CBS Sports·United States·Monday, October 19, 2026 at 04:56 PM UTC

Early 2027 Fantasy Baseball Rankings: Top 20 at shortstop raises more questions than usual at deep position

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Scott White

1	Bobby Witt Kansas City Royals SS
Witt fell short of 25 home runs for a second straight year, and what's worse was his 54 RBI (in only 143 games, but still). His data set remains impeccable, and you know he'll be a big plus in batting average, stolen bases and runs. But he doesn't feel as distant from a No. 1 as he once did.
2	Elly De La Cruz Cincinnati Reds SS
De La Cruz reached the 30/30 threshold for the first time (on the dot, actually), and his continual gains in batting average make a pretty compelling case for him to go ahead of Witt. But ultimately, the wide chasm in strikeout rate gives De La Cruz the much lower floor of the two.
3	C.J. Abrams Washington Nationals SS
Speaking of 30/30 campaigns, Abrams delivered one of his own in 2026, increasing his power output with improved bat speed and a higher pull-air rate. He wasn't able to avoid his usual second-half slump, batting .196 with a .617 OPS over the final two months, but we should know better than to hold that against him by now. Of greater significance is that he'll likely be picking up second base eligibility early in 2027.
4	Konnor Griffin Pittsburgh Pirates SS
This is about as aggressive as I'm willing to go with Griffin, an uber-talented 20-year-old who had a perfectly respectable showing in his rookie season, even while being interrupted for two months by elbow and finger issues. His 12-homer, 40-steal pace is deserving of fourth-round consideration, and given his tool set, it's not hard to imagine his power taking a leap in his second season.
5	Francisco Lindor New York Mets SS
Lindor's 2026 began with a hurried return from a broken hamate bone and suffered an even worse blow when he badly strained his calf in late April. He was still useful after returning, but wasn't up to his usual 30/30 standard, as he had basically stopped running and developed a launch angle that was too steep. The likeliest explanation is that the injuries threw him off his game, but 33-year-olds don't get much benefit of the doubt.
6	Gunnar Henderson Baltimore Orioles SS
Speaking of the benefit of the doubt, Henderson got it for his power-suppressed 2025 and followed it up with an even worse 2026. He seemed like he may have been overcompensating at first with a much-too-steep launch angle, but the situation didn't improve much after he righted that. For as impactful as he was in his first few seasons, he should have a lot of good baseball left at age 25. I'm thinking his issues are mostly mental and would accept this degree of discount.
7	Zachary Neto Los Angeles Angels SS
I had a feeling Neto's .257 batting average in 2025 might be the high-water mark for him, and it turns out an inflated strikeout rate cost him roughly 20 points in 2026, albeit with about the same home run and stolen base production. His strengths and weaknesses have been pretty evident for three straight years now, but you'll generally be happy with what he gives you in leagues that use traditional 5x5 scoring.
8	Kevin McGonigle Detroit Tigers SS
They're so far apart in terms of plate discipline that McGonigle obviously needs to go ahead of Neto in Head-to-Head points leagues, and it wouldn't hurt my feelings if you took him as high as fourth in that format. But in this one, his combined home run and stolen base output (30) as a rookie makes drafting him any higher than this indefensible, even while taking into account his third base eligibility and projecting some improvement in Year 2.
9	Otto Lopez Miami Marlins SS
That Lopez could rank ninth at shortstop underscores how the position isn't quite the juggernaut it once was. Granted, he had a great season, placing much higher than ninth in both major scoring formats, but it was mostly built on batting average -- which, to the surprise of no one, dipped about 30 points in the second half. Is anyone going to be thrilled to draft a 10-homer, 30-steal guy, even if it's reasonable to think he could hit .300 again?
10	Trea Turner Philadelphia Phillies SS
Turner still had a combined 40 homers and steals in 2026 (about 20 of each), but the drop-off in every other part of his game was significant enough for me to conclude he's just not the same guy anymore at age 33. The defense is the most telling, but for Fantasy, you're going to miss the batting average, especially. He also has basically no margin for error remaining if he were to take another step back.
