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With the season just around the corner, who are the top 10 shortstop prospects in MLB?
An Introduction
These lists will be coordinated by Benjamin Chase, one of our MLB contributors at Call to the Pen.
Ben reviewed each MLB organization's top 10 prospects in November and December, then also reviewed the top 125 prospects in the game in January. Throughout spring training, he's also been contributing scouting reports on players that are part of his top 25 prospects in the game.
Each slide will feature two players with a brief write up, then one final slide with a prospect who is not in the top 10, but very possibly could find his way into the top five with an impressive 2017 campaign due the player's high upside.
These rankings are based on dozens of conversations with multiple people around the game about different prospects, and certainly each list could be much longer, but for brevity, we'll stick to 10!
Let's get started with today's position group, the men who play at the most important defensive position on the diamond.
10. Kevin Maitan, Atlanta Braves
With less experience and younger than probably every other "one to watch" player I highlight in these pieces, Maitan is an odd inclusion for some.
However, Maitan is considered the best international prospect in many years, the best since a Miguel – Sano for some, Cabrera for others.
Maitan will make his debut this coming season, likely after time in extended spring training, though there are rumors that he could start as high as low-A, which is just crazy to consider for a guy just 17 years old.
Maitan came to the fall instructional league roughly 3-5 inches taller and thicker than his 6'2″, 190 pound listing, with one picture of him next to Juan Yepez, who is a legit 6'2″ and 200ish pounds, and he just dwarfs Yepez.
Maitan could end up moving simply due to his size growth, but for the time being, he's being considered a shortstop, so that's where he's at on this list.
9. Isan Diaz, Milwaukee Braves
When the Diamondbacks traded for Jean Segura last offseason, there was a significant amount of discussion about the impact of Segura, reliever Tyler Wagner, starter Chase Anderson, and infielder Aaron Hill, who were the other players in the deal, but seemingly minimal discussion on the true talent level of Diaz.
Diaz was selected in the second round of the 2014 draft out of high school in Massachusetts. After struggling in rookie ball in his draft year, he was moved to advanced rookie ball in 2015, and the numbers were ridiculous with a 1.076 OPS and 44 extra base hits in 68 games.
Diaz currently plays shortstop, and while he may not play shortstop with the Brewers long term due to the presence of Orlando Arcia, his standing in the system certainly was improved with his performance in his first year in the Brewers system.
He played in low-A, and his line was .264/.365/.469 with 34 doubles, 20 home runs, and 11 stolen bases. The impressive part was that he was sent to the Arizona Fall League, and as one of the few players that had not played at least high-A ball, he wasn't overwhelmed during his time there.
Diaz has sure hands and actions at short, though his range and growing size may lead to him moving to second. He also has a bit of a strikeout bugaboo to work through, but he's still just 20 on opening day of this season.
The Brewers will likely open Diaz at high-A in 2017.
8. Nick Gordon, Minnesota Twins
Gordon has very good bloodlines with his father Tom Gordon having a long career as a major league pitcher and brother Dee Gordon being a very good second baseman for the Miami Marlins.
He was selected early by the Twins in the 2014 draft, when they picked him with the fifth overall selection. There were those who immediately attempted to assume Nick was going to be similar to Dee, and that image has really mistaken people's views on him throughout his career.
Gordon is a sure-handed shortstop who is not an elite guy at the position defensively, but he has good instincts and hands that could allow him to handle the position long-term. He does handle either side of the bag well, though, and the Twins have played him at second base in spring training and even in the minors at times.
Gordon is not the all-speed sort of offensive profile that his brother is, either. He does have a contact-focused hitting approach that leads to low walk rates.
However, Gordon has a solid ability to drive balls to the gaps and the swing and power to be a guy who could power out 8-10 home runs per season as a major leaguer, and he's probably going to be a guy who steals 15-20 bases, not 50 like his brother.
While he's likely not a guy who will be a fantasy monster, Gordon is a steady, head-strong player that is an asset to a club, and that has plenty of value to a team, even if he isn't a superstar-level player.
7. J.P. Crawford, Philadelphia Phillies
Crawford used an early season crazy offensive push to drive his prospect rankings through the roof last season, and it seems that many have struggled to adjust expectations for Crawford based on his now .256 batting average over 209 games in the upper minors.
Crawford is an absolutely elite defensive player, and he will take a walk, so there is every chance that he is a guy who hits .250 with a .340 or better OBP. That sort of profile is incredibly elite.
However, Crawford's not exactly got the power that would translate to a 20-home run guy (though he will have a home park to bump up his raw numbers) nor the raw speed to be a guy to steal 20 bases consistently.
