RADIO
Tim's 2025 fantasy baseball shortstop (SS) draft sleepers, targets, avoids based on ADPs. His favorite shortstop fantasy baseball sleepers to draft in 2025.
The shortstop position is quite loaded at the top in 2025 fantasy baseball drafts, allowing many managers to focus on the position early on the board.
This speaks to the varying skill offerings, uncertain trust in 2024 breakout names, and the realization by most early 2025 drafters that they can wait to wade through those giant middle tiers.
This fantasy baseball ADP data is from 40 NFBC Draft Champion drafts. You'll find the ADP tables below along with my analysis of the ADP at the position, player values I like/dislike, etc. Reminder: this is simply the ADP data for third basemen, not my personal rankings.
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Shortstop Fantasy Baseball ADP Analysis
| Rank | Player | Team | Pos | ADP / AAV | Min | Max |
| 1 | Bobby Witt Jr. | KC | SS | 1.68 | 1 | 2 |
| 2 | Elly De La Cruz | CIN | SS | 4.03 | 3 | 8 |
| 3 | Gunnar Henderson | BAL | SS | 5.95 | 5 | 8 |
| 4 | Mookie Betts | LAD | SS, OF | 10.75 | 7 | 17 |
| 5 | Francisco Lindor | NYM | SS | 15.63 | 10 | 20 |
| 6 | Trea Turner | PHI | SS | 24.2 | 7 | 33 |
| 7 | Oneil Cruz | PIT | SS, OF | 41.18 | 22 | 57 |
| 8 | Corey Seager | TEX | SS | 42.13 | 24 | 54 |
| 9 | CJ Abrams | WAS | SS | 44.38 | 24 | 64 |
| 10 | Willy Adames | SF | SS | 75.43 | 56 | 101 |
| 11 | Matt McLain | CIN | 2B, SS | 105.48 | 86 | 139 |
| 12 | Ezequiel Tovar | COL | SS | 125.93 | 102 | 164 |
| 13 | Anthony Volpe | NYY | SS | 139.95 | 100 | 189 |
| 14 | Bo Bichette | TOR | SS | 151.08 | 97 | 211 |
| 15 | Zach Neto | LAA | SS | 154.75 | 64 | 236 |
| 16 | Xander Bogaerts | SD | 2B, SS | 158.58 | 139 | 235 |
| 17 | Xavier Edwards | MIA | SS | 164.3 | 131 | 209 |
| 18 | Ceddanne Rafaela | BOS | SS, OF | 168.48 | 132 | 210 |
| 19 | Jeremy Pena | HOU | SS | 170.2 | 130 | 198 |
| 20 | Masyn Winn | STL | SS | 174.58 | 151 | 203 |
| 21 | Dansby Swanson | CHC | SS | 181.78 | 151 | 274 |
| 22 | Tyler Fitzgerald | SF | SS | 225.2 | 140 | 270 |
| 23 | Trevor Story | BOS | SS | 237.6 | 185 | 329 |
| 24 | Willi Castro | MIN | 2B, 3B, SS, OF | 247.8 | 218 | 287 |
| 25 | Carlos Correa | MIN | SS | 259.75 | 226 | 315 |
| 26 | Jose Caballero | TB | 2B, 3B, SS | 287.7 | 224 | 372 |
| 27 | Ha-Seong Kim | TB | SS | 297.9 | 219 | 367 |
| 28 | Jordan Lawlar | ARZ | SS | 326.15 | 241 | 402 |
| 29 | Jacob Wilson | OAK | SS | 355.15 | 289 | 401 |
| 30 | David Hamilton | BOS | 2B, SS | 356.95 | 200 | 469 |
| 31 | Josh Smith | TEX | 3B, SS | 359.43 | 230 | 448 |
| 32 | Brooks Lee | MIN | SS | 378.85 | 268 | 444 |
| 33 | Isiah Kiner-Falefa | PIT | 2B, 3B, SS | 388.85 | 322 | 447 |
