds like a healthy brand of popcorn. Lindor truly is underrated though, if you can get him here, and you should not be scared. Or scurred, if Chingy is reading. Lindor had $31.4 in fantasy value in both 2023 and 2024. Last year? $31.7. So, why Drafting On A Prayer like Jon Bongiovi if he were a nerd and not a feathered hair God? Age comes for us all and Lindor is 32, but, like Jon Bongiovi, Lindor is as rock-solid as you’re gonna find. UPDATE: Fractured hamate bone. Did all I could to keep him in the top 20 overall as I did with Corbin Carroll, who had a similar injury, but I just couldn’t justify it for Lindor. He’s not a big enough steals threat, and if you take away some of his power, even if it’s for a short period of time (maybe a month), it’s dinging his overall value. Trying not to overreact, but hamates can be tricky. They’re like the wishbone of the human hand and I wish they didn’t exist. 2026 Projections: 89/26/80/.264/22 in 513 ABs
6. CJ Abrams – Corange Juice went 20/31/.246, then 19/31/.257 in the past two years respectively. I can’t even figure out why we’re not excited about him this year. Or at least things feel tepid. Why is he being drafted after Trea and Mookie? Okay, Trea I can convince myself of, maybe, but Mookie? CJ hit for a higher average, is 25 years old, and keeps going 19/31. Is that not better than 20/8? It sure sounds it. Abrams had 92 runs and 60 RBIs, if that’s what you’re thinking. So, Mookie had three more runs and 22 more RBIs. Fine, but 19/31 to 20/8! 2026 Projections: 94/21/67/.261/31 in 584 ABs
7. Trea Turner – This is a new tier. This tier goes from here until Mookie. I call this tier, “A squishy avocado.” Cooked avocado is the worst thing you’ve ever eaten. I don’t know why, but you apply heat to avocado and it becomes a secret other thing, that tastes of puke. This tier isn’t that. This tier is overripe and close to spoiling. Will it spoil this year? It’s possible. It’s browning all around the giant pit. Two types of guys I hate more than most. First, a guy who is in his 30s and seems to be declining rapidly. Second, a guy who is in his 30s and had a seemingly dead cat bounce season. Do I like any guy in his 30s? Great question. I’ll get back to you on that! I kid. I do, of course, but paying top dollar value for one is not usually something I want to do. Paying a “pick around 120 overall” for one? Seems fine. In the top 25, as Trea’s going in some leagues? That’s tougher for me. Of course, that means you miss out on guys like George Springer last year, but those are few and far between. There’s also an element of how much does a guy rely on steals to give value? Aging players who do that, are harder to trust. Not impossible thanks to the pitch clock, but harder.
As for Trea, he went 15/36/.304 last year, as he won the NL batting title, and those 36 steals were his high since 2018, when he was only 25 years old. He was spurned on to steal that many bases like this, “Josh Naylor’s stealing 30? I can’t let that slow f*** steal more bags than me!” Treat Urner let the dog in him take over. Will he follow that with another 35+ steal season? I just can’t imagine it. He could, clearly, but, as I’ve said before, steals are incredibly unpredictable with the pitch clock (after being one of the most predictable categories pre-pitch clock). So, banking on a 32-year-old to keep stealing more and more bases seems crazy. He’s also starting to miss more and more games, and his power is waning. I think I might be the low man on Urner this year. Sad woof. 2026 Projections: 86/16/61/.291/25 in 537 ABs
8. Mookie Betts – He seems to have no interest in stealing a lot of bags, and the Dodgers don’t need it, so why bother? More alarming, his K% is down and his BABIP has plummeted. That could mean bad luck, but here it means he’s old and not hitting the ball as hard. Things are not good under the hood here. Maybe he George Springers-back to relevance for a year, but I’m not paying for it. His current ADP around 50 seems reasonable actually, but it’s also right where I’m drafting my first starter, so I am taking a pass on Betts. 2026 Projections: 85/18/71/.254/8 in 556 ABs
9. Maikel Garcia – This is a new tier. This tier goes until Perdomo. I call this tier, “Cracked, Clickhole and Penthouse.” Mad Magazine was the GOAT, but Cracked had some gems. Onion was the GOAT, but Clickhole had some memorable bangers. That’s this tier. Not the original Playboy, but you could get yourself a few under-the-mattress pointers from Penthouse Letters.
