I suppose when 9 out of every 10 starting shortstops are under the age of 30 you have to be a pretty elite defender to hold that job past the slightest sign of decreased ability. Not many guys can hang on like an Ozzie Smith or Omar Vizquel. That being said I cant honestly say that i would be displeased having any of the 10 players below as my starting short stop this year It used to be such a wasteland of mediocre offensive stats once you got past the first tier of players years back.

If I must i’d say …

Tier 1: Machado-Turner

Tier 2: Seager-Bogaerts

Tier 3: Gregorious-Story

My top 10 list and projections are below.

• Manny Machado, 25, Orioles – My projections for 2018 are – .291/96/35/92/10

• Carlos Correa, 23, Astros – My projections for 2018 are – .291/95/27/90/8

• Francisco Lindor, 24 Indians – My projections for 2018 are – .294/99/24/84/17

• Trea Turner, 24, Nationals – My projections for 2018 are – .298/90/13/54/55

• Corey Seager, 23, Dodgers – My projections for 2018 are – .289/95/24/75/4

• Elvis Andrus, 29, Rangers – My projections for 2018 are – .280/79/11/65/29

• Xander Bogaerts, 25, Red Sox – My projections for 2018 are – .290/88/13/70/10

• Didi Gregorious, 28, Yankees – My projections for 2018 are – .269/71/23/79/5

• Jean Segura, 28, Mariners – My projections for 2018 are – .275/88/12/50/24

• Trevor Story, 25, Rockies – My projections for 2018 are – .252/68/27/77/8