2025 Fantasy Baseball: Stud or sleeper at shortstop, a strategy guide for how to draft each position

If you've been following along with my position strategy articles to this point, you've probably noticed a trend.

Every. Position. Stinks! I hate everything, and when you hate everything, you essentially hate nothing because, well, what sort of contrast can be drawn to your general state of being?

So maybe I'm just full of it, the kind of person who mistakes relentless negativity for having something to say. Whiny. Mopey. A sorry sack of a man.

Or maybe those other positions really are that bad.

• Position Strategies: C | 1B | 2B | 3B | SS | OF | SP | RP
• Position Previews: C | 1B | 2B | 3B | SS | OF | SP | RP
• Position Tiers (v. 2.0): C | 1B | 2B | 3B | SS | OF | SP | RP

I'm here to argue the latter (not surprisingly, since the alternative is that I'm a sorry sack of a man), and my evidence is this: I like what I see here. The shortest of stops is the longest in talent, and my soul leaps at the sight of it.

(He likes it! Hey, Mikey!)

The studs here run eight deep. No other infield position has more than five. Even beyond the studs, there are several players who have performed like studs in the recent past and, at least theoretically, could do it again.

I'm not going to say the talent goes on forever. If you're one of those high rollers who only plays in 15-team Rotisserie leagues, then there will come a point when you've waited too long to fill the position, as is true at every position. But if you're a normie who plays in reasonable-sized leagues with reasonable-minded people, then you're going to get a quality shortstop without even trying. You may even get a quality backup, too.

Of course, quality comes in different degrees, so if a good shortstop falls in my lap, I'm not pushing him off. But it's not a position that I'm putting much thought into, apart from a few particular value plays. (More on them in a bit.)

The Studs

	2025 ADP	2024 PPG	2024 BA	2024 HR
Bobby Witt KC SS	2	4.16	.332	32
Elly De La Cruz CIN SS	4	3.48	.259	25
Gunnar Henderson BAL 3B	7	3.69	.281	37
Mookie Betts LAD RF	9	3.75	.289	19
Francisco Lindor NYM SS	14	3.72	.274	33
Trea Turner PHI SS	23	3.35	.295	21
Corey Seager TEX SS	39	3.20	.278	30
C.J. Abrams WAS SS	53	3.04	.246	20

Here they are, the great eight. They include my likely No. 1 overall target in Rotisserie leagues, Bobby Witt, and four surefire first-rounders in all. Francisco Lindor could potentially sneak in as a fifth, and while the Fantasy-playing world seems to have cooled on Trea Turner, he's also been a first-round mainstay for most of his career (reports of his demise have been greatly exaggerated, if you ask me). I've occasionally seen Turner slip to as late as Round 4, which is obviously just stupid value and a no-brainer of a pick even if you already took a shortstop with one of your first three.

Of course, doubling down on Turner isn't the likeliest scenario, so chances are that by the time we're through the studs, two-thirds of a 12-team league will have already found its shortstop. Only one of these players (Mookie Betts) is startable somewhere other than shortstop, so the depth is as you see it.

The final two here, Corey Seager and C.J. Abrams, are of a slightly lesser caliber. Both are flawed for 5x5 purposes, with Seager being one of the few shortstops who contributes next to nothing in stolen bases and Abrams being a liability in both batting average and RBI. I nearly left Abrams out of the studs due to the downside risk, but I decided that if the likeliest outcome is a 20-homer, 40-steal season (and I think it is), then whatever his shortcomings, he's a player deserving of special distinction in 5x5 scoring.

Points leagues are a different story. Abrams' steals aren't valuable enough to make up for his lack of walks and RBI, knocking him down a tier. Meanwhile, the lack of steals no longer matters so much for Seager, making him prime target.

