MLB: The most valued shortstops of 2019

The 10 MLB players who  generated the highest value to their teams at shortstop

In MLB, we’re pretty much obsessed with the concept of value. We apply a plethora of often exotic statistical approaches to measure it: batting average, slugging, home runs, WAR, OPS+, Defensive Runs Saved, Weighted Runs Created…the list  goes on.

The one factor we generally overlook in all these assessments is the most meaningfully value-oriented of all of them: salary. What, precisely, was the player paid – relative to all other players tasked with doing what he was doing – and how much of that pay did he “earn?”

The rating system that follows corrects that oversight. Based on 2019 performance, it measures which players were the most “valuable” as judged by their on-field production relative to their peers at the position. And let it be noted here that we are limiting our focus to on-field value only. Some players, mega stars, are paid based largely on factors unrelated to on-field performance, their drawing power at the gate, their celebrity, their endorsement/promotional potential being among them. Those factors, while acknowledged as real, are not part of this discussion.

Since different positions require different skills, the standard for determining production will vary depending on position…although for position players there will always be an offensive component.

Today we’re looking at shortstop, perhaps the most defensive-oriented position on the field. Because offensive production is a significant responsibility at any position, 40 percent of the rating remains based on offensive WAR. But at shortstop, 20 percent of the rating is allocated each to fielding percentage, range per nine innings and innings played.

Since MLB’s salary structure tends to reward players based on their seniority rather than their actual on-field production, it may come as no surprise that although 10 of the 31 shortstops who qualify for assessment earned more than $10 million in 2019, only two of those 10 ranked among the position’s 10 best.

Unlike some other positions, however, shortstop appears to require at least some experience. Only one member of the top ten earned less than $1 million in 2019. Most were paid in the $3 million to $5 million range.

For reference purposes, here are the positional norms for those playing shortstop:

Salary: $4.924 million

WAR: 2.906

Fielding average: .973

Range per nine innings: 3.908

Innings played: 1,094.42

10. Tim Anderson, Chicago White Sox, $5.713 million value; $1.4 million salary

Anderson enjoyed a definitional-level breakout season in 2019. At age 26 and in his fourth full MLB season, he won the batting title with a .335 average that was a career high by 50 percentage points. His on base and slugging numbers went up proportionately.

His 4.0 WAR only measured 11th best among shortstops, which may seem low for a battling titlist. But it did justify a $2.7 million salary that was nearly twice what Anderson actually earned in 2019.

Anderson’s performance in the field illustrates the folly of relying on just one fielding metric. At .951, he ranked 30th – that’s next to last – in fielding percentage. He made 26 errors in 532 chances.

You could, however, make the argument that Anderson made a lot of errors because his range gave him the opportunity to do so. At 4.34 chances per nine innings, he ranked second. So while his fielding average only equated to $963,000, his range added $1.09 million to his value.

At 1,050 innings, Anderson’s playing time was slightly subpar compared with the group average of 1,094.

His below average ratings in fielding average and playing time do some damage to Anderson’s final standing, although at $5.71 million worth of value the White Sox shouldn’t be too upset.

He’s already locked in to a deal that will pay him $4 million next year – almost certainly another bargain – increasing to a possible $14 million by 2024.  Those numbers are written in pencil, subject to alteration by team options and/or free agency.

9. Willy Adames, Tampa Bay Rays, $5.953 million value; $563,000 salary

Adames is the kind of guy who makes the Rays competitive: He’s a bargain-basement regular who delivers front-line value.

Adames’ first full season followed a more than four-season odyssey through the Tampa system that included a couple stops in the Dominican Winter League. He won the shortstop job early this year and basically never gave it up.

His offensive fundamentals don’t look all that hot. He hit .254, had a sub-par .317 on base average and an inauspicious .737 OPS. Somehow, however, WAR saw things in Adames that those figures hid; his 4.2 rating comes in eighth among all MLB shortstops, and nicely above the 2.9 positional average. As unlikely as it seemed, that added up to $2.847 million in contributions off Adames’ bat.

That was a good thing because defensively he has work to do. Adames’ .970 fielding average only ranked 22nd, good for just $982,000. Range? Adames averaged 3.73 plays per nine innings, good for 23rd and worth $940,000.

His best attribute turned out to be showing up for work. Adames gave Tampa 1,315 innings, sixth best at his position, and valuing out at $1.184 million.

Since Adames isn’t even arbitration-eligible until 2022, any performance he delivers beyond adequate is pure gravy for the Rays.