11	Mookie Betts Los Angeles Dodgers SS
To me, the drop-off for Betts hasn't been as intense as the drop-off for Turner, particularly with Betts finishing 2026 on such a high note (.337 batting average and seven home runs in September). But since we're ranking for Rotisserie scoring here, his lack of steals slots him behind Turner. I would bet on better run and RBI production for Betts, though.
12	Jeremy Pena Houston Astros SS
Pena's offensive gains from 2025 initially looked like they were carrying over into 2026, but then a brand-new issue developed over the final two months that has me questioning his entire standing. His strikeout rate jumped to 31 percent after previously hovering in the high teens. Health has also been an issue and may well have contributed to these struggles, but all around, it's hard to say exactly what you're getting here.
13	Cole Carrigg Colorado Rockies CF
Like so many Rockies hitters before him, you won't want to look too closely at Carrigg's road numbers, but provided you don't, what you'll find is a versatile player who performed at about a 20/20 pace as a rookie, delivering 12 homers and 11 steals in 93 games. Offensively, the upside doesn't seem so different from Pena, but I'll note that Carrigg's strikeout rate got away from him a little bit late in the year.
14	Corey Seager Texas Rangers SS
Seager's 2026 was an enormous step backward for a player on the fringes of Hall of Fame consideration. While decline is certain to be the most common explanation, seeing as he'll be 33 in April, I don't want to overstate the case. He was battling back issues much of the year and looked more like himself after serving a second IL stint for them, batting .269 (53 for 197) with 10 homers and an .804 OPS in 51 games.
15	Bo Bichette New York Mets 3B
More likely drafted to play third base, Bichette is similar to Seager in that his decline doesn't seem as bad if you isolate his healthiest portion of the season -- in his case, a .284 batting average and .772 OPS over the final four months. I don't see anything in the underlying data that would prevent him from being a .300 hitter again, but he's only a modest contributor in home runs now and a zero for stolen bases.
16	Nico Hoerner Chicago Cubs 2B
More likely drafted to play second base, Hoerner gets a little too much benefit of the doubt at times. To thrive as a non-power hitter, he needs to be a clear standout in batting average and stolen bases, and while I'd expect him to bounce back in the former next year (he hit .307 in the second half), his stolen bases have now declined three years in a row. The paucity of quality second basemen really helps his cause here.
17	Dansby Swanson Chicago Cubs SS
You may be more inclined to fade a 32-year-old who just hit .213 with a .694 OPS, but I'll remind you that Swanson was on the march before the oblique injury that more or less ended his season, having worked through some mechanical issues to deliver 12 of his home runs and 11 of his steals in his final 56 games. While I wouldn't suspect him to sustain that roughly 30/30 pace, I do still see a 20/20 hitter who's more likely to bat .250 than .220.
18	George Lombard Jr. New York Yankees SS
Lombard was pressed into big league duty in August at all of 21 years old, and while early returns were discouraging, he did come closer to meeting the contact quality he was known for as a prospect with four batted balls of 110-plus mph over the final two weeks. Improvement could be swift for a player with this kind of upside, so it makes sense to gamble on Lombard after all the surer bets are gone.
19	Cooper Pratt Milwaukee Brewers SS
Pratt took over as the Brewers ' primary shortstop in mid-June, and though he didn't provide much in the way of power (as was also true in the minors), he performed respectably as a hitter with some good strike zone judgment and a line-drive, all-fields approach. Of greater interest for Fantasy is that he ran at about a 40-steal clip. That should be enough to sustain him while the rest of his offensive game gets up to speed.
20	Brooks Lee Minnesota Twins 3B
Lee ranks only one spot higher for me at third base, which itself suggests shortstop isn't what it used to be. His Baseball Savant page is mostly blue -- and if you'd prefer to pursue the upside of a Colson Montgomery, Willy Adames or Trevor Story, I get it -- but Lee was highly usable in 2026, with a pull-air rate that makes his 24 home runs seem not so far-fetched.