All Time Top Ten Shortstops

[steveringo]

Just curious as to how everyone would rank all time SS - specifically Derek Jeter (since he is a popular subject this season).... Jeter will certainly make the HOF, but where does he rank among the all time greats?.... I've seen some lists that put him in the top five, and some that have him outside the top ten....

This is a list of SS with more than 10 years PT and an annual average BR WAR of 3.0 or greater:

Honus Wagner HOF
Alex Rodriguez
Arky Vaughan HOF
Cal Ripken HOF
George Davis HOF
Lou Boudreau HOF
Pee Wee Reese HOF
Ozzie Smith HOF
Robin Yount HOF
Joe Sewell HOF
Luke Appling HOF
Barry Larkin HOF
Jack Glasscock
Art Fletcher
Derek Jeter
Bill Dahlen
Ernie Banks HOF
Joe Tinker HOF
Alan Trammell
Joe Cronin HOF
Nomar Garciaparra
Phil Rizzuto HOF
Luis Aparicio HOF
Al Dark
Dave Bancroft HOF
Vern Stephens
Rafael Furcal
Rico Petrocelli

Apologies to the greats that missed the cut. Feel free to add, if they make your top ten.

 

[$500 Million]

This season isn't going to do anything to help his legacy, he should have retired after being carried off the field two years ago.

 

[Lemon Harang Pie]

Cal Ripken
Alex Rodriguez
Derek Jeter
Robin Yount
Ernie Banks
Alan Trammell
Honus Wagner
Ozzie Smith
Omar Vizquel
Luis Aparicio

 

[ChicagoIrish]

Ernie Banks
Everyone else

 

[mrwallace2ku]

No Bud Harrelson of the Mets?

Bud Harrelson Statistics and History - Baseball-Reference.com

 

[navamind]

off the top of my head (not necessarily in order)
Wagner
Vaughan
Ripken
Yount
Rodriguez
Trammell
Dahlen
Boudreau
Appling

could make case for guys like George Davis, Barry Larkin, Ozzie Smith and Ernie Banks. Trammell and Dahlen are among the biggest HOF snubs.

 

[HammerDown]

Rafael Furcal and Cal Ripken? Puhlease.

 

[navamind]

And it never should have taken the VC to put Vaughan in. One of the best offensive shortstops by far (I would only put A-Rod and Wagner ahead of him).

 

[Lemon Harang Pie]

Rafael Furcal and Cal Ripken? Puhlease.

You would leave Cal Ripken off your list?

 

[cezero]

Jeter has never been great at playing shortstop. There isn't a single year where he's played that position and been anything near great.

He had made up for his defensive mediocrity with a very consistent bat, though.

 

[RoboticDreams]

Honus Wagner HOF
Alex Rodriguez
Arky Vaughan HOF
Cal Ripken HOF
George Davis HOF
Lou Boudreau HOF
Pee Wee Reese HOF
Ozzie Smith HOF
Robin Yount HOF
Joe Sewell HOF
Luke Appling HOF
Barry Larkin HOF
Jack Glasscock
Art Fletcher
Bill Dahlen
Ernie Banks HOF
Joe Tinker HOF
Alan Trammell
Joe Cronin HOF
Nomar Garciaparra
Phil Rizzuto HOF
Luis Aparicio HOF
Al Dark
Dave Bancroft HOF
Vern Stephens
Rafael Furcal
Rico Petrocelli

























Derek Jeter

 

[MilkSpiller22]

Jeter has never been great at playing shortstop. There isn't a single year where he's played that position and been anything near great.

He had made up for his defensive mediocrity with a very consistent bat, though.

I feel like calling him a consistant bat is not giving him enough credit he is a career .318 BA and .380 OBP... He was consistently an elite top of the order type bat!!!

 

[cezero]

I feel like calling him a consistant bat is not giving him enough credit he is a career .318 BA and .380 OBP... He was consistently an elite top of the order type bat!!!

Okay, I can agree with that.

 

[navamind]

You would leave Cal Ripken off your list?

yeah, Ripken seems like an easy top 5 SS to me. One of the better hitting shortstops and he had an excellent glove.

 

[MilkSpiller22]

jeter was better offensively than ripken... but ripken was significantly better defensively.... as i am not a war guy, i dont really know how to measure offense with defense, and what weights to give... could be my yankee bias, but i think jeter is the better overall player...

 

[Shanemansj13]

Replace Furcal with Vizquel.

One of the greatest defensive shortstops ever and hit at a respectable .270.

 

[steveringo]

Replace Furcal with Vizquel.

One of the greatest defensive shortstops ever and hit at a respectable .270.

He was the missing one I was thinking about when I sorted the list by seasonal WAR (all I did was take the player's total WAR and dividied it by seasons played - then dropped the players with 10 or less seasons).

I think defense should be rated higher than normal WAR for shortstops. I don't think Vizquel makes the top ten, but his D might put him in the top 20.

For the same reasons, I probably drop Jeter more than he should. His offense was certainly good, but his lack of defense at this defensively important position lowers his overall value. I'd leave him out of the top ten, but I don't take offense to anyone that puts him in the top ten...

 

[steveringo]

jeter was better offensively than ripken... but ripken was significantly better defensively.... as i am not a war guy, i dont really know how to measure offense with defense, and what weights to give... could be my yankee bias, but i think jeter is the better overall player...

One of the toughest aspects to analyze. There is no real stat that says one player is better than another at defense.

 

[steveringo]

FYI:

Top offensive shortstops based on OPS+

Honus Wagner HOF
Alex Rodriguez
Arky Vaughan HOF
George Wright HOF
Nomar Garciaparra
Ernie Banks HOF
George Davis HOF
Lou Boudreau HOF
Joe Cronin HOF
Vern Stephens
Hughie Jennings HOF
Barry Larkin HOF
Derek Jeter
Robin Yount HOF
Jack Rowe
Solly Hemus
Ed McKean
Sam Wise
Luke Appling HOF
Jim Fregosi
Cal Ripken HOF
Jack Glasscock
Carlos Guillen
Bill Dahlen
Alan Trammell
John Valentin
Joe Sewell HOF
Rico Petrocelli

 

[Eastbay]

Shout out to my favorite SS growing up as a Cubs fan, Shawn Dunston. He had a rocket for an arm & always played all out.

#The Shawn O Meter