8. Paul DeJong, St. Louis Cardinals, $6.084 million value; $1.667 million salary

DeJong’s rating illustrates how high even an indifferent hitter can climb when he plays a defensive-oriented position very, very well.

It also may constitute a Rorschach Test for how you feel about offensive numbers. If you like home runs, you’re likely to wonder why he’s only No. 8. If you favor batting averages, you can’t understand how DeJong’s in the top 20.

As a batter, DeJong statistically wasn’t much in 2019. He batted .233 with a .318 on base average. He did hit for power – 30 home runs – but his 97 OPS+ is still below MLB average.

The home runs probably fueled his 4.1 WAR, which ranked 10th among qualifying shortstops. That translated to $2.779 million in salary.

But DeJong embellished his reputation with his glove. His .989 fielding average ranked second among all shortstops, trailing only Houston’s Carlos Correa (.993). Fielding at that level qualifies for $1 million in salary. At 4.24 chances per nine innings, he ranked seventh, earning a further $1.068 million.

DeJong’s 1,372 innings were third best among those qualifying at shortstop, and added up to a final $1.235 million.

The Cardinals have tied up DeJong through 2023 with options through 2025 at amounts potentially touching $15 million. But it will be a while before DeJong gets to that level. He’ll again play in 2020 for $1.667 million, chump change compared to what he produces.

6. Nick Ahmed, Arizona Diamondbacks, $6.3 million value; $3.663 million salary

This was a year of discovery for the Arizona Diamondbacks middle infield. Ketel Marte blossomed out of relative nowhere to become MLB’s most valued second basemen, and Nick Ahmed stepped up his shortstop game.

Ahmed’s .254 batting average along with his other offensive numbers – 19 home runs, 82 RBIs – weren’t as eye-catching as Marte’s. Yet they still translated to a 4.5 WAR, seventh best among qualifying shortstops. That set Ahmed’s offensive value at a hair over $3 million.

Defensively he was consistent, if not spectacular. At .979, he tied Lindor for eighth in fielding percentage, equating to $991,000 in value. He got to 4.03 chances per game, ranking him 12th in range and good for an additional $1.015 million.

Ahmed logged 1,381 innings on the field in 2019, the second highest workload of any shortstop in the game. That generated a final $1.243 million.

The third arbitration year, Ahmed’s status entering 2020, often represents a decision-point for franchises because it’s where the relatively big money begins to step in. The Diamondbacks paid Ahmed $3.663 million in 2019, but as a third-year arbitration eligible player, it would be no stretch to envision Ahmed commanding twice that amount in 2020.

That fact made his solid 2019 season especially well-timed. Were he bringing more questionable numbers to the arbitration table, Arizona’s front office might be more open to the question of whether they needed to find a new shortstop. No such concern now.

5. Javier Baez, Chicago Cubs, $6.331 million value; $5.2 million salary

The Cubs’ middle infield instability – perhaps a fatal flaw in 2019 – did not affect Baez, who was left alone to flourish at shortstop following five seasons in a more or less full-time utility role. He played only one game at any other position — that being third base — all season.

Baez has been something close to notorious for his inability to resist the urge to fish at the plate, a tendency he did not really improve on in 2019. He drew 28 walks – almost an identical number to 2017 and 2018 – and his 156 strikeouts were also about what Cubs fans have come to expect.

His slash line — .281/.316/.531 – also appears to have matured to its adult form, for better or for worse.

It’s good enough to maintain Baez at or close to the top rank of MLB shortstops for bat skill. He ranked fifth among them in WAR in 2019 with 4.8, justifying $3.254 million in salary. The question then becomes whether he can upgrade his defensive game.

To date, that side of his performance has taken Baez’s plate work as its model, brilliant but not fully disciplined. He averaged 4.28 plays per nine innings, amounting to $1.078 million and better than all but three of his peers.

On the other hand, Baez committed 15 errors in 546 chances, a .973 percentage that stood him only 17th among the 31 positional qualifiers. For that aspect of his performance, he was worth only about $985,000.

He also missed about 30 games, dropping his innings to 1,126, barely above average for the position. Again rating just 17th, it translated to $1.013 million in on-field value.

4. Xander Bogaerts, Boston Red Sox, $6.593 million value; $12 million salary

The Red Sox have made a heavy commitment to Bogaerts. They’re on the hook to him to the tune of $20 million annually through at least 2025.

Bogaerts has been a solid performer, but no MLB shortstop made more than $15.25 million in 2019. To justify the kind of money he’ll be paid, the Red Sox need Bogaerts to be more than good; they need him to be transformational.

