Ranking the top 10 shortstops in MLB entering 2021 season
If you want a loaded position, you won't find any better than shortstop.Not only is there no room in the top 10 for two-time All-Star Gleyber Torres of the Yankees or 2019 All-Star Jorge Polanco of the Twins, but former batting champion Tim Anderson barely cracks the list.The top name should be familiar to anyone following the $300 million extension market, which is good news for the four star players who could become free agents in the fall.Here are our top 10 shortstops in MLB for the 2021 season.
You want deep? Correa only ranking 10th proves it. When Correa won the Rookie of the Year Award at age 20 in 2015, it looked like he might redefine the position. Massive in the mold of Alex Rodriguez, the 6-foot-4, 220-pounder moved like a ballet dancer and uncorked throws like a howitzer. Since making his first All-Star team in 2017, however, he has hit just .257 while missing more than 140 games to injury.
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Offensively, Anderson is as talented as anyone on this list, a throwback table setter who doesn't walk much but knows how to put bat to ball, as evidenced by his .331 average over the last two years. He just won his first Silver Slugger award while finishing seventh in American League MVP voting and is an integral part of Chicago's talented young core.
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Here's another shocker. Baez just won his first Gold Glove and he's only three seasons removed from slamming 34 homers and finishing second in the National League MVP voting. The two-time All-Star is coming off a dismal offensive campaign that saw him hit just .203, however, and he has admitted that he let the accolades go to his head and cost him some of his hunger.
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Turner belongs near the top of any list of the best players who have yet to make an All-Star team. The speedster played a key role in Washington's World Series title in 2019, and he followed up by leading the NL in hits last year. He has stolen at least 30 bases four times, including an NL-best 43 in 2018.
Dante Bichette's kid used to shag fly balls after Red Sox games in 2001, when he was all of three years old. Since then, he has shown the kind of promise that suggests he'll outshine his four-time All-Star dad. Wiry and deceptively strong, Bichette owns one of the sweetest swings in baseball and is capable of 30 homers.
L.A.'s fearsome player development pipeline has produced no shortage of All-Stars, and Seager was one of the first off the assembly line. He was named NL Rookie of the Year in 2016, when he made the first of two straight All-Star teams. He's also a Gold Glove-caliber defender, though he has yet to win the award.
Bogaerts just keeps getting better as he settles into his prime. While he may not be the defender of some of the players on this list, he's a legitimate .300-30-100 threat every year, with the strength to muscle the ball out of the park and the discipline to wait for his pitch. Add leadership qualities and he's a franchise linchpin.
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Fans outside of Colorado might not appreciate just how special Story is. He has reached 35 homers twice while hitting close to .300 over the last three years. He's a tremendous defender who was a Gold Glove finalist in 2019, and when he hits free agency next fall, he could be in for a D.J. LeMahieu-style boost when he signs with a big-market team and becomes a household name.
This is called betting on a bounce-back, because Lindor wasn't particularly good last year in Cleveland. Traded to the Mets, the two-time Gold Glover and four-time All-Star should be reinvigorated by the move to the Big Apple. One of the most genuinely exciting players in baseball, Lindor is a five-tool star with 30-homer power who should be one of the faces of baseball.
Say hello to baseball's newest $340 million man. Another son of a former big leaguer, Tatis possesses jaw-dropping physical gifts as well as an advanced understanding of the game and a showman's flair at bat and in the field. He just finished fourth in the NL MVP voting and should win that award sooner than later. Put his first two partial seasons together, and they project to a .301 average, 44 homers and 111 RBIs over a full campaign. Did we mention that he only just turned 22? San Diego soon may view his contract as a bargain.
