Eric Cross' Top 10 Shortstop (SS) Dynasty Fantasy Baseball Rankings for 2026

January 6, 2026

Eric's top shortstop (SS) dynasty fantasy baseball rankings, risers, and breakouts heading into 2026. His updated shortstop rankings for fantasy baseball dynasty leagues.

Per usual, the shortstop position is absolutely loaded. All of the below are inside my top-60 overall, and seven are inside my top-30 overall. Not only is this position loaded with elite talent, but the depth is also notable, including down in the prospect ranks.

Below, you'll find my top 10 at this position, along with analysis on each player. A few players whom I didn't include may also qualify for this position in your league, depending on your league's games played requirements. Those players have a note indicating where they would slot for me.

For my entire top 100 and additional writeups, check out my Patreon. Make sure to continue checking RotoBaller as I'm going to be going through all positions in the coming weeks!

Shortstop Dynasty Rankings for Fantasy Baseball

Age in parentheses

1. Bobby Witt Jr., Kansas City Royals (25)

Due to his blend of age and production, Bobby Witt Jr has been holding onto the #1 overall ranking in my dynasty rankings for over a year now.

Witt has started his career with four straight seasons of at least 20 home runs and 30 steals with two 30/30 seasons mixed in. Witt has also matured and improved as a pure hitter over the last two seasons, improving his AVG and OBP exponentially over his first two seasons. If you average out the last three seasons, Witt has averaged 107 runs, 40 doubles, 28.3 home runs, 97.7 RBI, and 39.3 stolen bases per season. All while missing just 10 games total.

WHAT A BLAST from Bobby Witt Jr. 😳

It's his 100th career HR! pic.twitter.com/JIC8rBytsO

— MLB (@MLB) August 20, 2025

In 2025, Witt once again posted an elite blend of power and speed, recording a 12.5% barrel rate, 93.3 mph AVG EV, and a 48.5% hard-hit rate along with the second-best sprint speed in baseball.

Witt's contact, approach, and batted ball angles have been remarkably consistent over his four-year career, too, settling in the 83-85% zone contact and 76-78% overall contact rate range. While he still has a below-average walk rate, Witt has improved that mark over the last two seasons when compared to his first two seasons, while continuing to keep his strikeout rate below 20%.

Even at a position as loaded as shortstop, Witt is head and shoulders above the rest.

2. Elly De La Cruz, Cincinnati Reds (24)

It's not often that a player can put up a 102/22/86/37/.264 season and have it be considered a disappointment. But when that player went 105/25/76/67/.259 in the previous season, you can see why Elly De La Cruz's 2025 line could be considered a tad underwhelming when compared to expectations.

However, one thing that needs to be factored in is that De La Cruz was playing the entire second half of the season with a partially torn left quadriceps. De La Cruz slashed .284/.359/.495 with 18 homers and 25 steals before the all-star break and .236/.303/.363 with four homers and 12 steals after the break.

Expectations for De La Cruz should be closer to his 2025 first-half production. He's one of the best athletes in baseball and one of the few players with a legitimate shot to steal over 50 bases annually. De La Cruz also continues to post impressive quality of contact metrics with a 10.2% barrel rate, 91 mph AVG EV, and 44.2% hard-hit rate while playing half of his games in one of the most hitter-friendly home ballparks in the game.

In addition, I'm encouraged by De La Cruz improving his strikeout rate from 31.3% to 25.9% in 2025 while improving his zone and overall contact rates by nearly 2% each. De La Cruz's posting a 30/50 season shouldn't shock anyone. But the one area I'd like to see him improve is his batted ball angles, as De La Cruz had just a 48.8% air rate and 9.8% pull air rate last season.

3. Gunnar Henderson, Baltimore Orioles (24)

Similar to De La Cruz, Gunnar Henderson had a good but underwhelming season. After racking up 118 runs, 37 home runs, 92 RBI, and 21 steals with a .281/.364/.529 slash line in 2024, Henderson dropped to a .274/.349/.438 slash line, 85 runs, 17 home runs, and 68 RBI in 2025. However, he increased his stolen base total from 21 to 30 while only being caught five times.

Henderson missed the first week of the season with a right intercostal (rib) strain, which he suffered during spring training, and you have to wonder if that impacted his power to some degree. Henderson's quality of contact metrics did tick down a bit, but he still managed an 8.5% barrel rate, 92.1 mph AVG EV, and a 49.2% hard-hit rate. But poor batted ball angles did limit Henderson's game power a bit.

