MLB’s best expansion-era shortstop: Jeter, Ripken or Other?

The task for the evening is to identify the best shortstop of the MLB expansion era? Who ya’ got?

Do you prefer the reliability of Cal Ripken, the artistry of Ozzie Smith, the offensive punch of Alex Rodriguez, or the breadth of skills of Barry Larkin. Perhaps you’d opt for the steadiness of Hall of Famers Alan Trammell, Derek Jeter, or Robin Yount?

MLB Network personalities Brian Kenny and Bob Costas wrestled with that complex topic during the latest installment of the network’s ‘Top 10 Right Now’ Tuesday. That episode included a segment rating post-1969 shortstops.

Before assessing how accurate the Kenny and Costas lists were, here are their respective top 10s:

                Kenny                                   Costas

1              Cal Ripken                           Cal Ripken

2              Derek Jeter                        Derek Jeter

3              Robin Yount                       Ozzie Smith

4              Ozzie Smith                        Alex Rodriguez

5              Alex Rodriguez                  Barry Larkin

6              Alan Trammell                   Robin Yount

7              Barry Larkin                        Alan Trammell

8              Nomar Garciaparra          Omar Vizquel

9              Troy Tulowitzki                  Nomar Garciaparra

10           Omar Vizquel                     Francisco Lindor

The expert consensus places shortstop at the top of the positional hierarchy. Our six ratings criteria reflect the position’s varying demands, with two of them fully oriented to the defensive spectrum. When all six categories are assessed, the player with the average ordinal score closest to a perfect rating of 1.0 is the winner.

The criteria are: 1. Five-season peak performance with OPS+ as the yardstick; 2. Cumulative OPS+ over the course of their careers; 3. Career MVP shares; 4. Career Defensive Wins Above Replacement; 5. Assists per 162 games; 6. Baserunning runs.

Alphabetically, the 30 nominees are:  Elvis Andrus, Mark Belanger, Xander Bogaerts, Larry Bowa, Dave Concepcion, Shawon Dunston, Tony Fernandez, Rafael Furcal, Nomar Garciaparra, Ozzie Guillen, Derek Jeter, Barry Larkin, Francisco Lindor, Edgar Renteria, Cal Ripken, Alex Rodriguez, Jimmy Rollins, Bill Russell, Marcus Semien, Andrelton Simmons, Ozzie Smith, Trevor Story, Miguel Tejada, Garry Templeton, Alan Trammell, Troy Tulowitzki, Omar  Vizquel, Walt Weiss, and Robin Yount.