All that said, Crawford's natural instincts and skills on defense are so incredibly good that it is impossible to have him lower than this on the list because he absolutely should be a guy who provides 3-4 fWAR per season just with his glove.
6. Franklin Barreto, Oakland Athletics
Barreto is a guy that seemingly has fallen into the glut of shortstop prospects and many forget his name when they mention the top shortstops in the game, though he absolutely belongs in that conversation.
Barreto was signed by the Blue Jays as they signed he and Richard Urena, locking up two of the best shortstops in the 2012 international free agent class.
He played very well in his first pro season, hitting for an .825 OPS across two rookie leagues with 21 doubles, seven triples, four home runs, and 10 steals in 59 games.
The Blue Jays moved Barreto patiently, bumping him to their short-season A-ball club in 2014 rather than jumping him to full-season ball.
In the 2014-2015 offseason, Toronto traded Barreto to the Oakland Athletics as part of a blockbuster MLB trade where Josh Donaldson went from Oakland to Toronto, and Barreto, lefty Sean Nolin, infielder Brett Lawrie, and righty Kendall Graveman went to Oakland.
The A's pushed Barreto past low-A to their high-A Cal League affiliate, and Barreto was in the midst of an impressive season when an injury mid-season effectively ended his season on July 23rd.
Barreto was healthy in 2016, and he made a big impression with AA and AAA, hitting .284/.342/.422 with 25 doubles, four triples, 11 home runs, and 30 stolen bases on the season.
Barreto's glove skills have been questioned at the position, and the Athletics have tried him at other positions, but he's shown well enough to stay at short if that is the plan.
One thing that kept coming up in offseason discussions I had on Barreto was his impressive work ethic as one scout mentioned that he commented to Barreto about how he had just a hair of a drag on his bat path, and the next day, Barreto was out with the scout and his hitting coach working through the drag to eliminate it in his swing.
Barreto will open with AAA this season, but he could push his way to the majors in 2017 as soon as midseason.
5. Brendan Rodgers, Colorado Rockies
Many felt that the 2015 draft had three top shortstop talents. Rodgers was the third selected and the only high school one of the trio.
Rodgers has thickened some onto his 6'0″ frame, likely to 200-210 at this point, and he's seen some significant home/away splits from his favorable home park.
However, Rodgers has shown himself still more than capable of handling shortstop and one of the few guys who could legitimately hit 30+ home runs while playing the position, which puts him on pretty elite footing.
Rodgers has shown well already in full season ball and impressed nearly every scout that I talked with this season with his maturity among guys frequently 2-3 years his senior.
The Rockies had a revelation from Trevor Story last season, and that could change their path for Rodgers, but at this point, he's still playing short, and he'll likely open this season in high-A, which for Colorado means the Cal League, so it could be a fun year for numbers for Rodgers.
4. Willy Adames, Tampa Bay Rays
Adames was signed by the Detroit Tigers in the 2012 international signing period. He made an impression in his first pro season with his impressive OBP, posting a .419 on base.
Adames came state side in 2014, and he played the entire season in the low-A Midwest League, but midway through the season, he was traded from Detroit to Tampa Bay as part of the David Price three-team trade.
Adames had a solid season in high-A at 19 in 2015, but he really had a big year in AA as a 20 year old in 2016, hitting .274/.372/.430 with 31 doubles, six triples, 11 home runs, and 13 steals.
While the bat is fairly obvious, it's defense where the questions have been with Adames, especially due to his broad upper body build and what scouts like to call the "high butt", which both suggest Adames will add more size as he ages.
He's never been an elite speed guy, so losing a step would be something that would cause Adames to likely need a move to third base. However, Adames has very solid instincts at short, and there are few questions about his hands at the position, so he could be a guy that fits Tampa Bay's positional flexibility to handle short for a while as he hits the majors.
Adames will be likely opening the season in AAA at just 21 with a chance to play in Tampa at some point in 2017.
3. Amed Rosario, New York Mets
Rosario had shown an incredible glove since signing in July of 2012, however, his bat hadn't shown as well as he advanced up the system until 2016.
In 2016, Rosario opened his season with high-A St. Lucie with the Florida State League. After a very impressive first half, he was promoted to AA, and he actually hit even better in AA.
Between the two levels, Rosario hit .324/.374/.459 with 24 doubles, 13 triples, five home runs, and 19 stolen bases.
Rosario's calling card will always be his elite defense, but he's got developing gap power and could end up being a guy with double digit home runs along with double digit triples and 25+ doubles as well along with 20-ish steals.
