MLB History: 11 Greatest Shortstops of All Time, Part 1

Defensively, he saved an astonishing 268 runs over the average shortstop. This is an earth-shattering figure, and it absolutely blows Vizquel out of the water. Saying that Vizquel is comparable to Ozzie Smith is like saying Eddie Murray is just as good as Lou Gehrig.

They were both the best first basemen of their day, but that does not mean that they are equivalents.

This leaves us with 3 spots to be filled. The contenders for those 3 spots are as follows: Alex Rodriguez, Luke Appling, Alan Trammel, Derek Jeter, Barry Larkin, Lou Boudreau, Joe Cronin, Pee Wee Reese, Joe Sewell, Robin Yount, Joe Tinker, and Dave Bancroft.

Jeter gets cut first. He may eventually rank in the Top 10, but he is only 33, has probably 5-7 years ahead of him, and, lest we forget, is an absolutely brutal defensive shortstop, no matter what gold glove voters say. And before I hear any shit about how he is the cap'n of the Yankees, and a team leader, look who he is up against.

The others include Boudreau, who won the MVP as a player manager, Pee Wee Reese, who was unquestionably a team leader, Barry Larkin, and Ernie Banks ("let's play two!"). Shortstop is THE position for team leaders.

Anyway, just for fun, before saying goodbye, here is a rough projection of Derek Jeter's career numbers, assuming he lasts around, at least in part time duty until the age of 41, declining at a normal rate for a player of his caliber.

H-3403, D-557, T-78, HR-283, R-1992, RBI-1434, SB-374, BB-1099.

This would give him a career WARP of 106. Add in his postseason record, and he would certainly merit inclusion (although people will probably be trying to tell you that he was the best there ever was, which is clearly bullshit). It should also be noted, that this is a fairly modest projection, it is not hard to imagine Jeter breaking the 4000 hit barrier, scoring well over 2000 runs, etc. The more he is able to avoid injury, and the longer he wants to keep playing, he may end up very high on this list.

I'm sort of at a loss with what to do with A-Rod. He already has 109 career WARP, and will almost certainly end up with more than anyone on this list excepting Wagner…but he hasn't been a shortstop since 2003.

Giving proper regard to peak value, he is as good as anyone on the list, but still…I think, in a selfish attempt to make my own life easier, I am just going to pretend that he doesn't exist for now. When I update this lists in 2019 I will give him proper consideration.

Suffice to say, A-Rod will retire as one of the 10 best players in the history of the game, but it is unclear whether he will be chiefly remembered as a shortstop, third baseman, or even a first baseman. If he continues to play 3^rd for the rest of his career, he will have spent more time there than at short, so I'm leaving him out for now. Sorry.

Ok, that made things a little easier. Again, here are the career WARPs for the players we have left to fill these three spots:

Appling (130), Trammel (102), Larkin (110), Lou Boudreau (108), Cronin (119), Sewell (107), Bancroft (116), Tinker (121), Reese (98).

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