MLB free-agent rankings: Desmond tops thin group of shortstops

Major League Baseball free agency has been underway for a few days, and teams were no doubt setting the groundwork for deals at the GM meetings in Florida. The qualifying offer deadline is Friday, and that will provide a little more clarity when it comes to the developing market. As we move toward the December winter meetings, some free agent deals might start taking shape.

Until then, we're running through all the positions and taking a look at the available options. In this episode, we'll look at the shortstops who are available on the market.

As you're about to see, the crop of shortstops is thin indeed, with just two or maybe three you'd want as regulars in 2016. It's not much, but here it is ...

1. Ian Desmond

Desmond’s a three-time Silver Slugger who from 2012-14 batted .275/.326/.462 with 69 homers. Obviously, that’s excellent production by shortstop standards. Throw in his plus base-running, and you have an obvious front-line free agent. However, there’s the matter of 2015. This past season, Desmond back-slid to a line of .233/.290/.384 (80 OPS+). He’s 30, so it’s possible skills decline is setting in.

There’s nothing terribly out of line with Desmond’s 2015 BABIP of .307, so there’s not much reason to hope for a rebound on that front. As well, Desmond’s percentage of hard-hit balls declined significantly in 2015, and he continued the trend of hitting more and more balls on the ground. On the upside, the average distance of Desmond’s fly balls mostly held steady. In the end, it’s Desmond’s track record of power performance that puts him atop a very weak crop of free-agent shortstops. Even with his disappointing 2015, Desmond’s still young enough and close enough to his peak-ish outputs and skilled enough with the glove for a team to view him as a worthy upgrade.

2. Asdrubal Cabrera

Cabrera, who turned 30 on Nov. 13, has been a reliably above-average hitter as shortstops go over the balance of his career. He owns a career OPS+ of 104, which is right in line with his 2015 mark of 105. His days as a base-stealing threat are largely behind him, but Cabrera’s likely production at the plate makes him an asset. He’s not a plus defender at the position, and he may not be able to stick at short for more than another season or two. Still, he’s going to come much cheaper than Desmond while possibly being a league-average performer in terms of overall value.

3. Alexei Ramirez

Here we have our first drop-off in the rankings. Ramirez has cobbled together a solid career, and he’s been a steady presence at short for the White Sox for the last eight years. At 34, Ramirez is probably in decline, and last year’s numbers (.249/.285/.357) certainly suggest as much. That said, he’s durable, he still runs the bases fairly well, and at the plate he’s capable of running into one on occasion. At this stage of his career, though, Ramirez may be more of a depth play than big-league regular.

4. Mike Aviles

Avails doesn’t have the defensive skills to be an everyday shortstop, but he’s coming off a 2015 season in which he saw time at six different positions. He’ll turn 35 during spring training and hasn’t been productive at the plate since 2011. That said, Aviles’ positional flexibility and ability to swipe a bag on occasion make him a worthy back-of-the-roster sort.

5. Jimmy Rollins

Rollins turns 37 in late November, and he’s coming off probably the worst season of his career. Even though he was reasonably productive (by positional standards, anyway) as recently as 2014, deep decline is the assumption with players of Rollins’ age. Consider him a stopgap with a slight chance of a rebound, since decline is rarely linear, especially for those who played at a high level for a long time.

6. Stephen Drew

No, Drew cannot be considered an adequate regular at shortstop, or any other position. At most, he’s a complementary piece. He can man three different positions and was productive at the plate as recently as 2013. Over the last two seasons, though, Drew has batted a combined .185/.257/.347.

7. Joaquin Arias

He can play all four infield positions and saw time in left field as recently as 2010. His career OPS+ of 80 is passable for a reserve utility man, but his offensive numbers have trended downward in recent seasons. At this point in the rankings, we’re probably talking NRI fodder.

8. Cliff Pennington

At age 31, Barmes has in his career manned four different positions and spent almost 5,000 innings at shortstop. He was vaguely productive at the plate in 2014, but he’s coming off a 2015 season in which he batted .210/.298/281 for the D-backs and Blue Jays. Bench guy at most.

9. Clint Barmes

He’s a 36-year-old, no-bat utility man who may still be a plus defender at the non-premium positions. That’s about it. The Padres opted to buy out their 2016 option on Barmes, which is reflective of his current value.

10. Willie Bloomquist

For Bloomquist, continued employment at the major-league level seems unlikely. He’ll soon turn 38, he owns a career OPS+ of 78, and he’s coming off a 2015 season in which he batted .159/.194/.174 in 35 games before being released by the Mariners in early July.

Others worth mentioning? There are no others worth mentioning. Such is the state of free-agent shortstops for 2015-16.