If you have been reading or listening to my content, you have likely heard me reference fScores (named fScores for “fantasy scores”) or use them to compare players. This is a custom fantasy stat I created that aggregates other stats into core skills, weighted against the average player where 100 is average, similar to wRC+ or OPS+.

Drafting based on core skills, rather than attempting a “one size fits all” ranking allows for more customization in team building and team design to target the weak points of your team and allows for more balance.

Please read the article “What is fScore?” for a better understanding before going through the below rankings. The shortstops listed at the top of each tier are where the tier starts and ends.

• Fantasy Baseball Dynasty Rankings (2024)
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2025 Shortstop fScores (Fantasy Baseball)

You will find a complete set of shortstop rankings at the end of this article.

Additional Positions and fScores

• C fScores
• 1B fScores
• 2B fScores
• SS fScores
• 3B fScores
• OF fScores
• SP fScores
• RP fScores

Tier 1 & Notes

• Tier Starter: Bobby Witt Jr. (SS – KC)
• Tier Ender: Elly De La Cruz (3B, SS – CIN)

Bobby Witt Jr. ranks third after Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge in overall fScores. I would still pick Witt ahead of Judge in any three-outfielder leagues or in categories leagues to get the power/speed combo at a higher value position. As long as Witt is healthy, he should be a lock for a 30/30 season or better, which is exactly what you want from a first-round pick.

Elly De La Cruz might have a higher ceiling than Witt in categories leagues because he’s one of the only players in the league I could see netting more than 30 homers and more than 80 steals. He’s slightly less valuable in points leagues and would drop down to the bottom of Tier 2 due to his volatility in regard to plate skills.

Tier 2 & Notes

• Tier Starter: Francisco Lindor
• Tier Ender: Gunnar Henderson/Mookie Betts

Francisco Lindor was incredibly underrated going into last season, as there were fears he was starting the downtrend on his aging curve. I believe Lindor has proven he’s part of that upper-echelon tier of baseball players who won’t start declining until their mid-30s. He, like Witt, looks like your best bet for a surefire 30/30 season.

I love Gunnar Henderson. He has phenomenal plate skills. He would rank second at shortstop in points leagues. However, I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s already kind of peaked out at the top of his skill level. We could see an increase in plate skills, but the power/speed likely tops out at around 40/20.

Check out my 2B fScores rankings for more on Mookie Betts.

Tier 3 & Notes

• Tier Starter: Oneil Cruz (CF, SS – PIT)
• Tier Ender: Trea Turner (SS – PHI)

Oneil Cruz will spend a good amount of time in the outfield in 2025, but lucky for us he already netted enough games for shortstop eligibility in 2025. The power and speed are legit and we could see 30/30 from him if he hits his stride. The issues with Cruz are his sub-par hit tool and his plate skills have led to inconsistencies.

Willy Adames is coming off a career year, but he’s had multiple very good seasons. At worst, he is an All-Star-level shortstop. Naturally, moving out of a good stadium in Milwaukee and entering a bad stadium in San Francisco would have me concerned about a large drop-off, especially after a contract season, but the success of Matt Chapman gives me a little more hope we won’t see such a large drop-off in his production.

CJ Abrams has shown similar inconsistencies in hit tool and plate skills to Cruz, but he has less power upside and more speed upside. He has 20/60 upside if he can get on base enough to steal those bags.

Corey Seager is the best pure hitter at the position. If he stays healthy he has the highest power upside at the position. This is a position in categories leagues you would like to get some steals from, though, and Seager has a track record of not being able to go 162 games without an injury, so he gets slightly dinged for these reasons.

Trea Turner is a speed-based player who is now 32 years old. I’m not concerned about the hit tool slowing down for a few more years, but I am concerned the wheels might start slowing down. I think 20/25 might be his new ceiling for the next few years. Even though he will probably hit 40-50 points higher than Abrams, I’ll take the stolen base upside in categories leagues.

Tier 4 & Notes

• Tier Starter: Zach Neto (SS – LAA)
• Tier Ender: Masyn Winn (SS – STL)

Zach Neto had an incredibly underrated season in 2024 (probably because he’s on the Angels). He hit 23 homers and 30 steals. He’s still not 100% healthy after getting right shoulder surgery at the end of the season, so be a little wary before drafting him and look for updates going into the season. We just saw Matt McLain miss about six months from the same surgery, so it’s possible we won’t see him until May.