Other Deserving Starters

	2025 ADP	2024 PPG	2024 BA	2024 HR
Oneil Cruz PIT SS	45	2.72	.259	21
Willy Adames SF SS	72	3.19	.251	32
Matt McLain CIN SS	101	3.41^	.290^	16^
Bo Bichette TOR SS	122	1.98	.225	4
Anthony Volpe NYY SS	141	2.49	.243	12
Ezequiel Tovar COL SS	143	2.56	.269	26
Xander Bogaerts SD SS	153	2.43	.264	11
Zachary Neto LAA SS	158	2.72	.249	23
Jeremy Pena HOU SS	171	2.56	.266	15
Dansby Swanson CHC SS	177	2.52	.242	16

^2023 stats
One additional lower-end choice: Willi Castro

You'd think the surplus of studs at shortstop would rob from the middle-round ranks, but no, shortstop is just as deep in other deserving starters as any other infield spot. Most of them are upside plays, too. Oneil Cruz remains an exit velocity maven who would turn the league upside-down if he could ever smooth out the rough edges of his game. Willy Adames was a top-20 overall player last year. Matt McLain's point-per-game average as a rookie two years ago was nearly on par with Elly De La Cruz's last year. Bo Bichette is just a year removed from being a third-round pick and has mostly been an early-round fixture in his career.

But now for the other side of the coin, as in why I don't officially regard them as studs. The exclusion of Cruz is most likely to offend, particularly since his ADP is higher than that of C.J. Abrams, but the production, while decent, hasn't risen to the level of elite yet. And seeing as he's already 26, I can't just presume it will. The line between Abrams and Cruz is a fine one, ultimately amounting to 15-20 additional steals for Abrams, but it's enough for me. Adames, as I've explained in my Busts 1.0, likely just had a magical, 90th percentile-outcome season wherein he set career highs in virtually every category without a the benefit of an actual skill change. Now he's going to a ballpark in San Francisco that's on the other end of the spectrum for power production. As for McLain, the Statcast data didn't really back up what he did a a rookie, and then he missed a whole year with a bum shoulder. You're more likely to draft him to fill second base anyway, where he'll eventually be eligible.

Then there's Bichette. Bichette is different in many ways, the most obvious being that he's drafted much later and the most significant being that he's already been a stud several times over. In fact, last season represents his first misstep in that regard. He was bad last year, don't get me wrong, but he was playing hurt, is still only 27 (soon to be, anyway), and has such a good track record that he remains a career .290 hitter even with how bad he was last year. The disrespect is stupefying to me, and in a perfect world where I maximize the value of each and every pick, he's my starting shortstop.

But he's not my last line of defense at the position, not even close. Zachary Neto, who broke out last year with a .249-23-77-70-30 line, is being downgraded a little too hard for an offseason shoulder surgery that may only delay him for a week or two, and Dansby Swanson is getting some of that Bichette disrespect after a down year in which he played hurt but nonetheless finished strong, batting .283 with seven homers, 12 steals and an .822 OPS over the final two months. For what it's worth, I'm not so interested in Anthony Volpe or Ezequiel Tovar, both of whom seem like one-category contributors to me, maybe two if you're nitpicking.

The Sleepers

	2025 ADP	2024 PPG	2024 BA	2024 OPS
Xavier Edwards MIA 2B	148	3.46	.328	.820
Ceddanne Rafaela BOS CF	178	2.18	.246	.664
Masyn Winn STL SS	196	2.60	.268	.730
Tyler Fitzgerald SF CF	236	2.55	.280	.831
Carlos Correa MIN SS	239	3.33	.310	.905
Trevor Story BOS SS	262	2.29	.255	.733
Ha-seong Kim TB 2B	305	2.62	.233	.700
Jordan Lawlar ARI SS	317	-----	.318	.900
Luisangel Acuna NYM 2B	377	2.43	.308	.966
Brooks Lee MIN SS	395	1.89	.221	.585
Jacob Wilson ATH SS	456	1.68	.433*	1.142*
Colson Montgomery CHW SS	597	-----	.214*	.710*

*minor-league stats

We're already 19 names into this position, and the wins just keep coming. Xavier Edwards and Tyler Fitzgerald made a big impact down the stretch but in unconventional ways that make me less than inclined to draft them as my starting shortstop. The good news is that I don't have to because, again, we're already 19 names into the position.

It's so fertile that no one would dream of drafting Edwards or Fitzgerald as a starter, and yet look at Edwards' point-per-game average last year. Look at his .328 batting average and 66-steal pace (presuming 150 games). For that matter, look at Fitzgerald's 25-homer and 29-steal pace. The underlying data suggests his bat is absolute mush, but the minor-league track record doesn't. I'm more inclined to believe in Edwards than Fitzgerald -- which is the consensus view, judging by their relative ADPs -- but both are long shots to repeat their 2024 numbers. They just don't hit the ball as hard as is normally required in the modern game. Still, the cost is hardly prohibitive, and the potential rewards could be huge.