While Henderson might not return to 37 home runs in 2026, I do feel we will see a better Henderson than we saw in 2025. He still hits the ball hard with above-average contact and approach metrics and a 79th percentile sprint speed. Henderson is still a top-20 overall player for both redraft and dynasty in my eyes.

4. Konnor Griffin, Pittsburgh Pirates (19)

Ranking a 19-year-old as the #4 dynasty asset at a position as star-studded as shortstop just shows how insanely talented Konnor Griffin is and how ridiculously high the long-term upside is here.

Griffin is coming off a season for the ages in 2025. In 122 games across three levels, Griffin slashed .333/.415/.527 with 21 home runs, 65 steals, and a 165 wRC+. That wRC+ was the highest mark by a prospect under age 20 in the last dozen years. All of this while reaching Double-A at age 19 with ZERO minor league experience entering the season.

For the last five years, I've hosted a podcast called "The Toolshed", and prospects like Griffin are why my podcast has the name it does. Griffin is the definition of a toolshed. He's already shown plus raw power with elite speed and athleticism. Some of the concerns surrounding his contact and approach were silenced last season as he posted a 75% contact rate and improved his approach metrics throughout the season.

In the first two months of the season, Griffin had a 5% walk rate and 24.4% strikeout rate. But in the final four months of the season, those metrics improved to 11% and 20.2% respectively.

As we've seen, no prospect is a guarantee, which is why I made the acronym TANG, which stands for There Are No Guarantees. However, if any current prospect were to wind up as a first-rounder for fantasy baseball, my money would be on Griffin.

5. Zach Neto, Los Angeles Angels (24)

After an underwhelming first Major League season in 2023, Zach Neto has since posted back-to-back seasons with at least 23 home runs and 26 steals. In 2025, Neto set new career highs in runs (82), home runs (26), AVG (.257), OBP (.319), and SLG (.474). If he didn't miss 34 games, we probably would've seen Neto join the 30/30 club.

While Neto doesn't boast any elite metrics, he's an above-average power and speed shortstop who recorded a 14% barrel rate, 91 mph AVG EV, and 46.6% hard-hit rate in 2025 with a nice 69th percentile sprint speed. All of those quality of contact metrics were up from 2024, and Neto improved his air rate and pull air rate as well.

I'm not sure we see Neto rise from the .250-.260 range, but the contact skills certainly aren't bad, and Neto has the power/speed blend to continue posting 20/20 seasons moving forward.

6. Kevin McGonigle, Detroit Tigers (21)

Kevin McGonigle rose to elite prospect status in 2025 and enters 2026 as my #2 fantasy prospect behind only Griffin. In 88 games across three minor league levels last season, McGonigle racked up 31 doubles, 19 home runs, and 10 steals with a .305/.408/.583 slash line. If that wasn't enough, McGonigle then went on to add another 12 extra-base hits, five home runs, and three steals in 19 Arizona Fall League games while slashing a robust .362/.500/.710.

Kevin McGonigle 2-run HOME RUN!

This is McGonigle's 5th HR in 17 AFL games. pic.twitter.com/kkxlUr3ZLG

— Eric Cross (@EricCrossMLB) November 7, 2025

As far as prospects go, McGonigle is one of the most polished bats I've seen over the last decade. McGonigle recorded an 82% contact rate last season with a 14.9% walk rate and 11.6% strikeout rate. You can make a strong case that he has the best blend of contact and approach in the minors right now, and there's also above-average to plus raw power in the profile as well.

Sure, his power/speed blend isn't as high as Griffin's is, but McGonigle projects as an annual threat to exceed 20 home runs with double-digit steals to go along with a high average and OBP.

7. Francisco Lindor, New York Mets (32)

For a win-now dynasty team that isn't opposed to a 32-year-old being one of their offensive core pieces, Francisco Lindor would be a few spots higher than this.

Lindor is on a Hall of Fame trajectory and is showing zero signs of slowing down. He recorded his third straight season with at least 108 runs, 31 home runs, and 29 steals in 2025, and was one steal away (in 2024) from three straight 30/30 campaigns. Lindor also has four straight seasons with at least 86 RBI, and has missed only 15 games combined over the last four seasons. The best ability is availability, right?

While Lindor is far from a burner at this point, he's still shown the willingness to run often with a high success rate when stealing bags. Outside of a dip in barrel rate last season, Lindor's AVG EV and hard-hit rates have remained remarkably consistent over the last several years. The same can be said for his contact and approach metrics.