Dansby Swanson is above average all around and is a nice fallback option at the position in the event you miss out on higher-tiered players. He will provide slightly above-average numbers across the board for you.

Jackson Holliday is only going to be 21 years old in 2025 and has major upside. He could be in line for a breakout season. In points leagues, he’s a must-draft, even though he might only be a 15/15 player this year. There’s room for significant growth in a young player who already possesses way-above-league-average plate skills and a slightly above-league-average hit tool.

Ha-Seong Kim didn’t follow up on his killer 2023 season and is still a free agent at the time of this writing. His value may change depending on his destination, but he will end up in this same tier regardless. His value is more in line with 12-ish homers and 20-25 steals than what we saw in 2023.

Anthony Volpe is a poor man’s CJ Abrams. The good news is the Yankees have a better lineup than the Nationals, but will Volpe be at the top or the bottom of that lineup?

Tyler Fitzgerald had a big-time breakout last season at 26. All the underlying data backs up his breakout, but will it stick like it did for Justin Turner and J.D. Martinez when they broke out at a later age? Or was it a one-time blip like Brandon Drury? There is risk here, but at this value, there is also some very nice upside.

Tommy Edman signing long-term with the Dodgers makes me want him more. The big question with Edman is if he’s fully healed because he should be a 15-homer, 30-steal guy if he’s healthy. He will put up nice counting stats in the Dodgers’ lineup.

David Hamilton‘s fScores are actually better than Volpe’s, but he doesn’t have the same pedigree and is an older breakout player like Fitzgerald. Will he get consistent playing time with the young stars coming up?

Masyn Winn is a poor man’s Dansby Swanson. He can do a little bit of everything and will be leading off for the Cardinals. He has the speed to steal more bags if the Cardinals let him run.

Tier 5 & Notes

• Tier Starter: Maikel Garcia (2B, 3B, SS – KC)
• Tier Ender: Trevor Story (SS – BOS)

I’m not going to touch on every name in this tier just to keep things brief.

Xavier Edwards could be interesting in a points league because he will get a lot of run and could get a ton of hits. There’s a little bit of a Steven Kwan profile here with much less power. The big question is if the power tool is so light will he end up like Billy Hamilton having to leg out dribblers just to get on base?

Jeremy Pena is a poor man’s Masyn Winn, which makes him your homeless man’s Dansby Swanson, I guess.

Carlos Correa can be a lighter version of Corey Seager when healthy, but his health issues are even worse than Seager’s. He’s solid for points leagues as long as you have a good backup.

Ezequiel Tovar has horrendous plate skills. He could still go 25/8 in categories leagues, but in points leagues, he’s an avoid.

Jordan Lawlar could be primed for a breakout season if he can stay healthy. The tools are all there, we just need him to be in the lineup every day.

Tier 6 & Notes

• Tier Starter: Brice Matthews (SS – HOU)
• Tier Ender: Jacob Wilson (SS – Athletics)

I’m only going to hit some of the interesting names in the next two tiers. First off is Brice Matthews. He doesn’t have an open spot unless there’s an injury, which is good, as it gives him time to work on a pretty bad hit tool.

Carson Williams could and should be up relatively early, so this is one of the rookies I would like to buy in deep leagues. He has a nice power/speed combo with fantastic defense, but the inconsistent hit tool and plate skills could hold him back. You might get a little more Taylor Walls in Williams’ rookie year than you want to think about.

Jose Tena is an interesting name for a breakout if the Nationals start him every day. He has enough power and speed to put up a 15/15 season and could be the 2025 version of Tyler Fitzgerald.

Brooks Lee has to develop more power for me to be interested in him for fantasy in 2025.

Jacob Wilson will get a ton of run and is super interesting to me in points leagues because he has a very Luis Arraez profile. He could be a hits machine.

Tier 7 & Notes

• Tier Starter: Oswald Peraza (2B, 3B, SS – NYY)
• Tier Ender: Vaughn Grissom

Colson Montgomery has kind of an Isaac Paredes profile to him with much better exit velocities. The only issue is he hits the ball on the ground too much and the hit tool needs to improve to end up with Paredes outcomes.

Marcelo Mayer could be the last of the new “Big 3” to come up since the Red Sox have David Hamilton and Trevor Story starting the year up the middle. His production in 2025 will all depend on his health and the health of Story.

I like Cole Young – he’s always been way ahead on an age-to-level basis, but now he’s at a point where he needs to develop some power to become more than just the next Geraldo Perdomo.

2025 fScores Shortstop Rankings

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