A player I like even more than those two, though, is Carlos Correa, who had nearly as many Head-to-Head points per game last year as Trea Turner. The "per game" is doing a lot of work there because he missed nearly half the season with plantar fasciitis and is no stranger to injuries. Even so, he showed that he's still an impact bat when healthy, and he did mostly stay healthy from 2021 through 2023, playing in at least 135 games each year. The disrespect for Correa is a little more deserved than for Bo Bichette, but it's of a similar vein. Both are among my top sleeper picks for 2025.

Who else here? You could gamble on a bounce-back season for Trevor Story for the umpteenth time, but I'm kind of over it. At some point in the first quarter of the season, Ha-seong Kim will be back from shoulder surgery and could perform at a 15-homer, 30-steal pace thereafter. There are a number of prospects to speculate on here, with Brooks Lee and Jacob Wilson likely having a job from the get-go, but I think the most stashable for Fantasy purposes is Jordan Lawlar, who should replace Geraldo Perdomo in Arizona sooner than later.

The Base-Stealers

	2025 ADP	2024 SB	2025 hope	Also eligible
Bobby Witt KC SS	2	31	30-40	-----
Elly De La Cruz CIN SS	4	67	60-70	-----
Gunnar Henderson BAL 3B	7	21	15-20	-----
Francisco Lindor NYM SS	14	29	25-30	-----
Trea Turner PHI SS	23	19	25-30	-----
Oneil Cruz PIT SS	45	22	25-30	OF
C.J. Abrams WAS SS	53	31	30-40	-----
Willy Adames SF SS	72	21	15-20	-----
Matt McLain CIN SS	101	14^	20-25	-----
Anthony Volpe NYY SS	141	28	25-30	-----
Xavier Edwards MIA 2B	148	31	40-50	-----
Zachary Neto LAA SS	158	30	25--30	-----
Jeremy Pena HOU SS	171	20	20-25	-----
Dansby Swanson CHC SS	177	19	20-25	-----
Ceddanne Rafaela BOS CF	178	19	20-25	OF
Masyn Winn STL SS	196	11	20-25	-----
Tyler Fitzgerald SF CF	236	17	25-30	-----
Willi Castro MIN LF	245	14	20-25	2B, 3B, OF
Trevor Story BOS SS	262	6	20-25	-----
Ha-seong Kim TB 2B	305	22	20-25	-----
Dylan Moore SEA LF	312	32	25-30	2B, 3B, OF
Jordan Lawlar ARI SS	317	36†	25-30	-----
Jose Caballero TB 2B	348	44	30-40	2B, 3B
Luisangel Acuna NYM 2B	377	40*	25-30	-----
David Hamilton BOS SS	421	33	30-40	2B

*minor-league stats
^2023 stats
†2023 minor-league stats

The quicker approach would be to list off every shortstop who doesn't contribute in stolen bases, with Corey Seager and Carlos Correa being the most prominent examples. Like at second base, there's a baseline expectation of 10-15 steals, so I've excluded those that figure to contribute only that amount, such as Mookie Betts and Xander Bogaerts.

Even so, we're looking at 25 names here, including three surefire first-rounders, two borderline first-rounders and three additional players going within the top-100 picks. Their ADPs pretty much speak for themselves. I don't think you need me to sell you on, say, Elly De La Cruz, who figures to be the most prolific base-stealer of all. Looking beyond, then, Anthony Volpe and Xavier Edwards are two middle-rounders being drafted primarily for their stolen base contributions. Volpe might also be a plus contributor in runs and Edwards in batting average, but without the steals, they wouldn't be of much interest. Going even deeper, Tyler Fitzgerald has a volatile profile overall, but his 100th percentile sprint speed should at least make him a standout for steals.

Some of the more questionable stolen base source among those listed here include Willy Adames, whose 21 steals last year represented his first time even cracking double digits, Matt McLain, who missed all of last season with a shoulder injury and doesn't have a long track record as a base-stealer, Masyn Winn, who has stated his intention to steal 30-plus bases this year even though it was hardly a priority for him last year, and Trevor Story, who has spent more of the past three seasons hurt than healthy and is now approaching his mid-30s.