2013 Fantasy Baseball Rankings: Shortstop

Below are my shortstop rankings for 2013.

1. Jose Reyes (BA, R, SB)
2. Troy Tulowitzki (BA, R, HR, RBI) 
3. Ian Desmond (BA, R, HR, RBI, SB) 
4. Hanley Ramirez (R, HR, RBI, SB) 
5. Starlin Castro (BA, R, SB)  
6. Ben Zobrist (R, HR, SB) 
7. Jimmy Rollins (R, HR, SB) 
8. Elvis Andrus (BA, R, SB) 
9. Asdrubal Cabrera (BA, RBI) 
10. Derek Jeter (BA, R) 
11. J.J. Hardy (R, HR) 
12. Josh Rutledge (BA, R, HR, SB) 
13. Erick Aybar (BA, SB) 
14. Alcides Escobar (R, SB) 
15. Alexei Ramirez (RBI, SB) 
16. Everth Cabrera (SB)
17. Zack Cozart (R, HR)  
18. Jhonny Peralta (HR, RBI) 
19. Jamey Carroll (R) 
20. Mike Aviles (HR, SB) 
21. Andrelton Simmons (BA, SB) 
22. Dee Gordon (SB)  
23. Jed Lowrie (R, HR, RBI) 
24. Stephen Drew (R, HR) 
25. Yunel Escobar (R, RBI)

My rankings are based on a 10-team rotisserie with the following positions: (head-to-head roto/categories would benefit from these rankings as well)

• 1 Catcher
• 1 First Baseman
• 1 Second Baseman
• 1 Shortstop
• 1 Third Baseman
• 1 Corner Infielder (1B/3B)
• 1 Middle Infielder (2B/SS)
• 1 Utility
• 5 Outfielders
• 9 Pitchers (mixture of Starting Pitchers and Relief Pitchers)
• 3 Bench Spots
• 1 Disabled List 

It is usually hard to tell why a player is ranked where they are. If you play in roto or head-to-head roto then you need to how a certain player will help you. If you've been playing a while then you know that Michael Bourn will give you steals and not much else, but if you're new or a casual fan then you won't know this by the ranking alone.

Given this, in my rankings I have what categories (in parantheses) I expect a certain player to help in.

My general bias is towards home runs and batting average and away from steals. If you can find a guy who can help you in all three categories then take him, but if it's a steals specialist I would pass him by. Steals can be found off the waiver wire (such as Juan Pierre last year) or later in the draft, but batting average and home runs aren't as easy to come by and they often lead to other stats such as runs and RBI's.

Key:

• BA: Batting Average
• -BA: will hurt your overall Batting Average
• R: Runs 
• HR: Homes Runs
• RBI: Runs Batted In
• S: Steals

*position eligibility based on ESPN's Fantasy Baseball rules