Previewing the 2023-24 free-agent class: Shortstop

With the regular season winding down, a number of teams (and their fan bases) are already starting to turn their attention towards the offseason. Identifying free-agent targets is a big part of that prep work, so it’s worth taking an early look at the players who’ll be available on the open market.

As we continue around the diamond, we’ll finish up the infield at its most demanding position. It’s an exceptionally thin group, a marked contrast to the star-studded classes of the last two offseasons. There have been eight nine-figure deals for shortstops since 2021 (not including the contract for Marcus Semien, who stayed at second base despite shortstop interest). Not only will no one in this year’s group approach that range, there aren’t many candidates for a multiyear contract of any sort.

Note: Only players who have been on an MLB roster in 2023 are included. Ages listed are for the 2024 season.

Potential everyday options

• Amed Rosario (28)

Rosario has been a shortstop for the bulk of his career, but the Dodgers have played him more frequently at second base since adding him at the deadline. One of the youngest players in the entire free agent class, Rosario hits the market coming off a down year. He was a roughly league average hitter from 2021-22 but has slumped to a .259/.300/.374 line over 520 plate appearances. He’s hitting for more power in Los Angeles than he had with the Guardians — largely because the Dodgers have more selectively deployed him in favorable platoon situations — but has reached base at just a .278 clip with L.A.

The righty-swinging Rosario has performed well against left-handed pitching throughout his career. He’s a well below-average offensive player versus righties. Some teams may prefer to keep him in more of a short side platoon role, but the middle infield class is weak enough that he figures to land an everyday job somewhere.

That may be better suited at second base. Rosario has gotten serviceable grades from public defensive marks in a minute sample of 162 innings at the keystone. His much-longer track record at shortstop isn’t as rosy. Both Defensive Runs Saved and Statcast’s Outs Above Average have pegged him as a below-average defender throughout his nearly 7000 career innings at the position. The numbers are particularly poor this year, as he’s rated anywhere between 10 and 16 runs below par by those metrics. His raw error count is 10th-highest at the position.

• Gio Urshela (32)

It’s admittedly a stretch to consider Urshela a possible everyday player at shortstop. He’s soon to turn 32, has been a third baseman for the bulk of his career, and suffered a season-ending pelvis fracture in June. If he’s going to play regularly at any one spot next year, it’s likelier to be on the corner infield.

Urshela is one of the more well-rounded players among potential shortstop options, though. He has been an above-average hitter as recently as 2022, when he posted a .285/.338/.429 line for the Yankees. His power disappeared in his limited run with the Angels, but he hit .299 and got on base at a .329 clip in 62 games. He makes plenty of contact and typically hits for high enough averages to post solid on-base marks without drawing many walks. In a typical offseason, he probably wouldn’t be a viable shortstop target. Perhaps the scarcity of other options this winter makes that a more realistic possibility.

Utility options

• Enrique Hernández (32)

Hernández got a shot as the Red Sox’s starting shortstop to begin the season. He’d never really had consistent run at the position before. The Sox gambled on Hernández’s plus defensive marks at other key positions translating, but the experiment didn’t work out. He’s tied for fourth with 14 errors at shortstop, and the three players with higher totals have nearly or more than double the innings. Defensive Runs Saved and Outs Above Average weren’t much kinder.

As a result, the Sox began to move Hernández back to his customary utility role — which has continued since a deadline trade to the Dodgers. He can still handle shortstop on occasion but seems better suited for second base or center field. He’s also amidst a second straight well below-average offensive season, hitting .236/.294/.353 over 469 plate appearances. Things have turned around since the trade. After posting a .222/.279/.320 line in Boston, he owns a .267/.329/.427 slash through 146 plate appearances in L.A. He’ll likely land another guaranteed deal but seems hard-pressed to match the $10M salary he received from the Red Sox last September.

• Isiah Kiner-Falefa (29)

Kiner-Falefa has started just one game at shortstop for the Yankees this season, logging the rest of his at-bats over the three outfield positions and at the hot corner. He topped 1,000 shortstop innings in both 2021 and ’22, though, drawing decent enough defensive grades that teams could consider moving him back there considering the shallowness of the class overall.

The righty-hitting Kiner-Falefa is a middling offensive player. He puts the ball in play without much impact and runs below-average walk totals. He’s a contact-hitting utility option who owns a .253/.312/.333 mark since landing in New York alongside Josh Donaldson shortly after the lockout.

• Joey Wendle (34)

Wendle has bounced around the infield throughout his career, seeing the bulk of his time between second and third base. The Marlins pushed him up the defensive spectrum as part of their effort to improve the offense out of the infield. Wendle has logged a career-high 708 1/3 innings at the position, a rare gambit for a player in his age-33 season. Defensive metrics have rated him as a fine option, ranging from slightly below-par (-2 runs per Statcast) to a bit above average (+5 DRS).

While he has acquitted himself well enough with the glove, Wendle hasn’t hit at all. He owns a .222/.257/.323 line with just two homers over 299 trips to the plate. He’s hitting just .243/.279/.343 in 204 games since being dealt from the Rays to the Marlins over the 2021-22 offseason.

