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Dan Harris’s 2021 Fantasy Baseball Rankings: Shortstop

 
Shortstop is a fascinating position for fantasy baseball in 2021. Depending on your league size, it may be the deepest position in the game.

Three shortstops go in the first round in consensus average draft position. Several more are gone before the end of the third round. After that, there are 30-homer hitters and power-speed threats galore.

But the depth of the shortstop position in fantasy is not unending. In fact, chances are that you’re going to be pretty unhappy with your bench options at the position.

So long as you keep a close eye on the available options, however, you’re likely to walk away with a starting-caliber player who will provide strong production. And although you can easily pull the trigger on any of the top-flight options, if you miss out, here are my top targets.

Dansby Swanson (SS – ATL) – ADP: 105.2
Swanson has just gotten better and better each year of his career and is just entering his age-27 season. There are no holes to poke in his profile, his power continues to develop, and his 90th percentile sprint speed suggests there is upside from the 10-12 steal paces he’s put up the last few years. His ADP continues to rise, but I’m still buying outside the top 100.

Marcus Semien (SS – TOR) – ADP: 134
.715, .735, .722, .706, .892, and .679. Those are Semien’s OPS numbers for the last six seasons. That 2019 number sticks out like a sore thumb, and it’s why I wasn’t buying the production heading into last season.

But now that he’s playing with the Blue Jays, there’s every reason to target him in the double-digit rounds. Not only will he be playing in an extreme hitter’s park (Dunedin to start), but the expectation is that he’ll bat near the top of an incredibly strong Blue Jays lineup. Add to that his soon-to-come second base eligibility and he’s a potential steal at his ADP.

Andres Gimenez (SS – CLE) – ADP: 190.2
Gimenez’s ADP is likely going to rise now that all indications are he’ll be the everyday shortstop for Cleveland. He lacks pop, but a 10-25 season certainly seems more than attainable. Pushing against pick 200, that’s a steal in drafts.

Note: Position eligibility is determined by the sites that formulate our consensus ADP, so it can be quite loose at times. Don’t blame the messenger.

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Dan Harris is the Editor-in-Chief of FantasyPros. For more from Dan, check out his archive or follow him on Twitter at @danharris80.

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