| 34 | Luisangel Acuna | NYM | SS | 392.13 | 235 | 575 |
| 35 | Ernie Clement | TOR | 3B, SS | 392.28 | 333 | 521 |
| 36 | Dylan Moore | SEA | 2B, 3B, SS, OF | 396.05 | 331 | 460 |
| 37 | J.P. Crawford | SEA | SS | 418.88 | 348 | 490 |
| 38 | Orlando Arcia | ATL | SS | 444.83 | 390 | 511 |
| 39 | Trey Sweeney | DET | SS | 454.9 | 391 | 584 |
| 40 | Brayan Rocchio | CLE | SS | 463.8 | 320 | 735 |
| 41 | Geraldo Perdomo | ARZ | SS | 465.3 | 403 | 605 |
| 42 | Paul DeJong | KC | 3B, SS | 517.5 | 442 | 678 |
| 43 | Colson Montgomery | CWS | SS | 518.23 | 455 | 599 |
| 44 | Max Schuemann | OAK | 3B, SS | 546.03 | 462 | 648 |
| 45 | Carson Williams | TB | SS | 552.33 | 358 | 640 |
| 46 | Romy Gonzalez | BOS | 1B, 2B, SS | 575.98 | 478 | 742 |
| 47 | Edmundo Sosa | PHI | 2B, 3B, SS | 587.45 | 475 | 717 |
| 48 | Zach McKinstry | DET | 3B, SS, OF | 612.8 | 439 | 726 |
| 49 | Marcelo Mayer | BOS | SS | 633.83 | 458 | 730 |
| 50 | Jett Williams | NYM | SS | 641.33 | 503 | 749 |
| 51 | Scott Kingery | LAA | SS | 657.65 | 537 | 737 |
| 52 | Chase Meidroth | FA | SS | 672.05 | 528 | 733 |
| 53 | Kevin Newman | LAA | 2B, SS | 673 | 551 | 725 |
| 54 | Cole Young | SEA | SS | 697.98 | 566 | 745 |
| 55 | Miguel Rojas | LAD | SS | 698.23 | 555 | 744 |
| 56 | Javier Baez | DET | SS | 700.88 | 517 | 729 |
| 57 | Marco Luciano | SF | SS | 718.1 | 561 | 739 |
| 58 | Vidal Brujan | CHC | 2B, SS, OF | 723.93 | 602 | 735 |
| 59 | Liover Peguero | PIT | SS | 726.6 | 535 | 746 |
| 60 | Taylor Walls | TB | SS | 735.8 | 548 | 747 |
| 61 | Brett Wisely | SF | 2B, SS | 739 | 595 | 743 |
| 62 | Daniel Schneemann | CLE | SS, OF | 742.05 | 650 | 748 |
| 63 | Nasim Nunez | WAS | SS | 742.08 | 606 | 740 |
| 64 | JJ Wetherholt | STL | SS | 742.18 | 593 | 703 |
| 65 | Blaze Alexander | ARZ | SS | 747.98 | 715 | 749 |
| 66 | Tim Anderson | MIA | SS | 748.35 | 660 | 736 |
| 67 | Max Muncy | OAK | SS | 748.48 | 683 | 742 |
| 68 | Leo Jimenez | TOR | 2B, SS | 749.03 | 672 | 672 |
| 69 | Alex Freeland | LAD | SS | 749.83 | 707 | 748 |
| 70 | Nicky Lopez | CWS | 2B, SS | 750 | 727 | 735 |
| 71 | Nick Allen | ATL | SS | 750.28 | 722 | 722 |
| 72 | Leodalis De Vries | SD | SS | 750.63 | 736 | 736 |
Shortstops To Draft Most Frequently
1. Oneil Cruz - Pittsburgh Pirates
2. Bo Bichette - Toronto Blue Jays
3. Tyler Fitzgerald - San Francisco Giants
4. Anthony Volpe - New York Yankees
5. Dansby Swanson - Chicago Cubs
6. Trevor Story - Boston Red Sox
7. Xander Bogaerts - San Diego Padres
8. Carlos Correa - Minnesota Twins
9. Jordan Lawlar - Arizona Diamondbacks
Given their tantalizing skills, I'm happy to invest strongly in any of the top seven (after that, we're going to keep talking). But I'll highlight Cruz, who might deliver the best ROI of these top 10 names.