They’re banking on a player who delivered a .309 batting average in 2019 with 33 home runs and 117 RBIs … that’s star-level performance. His support numbers were equally strong, resulting in a 5.2 WAR that was the position’s fourth best.

But at shortstop, with its heavy emphasis on defense, that still only produced $3.525 million in value. A shortstop who can swing the bat is great, but one who can field the ball is essential.

At that skill, Bogaerts has yet to justify his team’s faith in him. His .975 fielding average – pretty much normal for him from a career standpoint – ranks just 15th at the position and adds just $987,000 to his value.

Nor is it a case of his errors forced by his ability to get to a lot of balls. Bogaerts accepted just 3.37 chances per nine innings in 2019, ranking dead last among qualifiers and valuing out to a paltry $849,000.

He did play 1,368 innings, nearly 300 more than the positional average, so he gets showing-up credit. In his case, that amounts to $1.231 million, and finalizes a $6.594 million value that ranks fourth at the position.

3. Jorge Polanco, Minnesota Twins, $6.832 million value; $3.583 million salary

In 2019, Polanco established beyond question that he can a wield the bat like a front-rank MLB shortstop. What he has not yet established is whether he can provide the fielding essentials.

He batted .295 with 69 extra base hits and 79 RBIs, all of that translating to a 5.7 WAR. It was the third highest WAR of any qualifier at shortstop, and it translated to $3.864 million in on-field value.

His work with the leather was at another, and less laudatory, level. Polanco’s .957 fielding average rated ahead of only two qualifiers, and was well below the .973 positional average. It added just $969,000 to his overall value.

While Polanco’s working on his reliability, he may also want to polish his range. His 3.53 chances per nine innings were 29th among the 31 qualifiers, and good for $889,000.

So it’s pretty obvious where Polanco needs to put in his spring work.

He’s dedicated enough. Polanco’s 1,233 innings ranked 10th among shortstops, representing $1.1 million in value.

The Twins are on the line for improvement in Polanco’s fielding technique. They have signed him potentially through 2025, and certainly through 2023, for amounts that could climb to $12 million. Given the game’s current reward structure for middle infielders, it isn’t mathematically possible for Polanco to justify that level of compensation purely for his on-field contributions, but improvement in his fielding basics will be necessary to bring his numbers closer to alignment.

2. Trevor Story, Colorado Rockies, $7.548 million value; $5 million salary

In 2018 Story confirmed his status as a reliable first-rate middle infielder, and he solidified that status at age 26 in 2019. He batted .294 with 35 home runs and 85 RBIs, his .917 OPS translating toa 6.4 WAR that was the position’s second best.

That 6.4 WAR, more than twice the MLB positional average, equated to $4.339 million in on-field value, second-highest among the qualifiers at this position.

Story complemented that production with solid defensive work. With a .987 fielding percentage, he ranked third among shortstops behind only DeJong and Correa. It translated to $999,000 in value. He also ranked third in range at 4.28 chances per game, trailing just Adalberto Mondesi and Anderson. That added another $1.078 million.

Story ranked eighth in playing time with 1,257 innings, good enough to pile a final $1.131 million onto his value.

All you need to know about the perception of Story across baseball is that he got $5 million as a first year arbitration player in 2019; he’s a second year arb in 2020 and projections are that he could pull more than twice that amount. Particularly if the Rockies unload Nolan Arenado, Story will emerge as the face of the franchise in Denver.

1.       Marcus Semien, Oakland Athletics, $8.758 million value; $5.9 million salary.

Had you done this rating one year ago, Semien’s name would not have come up. His emergence in 2019 is a testament to the accumulated knowledge of a seven-season progression up the game’s ladder, and to the player’s ability to draw the right lessons through that progression.

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To say that 2019 was a breakout is to state the obvious. Semien batted .285 with 33 home runs, 92 RBIs, and an .892 OPS. All of those figures are career highs by wide margins. It was chiefly for those reasons that he finished third in the most Valuable Player voting.

All that offense translated to an 8.1 WAR, best at the position and trailing only Cody Bellinger, Alex Bregman and Mike Trout among all of baseball. As a shortstop, it translated to $5.491 million in on-field value.

His defense, while not great, was good enough. Semien’s .981 fielding percentage ranked sixth and his 3.9 chances per nine innings, precisely the positional average, placed him only 16th. They translated to $993,000 and $983,000 in value respectively . He did that across 1,435 innings, making him the position’s most-used player, and worth $1.292 million.

Like Story, Semien is a third year arbitration-eligible in 2020, and he projects to command up to $13 million. That’s serious money in Oakland – only Khris Davis among the current Athletics makes more. But Semien has blossomed into a serious player.