Since he's 32 now, it's hard to continue ranking Lindor as a top-25 overall player in dynasty rankings, but he's not that far off either. As I mentioned, he's still a highly desirable target for contending dynasty teams who should still have another couple of elite seasons in the tank.

8. CJ Abrams, Washington Nationals (25)

Despite having three straight good fantasy seasons, doesn't it feel like CJ Abrams underwhelms a bit every season, at least when compared to expectations and overall upside/potential?

It's actually eerie how close Abrams' 2024 and 2025 stat lines were. While he had 13 more runs scored (92 to 79), Abrams had one fewer home run, five fewer RBI, the same number of steals, and a nearly identical slash line. In 635 plate appearances, Abrams slashed .257/.315/.433 (.246/.314/.433 in 2024) with 92 runs, 35 doubles, 19 home runs, 60 RBI, and 31 steals.

But once again, fantasy managers were left wondering what Abrams' numbers could have looked like if he didn't slump in the second half of the season. After slashing .287/.353/.483 in the first half of the season, Abrams slashed just .217/.266/.368 in the second half. Abrams also didn't do much in September as he dealt with a jammed right shoulder, which cost him some time here and there.

Between the 2025 second-half slump and the off-the-field issues that got him benched near the end of 2024, Abrams hasn't been producing for fantasy managers when they needed him the most in each of the last two seasons.

With that said, there's still plenty of talent here, even if Abrams is maddening to roster at times. I'm just not sure he's ever going to take that next step from good to elite fantasy talent.

Abrams' metrics have really settled into certain ranges across the board. He's been right around league average in barrel rate and AVG EV in each of the last three seasons while being just above league-average in hard-hit rate. While Abrams' air rate is only a few percentage points above league average, he had a solid 43.8% pull rate and 22.2% pull-air rate last season.

Abrams' contact metrics have settled in just above league average, too, both in terms of zone and overall contact rate, where he finished with an 83% and 75.6% mark, respectively, last season. It was nice to see Abrams drop his chase rate to 32.6% though, after being just above 35% in both 2023 and 2024.

With his blend of contact, quality of contact, and speed, I could see Abrams ticking up into the .260-.270 range some seasons. But even if he stays mostly in the .250ish range, a .250/20/30 player is still pretty valuable and a no-doubt top-75 overall player.

9. Trea Turner, Philadelphia Phillies (32)

It feels like many are waiting for the demise of Trea Turner, but it has yet to happen. Sure, his home run totals have dipped over the last two seasons, but Turner had 36 steals, 94 runs, and hit .304 in 2025, with the 36 steals being his most since 2018 with the Washington Nationals. This was also the sixth time in the last seven seasons that Turner has hit .295 or above.

Nearly all of Turner's metrics are still in line with his career rates as well. In 2025, he posted a 5.8% barrel rate, 89.3 mph AVG EV, and 42.1% hard-hit rate with a 100th percentile sprint speed, 16.7% strikeout rate, and his usual above-average contact rates.

As I mentioned above with Lindor, Turner is 32 now and probably doesn't appeal to rebuilding dynasty teams. But contending teams should continue valuing Turner as an elite top 5-6 shortstop for the next couple of seasons. Even if he's more of a 15-20 homer guy now, the all-around offensive production should still provide plenty of value.

10. Jeremy Pena, Houston Astros (28)

Jeremy Pena quietly put together a quality offensive season in 2025. A fractured rib and left oblique soreness limited Peña to 543 plate appearances, but he still managed to rack up 68 runs, 30 doubles, 17 home runs, 62 RBI, and 20 steals with a .304/.363/.477 slash line. This was the third time in Peña's four seasons where he finished with at least 15 home runs, and he's now reached the 20-steal plateau in each of the last two seasons.

While he's never put up gaudy numbers in any one season, Peña has averaged 81.5 runs, 17.4 home runs, 67 RBI, and 17.4 SB per 650 plate appearances through his first four Major League seasons. The 2025 season also brought new career-best marks in AVG, OBP, and SLG

I'm hoping we see more steals from Peña moving forward, as he's an elite runner with a 97th percentile sprint speed who has converted on 83.3% of his stolen base attempts over the last two seasons. Peña also saw his barrel rate and hard-hit rate tick up to 8.2% and 42.9% respectively, in 2025 to go along with an impressive 87.2% zone contact rate.

I'm not sure Peña ever jumps into the top two tiers at this position, but the skills are here to stick as a back-end top-10 shortstop for the foreseeable future.

If you enjoyed these rankings and want to see additional rankings, analysis, and more, check out Eric's Toolshed Fantasy Patreon.

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