Fantasy Baseball Drafting During the 2022 MLB Lockout: Top 5 Unsigned Shortstop Free Agents
Published: Feb 25, 2022
While it is encouraging for fantasy baseball players to see the MLB owners and MLBPA (Players’ Association) sitting together at the negotiation table every day this week, we still seem to be a way off from a new CBA (Collective Bargaining Agreement) being ratified. The owners have set a February 28 deadline before they start canceling regular-season games which did not sit well with the players, but the two sides continue to try and hash things out.
If you’ve listened to the Fantasy Alarm Show on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio, then you’ve heard Jim Bowden discuss a more realistic timetable for game cancellation at March 3 instead. Either way, we know that once a deal is agreed upon, we are going to see a mad rush of free-agent signings and trades. That means the fantasy baseball community is going to have very little time to react, especially if you keep postponing your draft until the lockout ends.
If you are drafting now, it is very important to see which unsigned free agents are expected to sign quickly and get into camp. Hopefully, this series has helped you keep tabs on those guys as we head into one of the (surprisingly) deeper positions to see who else is left. So, let’s get to the shortstops.
Top 5 Unsigned Free Agents Shortstops
Between injuries and a truncated season, the past few years have been a little rough on Correa and his stat-line, but last year, he bounced back in a major way, hitting a career-best 26 home runs and a .279/.366/.485 slash line while playing in 148 games. He turned down the $18.4M qualifying offer from the Astros as well as a five-year, $160M deal from Houston as well. The rumor mill has been very active regarding him and both the Yankees and Red Sox have been involved. The Astros continue to pursue him while the Tigers have also appeared as a potential candidate. With Scott Boras as his agent, you can’t expect him to sign immediately following the lockout, but he will land on his feet somewhere and be a quality fantasy shortstop this season. Just keep your fingers crossed it’s not Detroit.
The power/speed combo is what always makes Story enticing, but let’s keep it in perspective regarding what he is capable of doing outside of Coors Field. On the road, Story is a career .241 hitter with a .310 OBP and .442 slugging percentage. The ISO (power/extra-base hits) is still at a comfortable .201, but where he lands is going to be very important for his totals and overall fantasy value. Maintaining the stolen bases shouldn’t be an issue, but we have to hope the rumors to the Yankees or Astros as a possible Correa replacement are more likely than that if the Mariners. Of course, if he just re-signs with Colorado, we’d be just fine with that too.
There’s not much power to be had and the speed is below-average, at best. The Red Sox picked him up at the deadline last year from the Angels, but they ended up leaving him off their post-season roster and outrighted him to Triple-A. At 32-years-old, it’s unlikely that he lands anywhere as a full-time starter, but his glove will keep a number of teams interested. Teams worried about losing their primary guy (Colorado/Houston) could jump into the mix early.
After nine seasons with the Braves and Angels, it appears as if Simmons’ days as a starting shortstop just might be behind him. Slick with the glove still, Simmons’ bat has dropped off considerably and he doesn’t have the speed to put up double-digit steals anymore. If there’s a team out there looking for someone to work as a stopgap and/or help mentor some young infielders, Simmons could land somewhere. Just don’t let it be your fantasy team.
Uh oh. While we’d like to give you a legitimate fifth guy here, there really isn’t one. Freddy Galvis would have been a possibility, but he’s headed to Japan to go play for the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks. None of the other names – Pete Kozma, Deven Marrero, and Andrew Romine are even worth writing up.
Where does Fantasy Alarm have these shortstops ranked? Full 2022 fantasy baseball player rankings from Jim Bowden, Adam Ronis, and Howard Bender can be found here in our Fantasy Baseball Draft Guide.
RELATED LINKS
Looking for the rest of the top unsigned free agents? This FREE series is in progress, but check out the links below for what's been published already:
- Free Agent Catchers
- Free Agent First Basemen
- Free Agent Second Basemen
- Free Agent Third Basemen
- Free Agent Shortstops
- Free Agent Outfielders
- Free Agent Starting Pitchers
- Free Agent Relief Pitchers
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