The latest holder of the moniker Cruz Missile, the 26-year-old shoots lasers, holding the 16th-best barrels per plate appearance rate (9.5%), and even with a questionable Pirates lineup, Cruz could propel himself through his 30-homer, 30-steal upside to eclipse 90 in both run-centered columns within general 5x5 formats.
Oneil Cruz had a very impressive 2nd Half:
61 G
7 HR
32 RBI
31 R
10.6% BB%
.277/.357/.464/
.353 wOBA
125 wRC+
2.1 fWARHis 56.1% Hard-Hit% was 3rd best in this time span!#LetsGoBucs pic.twitter.com/EVyOSLaCBt
— Running From The OPS (@OPS_BASEBALL) December 31, 2024
Fitzgerald cooled toward the end of the season but broke in a major way as arguably baseball's hottest hitter for at least a week. The league adjusted to him, though: After launching 14 HR on a .998 OPS in his first 200 plate appearances, he mustered just 1 HR and a .597 OPS across his final 141 PA.
The 27-year-old also will need to adjust versus breaking and off-speed pitches:
Still, the late bloomer shows obvious pop from a position that could rival more expensive options (more on that later), and he should lock in playing time for 2025 to crawl his way to a 2o-20 season. Enough doubt is priced in for me to attempt to cash in again.
Volpe remains in the Yankees' plans thanks to his elite defense, and a late-season tweak to his swing unlocked more thump in his lumber. Heading into just his age-24 season, the former top prospect could throw together a 20-homer, 40-steal season if the in-play luck aligns.
Let's not ignore veterans with 20-20 paces when healthy. Swanson, Story, and Bogaerts deliver established bargains in the middle rounds of mixed leagues that would be amazing middle infield deployments or acceptable starting shortstops in shallower formats.
Though stolen base upside is just about non-existent in his profile, Correa could deliver much of the four-category output that one of the biggest bust risks (more on him soon) could deliver, for about 200 picks cheaper.
Lawlar remains a solid bench stash even if you expect him to be recalled to the big club in June or July. A torn thumb ligament, hamstring strain, and woeful stretches against major-league pitching have dulled the once-top prospect's shine, but post-hype buying opportunities in drafts often lead to eye-popping profit with pedigrees like his.
Shortstop ADPs I Don't Love
1. Corey Seager - Texas Rangers
2. CJ Abrams - Washington Nationals
In RotoBaller's Early Fantasy Baseball Draft Busts, I wrote about how I don't want to overpay for Seager's "Zero Stolen Bases" contribution. When you're investing in that position early, target five-category performers -- or at least four-category stars who have the profile to surprise with batting average.
With no more than three steals in a single year since 2017, Seager hasn't even taken full advantage of the changing rules with pitcher pickoffs that have helped stolen-base frequency increase league-wide. Could he start seizing the day? Perhaps. But his stat line plays much more effectively for fantasy managers to keep pace at other positions.
Abrams, meanwhile, has a flaw that doesn't even consider his off-the-field mistake (staying out past curfew at a casino) that led to a season-ending demotion to Triple-A. While the power-speed combo certainly holds a certain level of reality, fantasy players should more strongly lean on the steals column in redraft leagues.
The 24-year-old carries two uninspiring power indicators from last season. He ranked (1) a middling 154th (tied) with a 4.8% barrels per plate appearance, and (2) tied for the eighth-lowest No Doubter Homer Percentage (25%) among the 92 players who hit 20-plus homers last year.
Though Abrams remains a long-term buy/hold, returns for this year might be limited if he can't take steps forward with pop.
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