Rosario will likely open with AAA in 2017, and he could take over at shortstop from Asdrubal Cabrera next season, who has a team option for 2018, but otherwise would be a free agent.
2. Gleyber Torres, New York Yankees
Torres was signed by the Cubs as part of their big July 2013 international free agent class. He got his start in 2014, and he immediately showed he was ready for big things, posting an .826 OPS in 50 games.
Torres moved up to full-season ball as an 18 year old, and he was impressive with the Cubs' Midwest League affiliate in 2015 with a week of games in high-A.
2016 put Torres on a different level. He started the season with the Cubs' high-A affiliate in the Carolina League. After he was the headliner of the Cubs' trade for Aroldis Chapman, Torres hit well in the Florida State League.
In all, he hit .270/.354/.421 with 29 doubles, five triples, 11 home runs, and 21 stolen bases. All this was at 19, nearly 3 1/2 years years younger than the average competitor at the level he was at.
Then Torres went to the Arizona Fall League. Every scout raved about Torres before the Fall Stars game, really loved him after that game, and then when he pushed his team toward the championship as the league's MVP, he began to really open up eyes as to the amount of growth that had occurred in Torres.
His AFL line of .403/.513/.645 was also impressive as he had a 14/8 BB/K line and was still a teenager the entire league season.
Torres has smooth hands at shortstop, but he's not got the range of someone like Didi Gregorius, so the Yankees may look to move him to third base in the future. He's got enough thump in his bat to make that sort of transition work well.
Torres should open in AA in 2017, and it will be interesting to see how hard he pushes his way to the big league club.
1. Dansby Swanson, Atlanta Braves
Typically, if you'd hear a player compared to an all-time great like Derek Jeter, that'd be an immediate dismissal of the comparison.
However, in this case, it's not as much about saying Swanson will have the same offensive statistics as Jeter, but more about how Swanson carries himself on the field, which is a rare and valuable quality that Jeter possessed in his career.
Dansby was the first overall selection in the 2015 draft, going one pick ahead of fellow SEC shortstop Alex Bregman. He then was hit by a pitch in his face, leading him to miss a good amount of time in 2015.
After the 2015 season, the Diamondbacks traded Swanson, righty Aaron Blair, and outfielder Ender Inciarte to the Atlanta Braves for righty Shelby Miller and lefty Gabe Speier.
With the Braves, Swanson paired with fellow top prospect Ozzie Albies in spring training of 2016 to form a dynamic duo, with the Braves officials not letting on which player would end up the future shortstop, and which player's future would be at another infield position (Albies likely second base, Swanson second or third).
After opening in high-A and dominating that level for one month, Swanson was promoted to AA, and he spent the rest of his minor league time there. He had some initial adjustment issues to the level and seemed to be wearing down when Atlanta promoted him to the big league club in August.
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Instead of showing himself to be worn down, he instead was part of the spark that led to Atlanta having one of the best second half records in all of baseball after having one of the worst in the first half.
Swanson hit .302/.361/.442 in his major league debut over 38 games with three home runs and three stolen bases.
Some have tried to extrapolate that to what Swanson will produce over a full season, and that would be a bit foolhardy as Swanson profiles more as a guy who should hit for a good average with double digit power and speed, but more like a .280-.290, 10-15 home run, 10-15 steal line for fantasy players out there, though he certainly has more upside than that.
However, what makes Swanson incredibly special is the way he carries himself on the field. Much like Jeter was the seeming director of operations on the field, Swanson has assumed that role at every level, including the major leagues after his promotion last fall, when he immediately became a team leader in spite of being the rookie on the team.
Swanson just barely qualifies for this list this year and will be off in the first week as he's locked in as Atlanta's starting shortstop for many years to come.
Delvin Perez, St. Louis Cardinals
Considered to be the most athletic and possibly the highest-upside high school position player in the 2016 draft, Perez was in consideration as high as the #2 pick before a pre-draft drug test revealed the presence of a PED in his system.
That caused him to fall down the draft, and he was assumed to be the target of a team with multiple early picks, like the Dodgers, Braves, or Nationals.
Instead, the Cardinals picked him with the #23 overall selection in the first round.
He acquitted himself quite well in his first professional experience, hitting .294/.352/.393 with eight doubles, four triples, and 12 stolen bases in 43 games with the Gulf Coast League.
Perez has incredible athleticism and a frame that could add on healthy size to increase the power output from his currently lean 6'3″ frame. Currently 175 pounds listed, his frame would likely hold 200-210 pounds of good weight without limiting his range and athleticism to stay at short.
It's likely that Perez with the Cardinals' advanced rookie league squad in 2017, but he could move quick if he keeps performing as he did in 2016.
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