Ranking the projected 15 starting American League shortstops

At the age of 26, Lindor already has two Silver Sluggers, two Gold Gloves, and four All-Star appearances. He has finished 15th, sixth, fifth, and ninth in AL MVP voting the last four years. Lindor has hit at least 32 homers in each of the last three seasons, and his .284 batting average and .854 OPS are right along his career marks of .288 and .840 respectively.

Bogaerts won his third Silver Slugger in the last five years in 2019 and finished fifth in AL MVP voting. The two-time World Series winner posted career-highs last year in home runs (33), RBIs (117), and OPS (.939). Still just 27 years old, he possesses an above-average range in the field.

While Semien has always been a solid player, 2019 was a real breakout for him. He finished third in AL MVP voting, and made just 12 errors (made an unsightly 35 in 2015). On offense, he posted a bevy of career-bests including batting average (.285), OPS (.892), homers (33), RBIs (92), and runs (123).

An All-Star in each of his first two seasons, Torres was sixth in the AL last year connecting on 38 homers. The 23-year-old has spent a lot of time at second base, but with the exit of Didi Gregorius, will mostly play shortstop in 2020 (a position where the team he hopes he can show more improvement).

The first pick of the 2012 draft, Correa just hasn’t been able to stay healthy, appearing in just over 60 percent of Houston’s games over the last three seasons. Other than 2018, he has been marvelous at the plate though, including 2019 when he hit 21 homers with a .926 OPS over 321 plate appearances. In 75 games last year, he made just two errors at shortstop.

Finishing 13th in AL MVP voting, the 26-year-old Polanco hit 22 homers, 40 doubles, and had an .841 OPS in 2019. He can be a tad error-prone (22 at shortstop last year), but the defensive metrics show he has made vast improvements there since he first joined the big leagues.

The eighth-ranked prospect according to Baseball America heading into 2019, Bichette did not disappoint in his 46-game stint with Toronto last year. While he struck out frequently (50 times in 196 at bats), he also batted .311 with 29 extra-base hits (18 doubles, 11 home runs). He’s also a career .321 hitter in the minors.

It may seem crazy that the reigning AL batting champ (.335) is just eighth on this list, but that just goes to show you the depth of the position. He does have his warts too such as a career strikeout-to-walk that is over 7.5-to-1 and 74 errors over the last three seasons.

This again shows the depth of the position as Simmons is seen by many as being the best defensive shortstop in the game. He’s never been a huge threat at the plate though despite rarely striking out. His .264 batting average and .673 OPS in 2019 were both slightly behind his career marks.

Mindesi’s speed can be matched by few, and it has helped him possess excellent range in the field and steel 75 bases over the last two years. Much like Anderson, he draws very few walks though with just 39 in his career over 943 plate appearances.

The 24-year-old Adames started 145 games at shortstop last year, and arguably should have at least been a finalist for a Gold Glove (he was not). He wasn’t too shabby at the plate either with a .254 batting average, 20 homers, and 25 doubles.

Long a steadying force in Texas’ infield, Andrus has shown signs of regressing over the past two years. After posting consecutive career-bests in OPS of .800 in 2016 and .808 in 2017, he owns just a .694 OPS in 2018-19. His range has diminished a tad in the field, but his errors have also decreased.

Don’t expect Goodrum to only play shortstop as he made starts at every position last year except catcher and pitcher. He has mostly been a league-average hitter the last two seasons combining to hit 56 doubles and 28 hone runs.

The 30-year-old Iglesias has previously mostly been known as an all-glove, little-offense player, but he has at least become adequate with the bat. Last year with the Reds, he hit .288 with 11 homers and 21 doubles.

Crawford had long been seen as one of the top prospects in baseball, but until he shows it in the majors, he brings up the rear. In 534 plate appearances over the last two years, he is hitting just .223 with a .691 OPS.