Shortstop drops off quickly in deep leagues, but in 12-teamers and shallower, you almost can't mess it up
Mar 12, 2026 at 10:48 am ET • 1 min read
You're in the thick of the draft and can't decide between two players. The logical choice is to target the one whose position is nearest to dropping off. But where are the drop-offs? That's what these tiers denote. Players whose impact is essentially the same are bundled together, revealing at a glance how many alike choices remain. With these tiers in hand, you'll have all you need to determine in real time which position is most appropriate to draft next.
- Position Tiers (v. 3.0): C | 1B | 2B | 3B | SS | OF | SP | RP
- Position Strategies: C | 1B | 2B | 3B | SS | OF | SP | RP
Below are the shortstop tiers for 2026, depicting a position with more than enough quality options to go around in leagues that don't require a third middle infielder. In a points league especially, you don't want to jump in too quickly on The Next-Best Things because some of those four will last a shockingly long time. And yes, it's four, not two. Shortstop is the position where player values vary the most between formats, so you'll want to pay particularly close attention to the footnotes.
The First-Rounders: Bobby Witt, Elly De La Cruz^The Elite: Gunnar Henderson, Trea Turner, Francisco Lindor, Mookie Betts†, Geraldo Perdomo†The Near-Elite: Zachary Neto^, C.J. Abrams^, Corey Seager, Bo BichetteThe Next-Best Things: Trevor Story^, Jeremy PenaThe Fallback Options: Willy Adames, Dansby Swanson, Konnor Griffin, Jacob Wilson†The Last Resorts: Colson Montgomery, Xavier Edwards, JJ Wetherholt, Kevin McGonigle, Xander Bogaerts†, Otto LopezThe Leftovers: Carlos Correa, Ezequiel Tovar, Masyn Winn, Colt Emerson, Anthony Volpe, Zach McKinstry, Jose Caballero, Brooks Lee, J.P. Crawford, Ernie Clement, Josh Smith, Ha-seong Kim
^: one tier lower in Head-to-Head points leagues†: one tier lower in categories/Rotisserie leagues
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