As for Maikel, went over him in the 2nd basemen rankings.
10. Geraldo Perdomo – So, there’s some concerning things under the hood with Perdomo that makes him more Cracked than Mad. Cracked is still good, but concerning point uno: he hits nothing hard. Concerning point dos: His Home Run/FB went from 2.7% to 9.9% and he’s more of a 6/7 (hey, look, I’m appealing to the Zoomers!), which is still extremely low. Concerning point tres: There’s no concerning point tres. So, he’s more of a 10/a steals number/.280 hitter. “Steals” is really kinda up in the air. Last year, he stole 27. That again? I mean it’s possible, but if he goes 12/16/.280, are you going to be Mad? 2026 Projections: 91/12/70/.282/21 in 576 ABs
11. Corey Seager – This is a new tier. This tier goes from here until Swanson. I call this tier, “A paper finger fortune teller.” ‘Member those paper fortune tellers from school that you’d have someone ask you for a number and that’s how many times you’d move it, then you’d open it and ask them to chose a panel and open it and it would tell you if they’d be pregnant by 16 or in jail or both? That’s this tier, but inside each panel it lists a statline, and they have as much a chance of being right or wrong because it’s impossible to know what you’re getting from these guys.
As for Seager, will he bounce back? Your guess = my guess. I’ll admit to not understanding why a guy like Seager, who had three straight 30-homer seasons, then a 21-homer year last year, can’t bounce back, but his early ADP seems to be suggesting that’s most people’s thoughts on the matter. What was equally crazy is how everyone used to love him when he offered no speed and meh average. He is what he is, and that’s to say I don’t know what he is but I think he’s: 2026 Projections: 74/27/81/.273/2 in 473 ABs
12. Trevor Story – This tier feels like Russian roulette. [grabs gun, spins cylinder, slaps cylinder into gun, hands gun to drafter, hammer is cocked, drafter clicks trigger, bam, a burst of gunpowder, chamber is full with “Trevor Story in one of his awful years,” drafter falls over dead] Bye-bye. Trevor Story might be the first guy whose projections could be 1/1/.200 or 30/30/.270. There’s a person out there who drafts George Springer and Trevor Story, and that person has a car. Do not get in it with them. They are crazy and take way too many risks. 2026 Projections: 68/17/71/.254/20 in 434 ABs
13. Bo Bichette – Signed with the Mets. Guess what, Zac Veen and Jordan Lawlar? I have two new members for your Prospblocked team! Welcome aboard, Brett Baty and Mark Vientos! Ya know what’s kinda crazy? One of the biggest baseball writers doesn’t actually know baseball. Ken Rosenthal said Semien, Polanco and Bichette were equal to Alonso, Nimmo and McNeil for offensive production. I’m sorry, but no. Not to mention, aren’t teams supposed to be getting better? Not switch out and be the same as the team that missed the playoffs. Alonso, Nimmo and McNeil are 47 offensive WAR; Alonso alone is 29.2. Semien, Polanco and Boba are 37 offensive WAR. Then they added Luis Robert Jr. who is negative 6.6 for offensive WAR. Wanna argue they got better on defense? Sure, but that wasn’t the statement. Any hoo! Bichette is going to be miscast as the Mets’ 3-hole hitter and 3rd baseman. Or worse Bichette is the two-hole hitter, then Juan Soto, who is the much slower runner but then held up on the basepaths because Bichette is in front of him. Would be like Corbin Carroll in front of Josh Naylor, and holding up Naylor from stealing bags. Metco is a little harder park to homer in, and Bichette was already a poor bet to hit 20 homers. Do I sound down on Bichette? Sweet! Achievement unlocked! He does seem to have solid seasons for fantasy, except when he doesn’t, and he’s awful. 2026 Projections: 79/17/81/.291/5 in 561 ABs
14. Willy Adames – He has a little bit less of the, “I don’t know what he can do,” since he was in San Fran last year and he did what he kinda always does, except for his contract year in 2024, when somehow he even had a higher BABIP. Other players should reach out to Adames to find out how he pulled that shizz off. “What was your magic potion, Captain Adames of the Starship Contract Year?” A little Russian roulette-y with Adames is at some point his massive number of fly balls in a terrible park is just not going to work for him. 2026 Projections: 86/30/90/.229/12 in 596 ABs