Rebound fliers

• Adalberto Mondesi (28)

It’s increasingly hard to envision Mondesi playing at all this season. He has encountered repeated setbacks since tearing the ACL in his left knee while playing for the Royals in April 2022. The former top prospect has shown elite speed and promising switch-hitting power potential at times, but injuries have kept him from topping 500+ MLB plate appearances in a season. He has only surpassed the 300-PA mark once. Even when healthy, Mondesi’s tantalizing physical tools have been undercut by an overaggressive approach that has led to a meager .280 career on-base percentage.

• Paul DeJong (30)

DeJong had started the season reasonably well for the Cardinals, at least showing some power that had disappeared during his 2020-22 struggles. As the year has gone on, his production has plummeted. DeJong owned a .233/.297/.412 line at the deadline, when he was flipped from St. Louis to Toronto. He’s hitting .133/.132/.189 with 34 strikeouts and no walks in 91 plate appearances since then. He was released by the Jays within a few weeks and hasn’t fared better since catching on with the Giants. DeJong is still a good defender, but he owns a .200/.273/.351 slash in nearly 1200 plate appearances over the last four years.

Glove-first veteran depth

• Nick Ahmed (34)

Ahmed was recently released by the Diamondbacks after a 10-year run in the desert. One of the sport’s best defenders at his peak, he secured two Gold Gloves and tallied double-digit home run totals in 2018-19. Ahmed has never been a good hitter, but he was sufficiently productive at the dish to serve as a fine bottom-of-the-lineup regular when paired with his elite glove. The offense has collapsed over the past three seasons, though, as he’s hitting .219/.272/.336 since the start of 2021. He lost most of last year to a shoulder injury that required surgery and posted a .212/.257/.303 slash before being let go this summer. Ahmed can still defend at a high level, but he’ll probably have to move into a utility role at this point of his career.

• Elvis Andrus (35)

Andrus has gotten into 101 games for the White Sox this season. He’s hitting .254/.312/.353 with five longballs across 363 plate appearances. That’s more in line with the numbers he posted from 2018-21, making last year’s 17-homer showing look like a blip. Andrus is still a good baserunner and can play either middle infield spot, but he’s better suited for a utility role than regular playing time at this stage of his career.

• Brandon Crawford (37)

Crawford is struggling through the worst season of his 13-year MLB career. The three-time All-Star owns a .199/.272/.316 slash with six homers over 299 trips to the plate. He is striking out at a personal-high 25.4% clip and has gone on the injured list three times — once each for a right calf, left knee and left arm issue. Public metrics are divided on how effective the four-time Gold Glove winner remains on the other side of the ball. Statcast still gives him a slightly positive grade, while Defensive Runs Saved pegs him as one of the worst shortstops in the league this year. Crawford had an unexpected resurgence two years ago to secure a fourth-place finish in NL MVP balloting at age 34. He hasn’t maintained that pace, hitting .218/.294/.333 going back to the start of 2022.

Minor league depth

• Ehire Adrianza (34)

Adrianza has been out since May with elbow and shoulder injuries. The switch-hitting utility infielder has gotten into only five games for the Braves this year. Adrianza is a glove-only depth option who has appeared in parts of 11 big league campaigns.

• Johan Camargo (30)

Camargo played in eight games for the Giants, starting four at shortstop. He’s better suited for third or second base. A .219/.272/.344 hitter since the start of 2019, he has bounced around Triple-A for the bulk of 2023. Camargo hit .250/.335/.429 in the upper minors between three teams’ affiliates.

• Chris Owings (32)

Owings got into 11 games for the Pirates, including seven starts at shortstop. It’s his 11th straight season logging some amount of MLB action. He has spent the majority of the year in Triple-A, putting up a .235/.341/.442 line with 14 homers in 80 contests.

Player options

• Javier Báez (31)

We don’t need to spend much time on this one. Báez has hit .229/.271/.356 in a little under 1,100 plate appearances as a Tiger. He’s not opting out the final four years and $98M remaining on his six-year free agent contract.

Club options

• Tim Anderson (31)

This will be one of the more interesting option decisions of the winter. The White Sox can keep Anderson around for $14M or buy him out at $1M, leaving them with a $13M call. Six months ago, that seemed a rubber stamp. While Anderson was coming off an injury-plagued second half, he’d hit .301 and secured his second straight All-Star selection a season ago.

Yet in a season full of underwhelming performances for the White Sox, the extent of Anderson’s drop-off is still surprising. The former batting champ owns a .240/.284/.294 line and has managed just one home run in 475 plate appearances. It’s well off the .288/.316/.442 career mark he carried into the year. Anderson just turned 30 in June, so it’s hard to see this as age-related decline. Yet he’s hitting ground-balls at an enormous 62.5% rate and striking out at a 23.4% clip that’s his highest since 2018. Paired with defensive marks ranging anywhere from mediocre (-1 runs per Statcast) to disastrous (-16 DRS), it has been a sub-replacement level showing.

New GM Chris Getz now has a surprisingly tough call to make. If the Sox part with Anderson, he’d probably jump to the top of this class. Still, a $13M decision is a not insignificant sum to wager on a rebound from an unexpectedly poor season.

Previous installments: catcher, first base, second base, third base