Best and worst shortstops in baseball for 2016

Lindor, 22, is on the verge of superstar status. He hit .313 with a .353 on-base percentage in 99 games as a rookie last season. What's amazing about his performance is that the young shortstop posted a 4.6 WAR in just 390 at-bats. Think about that for a second. In the midst of his first full season, Lindor is having an even better campaign. 

It's bad. Really bad. Replacing Didi Gregorius hasn't necessarily gone according to plan for Arizona. Ahmed has been absolutely atrocious since taking over the everyday job. Last season saw him hit .226 with a .275 on-base percentage while posting a horrendous .634 OPS. That's simply not going to get it done. 

It's possible that this 21-year-old phenom is already the best shortstop in the game. He might have hit a pedestrian .279 (if that's what you want to call it), but the 22 homers and 45 extra-base hits in 387 at-bats tell us a story of a dude who can rake from the plate. It also didn't hurt that he posted a positive defensive WAR with a huge zone rating on the diamond. 

No longer a member of the White Sox, Rollins has fallen off the map big time. The former MVP was hitting .221 with a .295 on-base percentage before being DFA'd. This came on the heels of him posting a .224 average with the Los Angeles Dodgers a season ago. He's also posted a negative defensive WAR during this span. 

At first, it was all about Crawford's defense. He came into the majors as one of the best fielding shortstops in baseball back in 2011. Though, his performance at the plate wasn't up to snuff. Overall, Crawford hit under .250 in each of his first four years with the Giants. That changed in 2015, when the All-Star put up 21 homers, 84 RBI and a .256 average. Oh, and he earned his first career Gold Glove. 

Last season was a downright monstrosity for this former Rookie of the Year candidate. He hit just .231 with a .282 on-base percentage, tallying a sub-.600 OPS and a negative WAR in the field. Oh, and he drove in only 17 runs in 317 plate appearances. 

One of the many fine young shortstops in the game, Bogaerts hit .320 with a splendid .776 OPS while tallying 45 extra-base hits in 2015. On top of this, the 23-year-old drove in 81 runs while posting a positive defensive WAR. 

There was a time not too long ago that Espinosa was considered a good young infielder. That time surely has passed. He's failed to post a .250-plus average in any of his six seasons in the majors, hitting .240 with an absurd 29 percent strikeout rate a season ago. The power numbers might be here (double digits three of the past five years), but Espinosa simply isn't reliable enough to count on at the plate. 

Last season wasn't exactly great for Tulo, who split his time between Colorado and Toronto. Though, he did still find a way to hit .280 with 17 homers and 70 RBI while putting up 44 extra-base hits. Defensively, the 11-year vet has earned two Gold Glove awards. When healthy, he's still an elite player at a position that's changing a great deal in today's baseball world. 

After bouncing around between the Red Sox and Dodgers earlier in his career, De Jesus was out of the majors in 2013 and 2014 before catching on with the Reds. In reality, he's probably better suited playing minor league ball. He hit just .244 with a 26 percent strikeout rate a season ago as a part-time player. Overall in his career, the 29-year-old has posted a .233 average with a sub-.300 on-base percentage.  

This could have more to do with projection, but Russell did darn well for a then-21-year-old player starting at short for a World Series contender last season. He put up 13 homers and 43 extra-base hits while driving in 54 runs. Not great numbers, but pretty good for someone his age. It's also important to note that Russell was among the best defensive players at his position with a 2.6 WAR in the field. 

When Galvis took over as Philadelphia's starting shortstop last season, many expected him to have a breakout campaign. It didn't happen. He did hit at a decent .262 clip but saw his on-base percentage hover under .300 while posting 30 walks in 603 plate appearances. On the defensive end, Galvis boasts a negative WAR at short throughout his career. Still just 26, there's hope here. But he's going to have to turn it around in relatively short order. 

New York went for defense when it added Gregorius prior to last season, and it paid off big time. He posted a positive defensive WAR for the fourth consecutive season with one of the best zone ratings (6.14) in the game. It also didn't hurt to see the 26-year-old post career highs in homers (nine) and RBI (56). It's not flashy, but it gets the job done. 

Since taking over as Pittsburgh's starting shortstop midway through the 2013 season, Mercer has performed at a slightly better than replacement-level rate, posting a WAR of less than one last year alone. He hit .244, posted a sub-.300 on-base percentage and saw his OPS drop from .772 in 2013 to .613. In fact, the 29-year-old Mercer has seen all of his major statistical numbers decline from that 2013 campaign. 

Yet another great young shortstop, Seager put up some darn good splits in his first extended action last season. The former first-round pick posted a .337 average with an .986 OPS while accumulating 13 extra-base hits in 98 at-bats. Fully prepared to expand on those numbers, he's matured even more in his first full season in the majors.  

Despite posting double-digit homers in each of his final two seasons in Seattle, Miller's defense is what puts him on this list. He had a -187 Rtot last year, meaning that his net rating was nearly negative 200 runs when on the field. That's pretty horrendous right there. It also doesn't help that Miller's career batting average stands at .245. No matter the pop you present at the plate, that's just not worth it. 

It really is all about defense for Simmons. He earned two consecutive Gold Gloves for Atlanta before being snubbed of that honor last season. And while Simmons has been injured throughout his first season with Los Angeles, he's continued that stellar play in the field. Potentially the best defensive shortstop since Ozzie Smith, Simmons has posted a 16.2 defensive WAR in three-plus seasons heading into this year. That's just absurd. 

Sardinas is never going to be an everyday player in the majors. Not only has he proved to be less than stellar in the field, but in limited stints with Texas and Milwaukee prior to joining Seattle this year, he hit zero homers in 212 at-bats while posting an on-base percentage of less than .270. Did we mention that his strikeout rate is at nearly 25 percent throughout his career? Ouch.