15. Jeremy Pena – The year Perdomo just had (top 20 overall) is what Pena is capable of. Only thing really stopping him is a little bit of luck. If he has a huge counting stats year — Yordan stays healthy, Altuve continues to pound ball and Astros get men on at bottom of lineup with Yainer and Jesus Sanchez — then Pena stacks 110+ runs and 80+ RBIs and he’s there in the top 20, because he’s about as much of a lock for 18-ish, 20-ish steals as you’re gonna find with a .270+ average. If that comes with 70 runs and 60 RBIs again? It’s worth a little less than this. UPDATE: Fractured ring finger. Astros have never lied about an injury. If they say Pena will be back by April, he will be back by April. They don’t say what year for a reason. Those lying son of a guns! Did the Astros say a few weeks? Okay, [enters a few weeks into Astros IL Calculator] hmm, says here that he’ll be back in 2029 as a DH. Could that be right? So, I docked him two weeks. 2026 Projections: 74/17/61/.273/18 in 506 ABs
16. Dansby Swanson – And even less of the, “I don’t know what he can do,” but there’s a little bit of a haphazard nature to his stats. Power up! Steals down! Power down! Steals up! Average…well, that’s oddly steady. He’s a bargain this late if you get last year’s numbers again (24/20/.244), but [spinning cylinder of Russian roulette gun]…ugh, Down Year For Speed and Power Swanson! 2026 Projections: 76/21/72/.243/15 in 597 ABs
17. Xavier Edwards – This is a new tier. This tier goes from here until McGonigle. I call this tier, “Am I happy with this guy as my MI? A palindrome of a question!” Yes, I am as an MI. Am I happy with these guys as my shortstop? No, MI. League size does matter, but these guys all feel like the start of MIs. I also don’t believe in punting top positions. Been here, written about this 45,000 times, but will tl;dr it: If someone in your league has, say, Lindor and you have, say, Colson Montgomery, you’re going to need to make up the difference in other places, and that’s a lot of difference. Now if someone has, say, the third best 2nd baseman like Brice Turang and someone else has a guy drafted around Colson, say, Stott, it’s not as big a difference. I can do this with other guys, it’s not cherrypicking. Punt shallow positions, draft aggressively deep ones. Be the jerkoff in your league who has Lindor at SS, and Pena at MI.
As for Edwards, went over him in the 2nd basemen rankings.
18. Jacob Wilson – He had a HardHit% of 19.8, 27.8% fly ball rate and 52.5% ground ball. Bing Bong can do so much. Maybe that park can make him a 20/.300 hitter, but Bing Bong’s gonna have to work overtime, and the cheap-ass A’s — cheap A’ss? — are not paying overtime. 15/.300 has some value though. 2026 Projections: 71/15/68/.304/6 in 531 ABs
19. Konnor Griffin – Already gave you my Konnor Griffin fantasy. It had many typos. UPDATE: With the Spring Training madness and the allure of something special, I have moved him up and upped his projections. 2026 Projections: 57/15/56/.267/20 in 409 ABs
20. Colson Montgomery – I stopped before writing this blurb and doublechecked if I had written a sleeper post for Colson. I hadn’t but that I thought I might’ve shows you I do like him. A “sleeper MI” is a lot different than a “sleeper shortstop.” There’s some fleas here, just not value-ending ones. He had a 29.9 K%, and that could get better — he only turns 24 in February — but he hit .215 in the minors last year and does look like a barely .220 hitter. He might be benefitting from a team that lacks anything around him, so opposing pitchers are like, “Eff it, here’s a meatball for Colson, since no one’s on base and you have Miguel Vargas behind you.” His huge 2nd half of 21 homers in 71 games could portend greatness, or it could portend a guy who wasn’t adapted to yet and is about to get eaten alive. It’s a worthwhile gamble, just know it’s an MI gamble, not a SS gamble. 2026 Projections: 64/28/77/.219/2 in 557 ABs
21. Jackson Holliday – Went over him in the 2nd basemen rankings.
22. Bryson Stott – Went over him in the 2nd basemen rankings.
23. Otto Lopez – Went over him in the 2nd basemen rankings.
24. J.J. Wetherholt – Already gave you my J.J. Wetherholt fantasy. It was written while bowling in shorts. UPDATE: With the Brendan Donovan trade, it seems to open a spot in the lineup for Wetherholt on Opening Day. Aw sookie, I like rookie nookie! I’ll conservatively give him 100 more at-bats on his projections and moved him up. 2026 Projections: 64/16/61/.272/23 in 477 ABs
25. Kevin McGonigle – Y’all telling me the Tigers have a Dingler and a McGonigle? Are they playing baseball or just making up goofy names? So, McGonigle was the AFL MVP (slashed .362/.500/.710 in 19 games) and jumped on people’s radars this fall for this spring. Any real chance it happens for him in 2026? He’s 21 and just reached Double-A, so it feels doubtful. He’s likely the highest upside of this tier, but also the lowest downside as we might not see him until June or later. UPDATE: With Spring Training reps, it’s looking more and more like he’s in the Tigers’ very-close-to-immediate plans. 2026 Projections: 47/12/49/.266/12 in 418 ABs
26. Ezequiel Tovar – This is a new tier. This tier goes from here until Caballero. I call this tier, “Did the abyss smile or frown?” You stared into the abyss and it stared back with a wry smile or a frown. It was hard to see because the water was so murky. While you were staring into the abyss, the rest of your league drafted an MI. This is the last of MIs in a mixed 12-teamer. The next tiers are deeper leagues.
As for Tovar, still kinda believe in him — he’s young, seemed like a 25/5/.270 hitter with upside — but last year was brutal. His last year killed me in a lot of places, and it’s now two not-so-good years with a solid one in the middle. You believing Malcolm or Dewey and Reese? 2026 Projections: 77/17/69/.257/7 in 561 ABs
27. Xander Bogaerts – If you get him after 200 overall in a draft, you’re likely getting a bargain. Now, try to convince someone of that. Not so easy! Almost as hard as convincing someone to sign Bogaerts to an 11-year contract. Only seven more years, Padres! 2026 Projections: 66/11/54/.265/17 in 484 ABs
28. Jose Caballero – Went over him in the 2nd basemen rankings.
29. Anthony Volpe – This is a new tier. This tier goes from here until Williams. I call this tier, “7-11 scratch off ticket but you don’t have a coin.” You’re gonna hit it big! Retire on that lottery ticket! If only you had a coin to scratch it off. That’s this tier. You’re gonna win your league with one of these upside gambles! Or, you might have been better off drafting a guy 75 to 150 picks prior. These are upside gambles.
As for Volpe, he’s gone from ‘some holes in his game’ to ‘his game is holes.’ Will he plug them or continue to sink? Well, he’s starting this season on the IL after shoulder surgery, so not a great beginning! I bet we see the Yankees slow-walk his return and he ends up splitting time with Caballero eventually, and, no, I’m not expecting a huge bounce back. There is a chance he returns, healthy, and looks much better because of that health. This is the price to pay for that scenario. 2026 Projections: 49/14/51/.219/14 in 374 ABs
30. Carlos Correa – “What upside does Correa have,” you think to yourself. See, I’m reading your mind. Also, you should’ve ordered the chicken wrap, you hate tuna! This is after pick 300 overall, so does Correa have huge upside? No. He’d be drafted 150 spots earlier if he did. Maybe he goes 20/.280 with counting stats, and that’s something. 2026 Projections: 56/15/58/.262 in 488 ABs
31. Masyn Winn – He was a sleeper last year, and this year he’s a yawn, but he’s still young and maybe there’s something here. He does have speed and power. [looking at his stats] A little bit at least. 2026 Projections: 67/12/66/.251/10 in 534 ABs
32. Carson Williams – UPDATE: Rays are planning on breaking camp with Carson Williams. [sucking in helium, talking like Daffy Duck] Holy schnikes! [sees he might hit .180 with a 40% strikeout rate, balloon filled with helium quickly deflates] Hmm, so I don’t mind the flyer, but here’s what Itch said, “Featuring double-plus defense and easy power from the right side, Williams figures to open the season as the everyday shortstop for Tampa. I’ve always been low on him compared to the places he’s been ranked in most public facing places because he’s always struck out enough that I feel compelled to pump the brakes. In 32 MLB games, he slashed .179/.219/.354 after slashing .213/.318/.447 in 111 Triple-A games. Wait, should he even be atop this team’s list? Yeah, I think the proximity and power-speed upside warrants the spot. Plus there’s really nobody here to knock him off the top. I just don’t really want him on my teams. Don’t hate him as much as I hate Grey though.” What? 2026 Projections: 41/17/56/.204/14 in 417 ABs
33. Ernie Clement – This is a new tier. This tier goes from here until the end. I call this tier, “Mostly looking elsewhere.” By this tier name, I mean eyes, what are they for if not to see? To see, is not to ponder, but to look deep–I mean look elsewhere where it says so!
As for Ernie, went over him in the 1st basemen rankings.
34. Andres Gimenez – Went over him in the 2nd basemen rankings.
35. Brendan Donovan – Went over him in the 2nd basemen rankings.
36. Brooks Lee – Went over him in the 2nd basemen rankings.
37. Chase Meidroth – Went over him in the 2nd basemen rankings.
38. Zach McKinstry – Wanna see boring? I’ll show you boring! [shows the person this tier] These guys have value, but watching their stats accumulate is like watching paint dry. And not fun paint, like polka dots. 2026 Projections: 46/7/41/.249/12 in 326 ABs
39. Jett Williams – Just read his player profile and it went something like this, “For such a short player, he–” I’m sorry I have to stop you there. “Short?” Did you say “short?” He’s the same height as yours truly! Take it back right now! I insist! So, he was traded to the Brewers. That means the Brewers’ lineup is gonna be Jett Williams/William Contreras. A Williams-Similarona. They have the best Smores making kits! So, Williams is likely still a year away, or at least a half season, and also penciled into the Brewers’ current lineup after the trade of Durbin because the Brewers are always simultaneously rebuilding and competing. The speed/power tools look flat-out nasty, as in a good nasty, but can he make good enough contact? I don’t know. He went 17/34/.261 last year with a 22.9 K% and .321 BABIP, which is a bit of a concern, tee be aitch. It means he makes incredibly weak contact. Worth the squeeze in most mixed leagues if he does break camp. 2026 Projections: 51/6/47/.224/17 in 402 ABs
40. Hyeseong Kim – Went over him in the 2nd basemen rankings.
41. J.P. Crawford – Just Peachy’s fine for real baseball and fairly miserable for fantasy baseball. Incredibly (depending on how much you can stretch what is incredible), Crawford hasn’t really had one decent fantasy season and he’s played nine of them. 2023 was close (19/2/.266) but close is doing some Ivan Putski lifting. 2026 Projections: 54/10/49/.255/7 in 484 ABs
42. Josh H. Smith – Went over him in the 1st basemen rankings.
43. Ha-Seong Kim – Went over him in the 2nd basemen rankings.
44. Jared Triolo – Went over him in the 1st basemen rankings.
45. Jake Cronenworth – Went over him in the 1st basemen rankings.
46. Joey Ortiz – He’s the one great example of what shortstops used to look like in the majors. It was such a hard position, it didn’t matter if a guy had a great bat, people just wanted defense at short. Then ARod ushered in a new way to think about short and now most of the league has a shortstop who can hit. Not the Brewers! 2026 Projections: 58/6/54/.236/12 in 466 ABs
47. Nasim Nunez – Went over him in the 2nd basemen rankings.
48. Brayan Rocchio – Went over him in the 2nd basemen rankings.
49. Brooks Baldwin – Went over him in the 2nd basemen rankings.
50. Gabriel Arias – Went over him in the 2nd basemen rankings.
51. Nick Gonzales – Went over him in the 2nd basemen rankings.
Omitted but considered: Aidan Miller, Colt Emerson, Javier Baez, Mauricio Dubon, Thomas Saggese, Sebastian Walcott, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Leodalis De Vries, Kaelen Culpepper, Ryan Ritter, Darrell Hernaiz, Taylor Walls, Miguel Rojas, Ezequiel Duran, Andruw Montaserio, Jesus Made, Max Schuemann
