August Shortstop Rankings

Rosario holds little fantasy value after trade

Connor Rogers looks at Los Angeles Dodgers shortshop Ahmed Rosario's dwindling fantasy value after being traded from the Cleveland Guardians.

Welcome to the post-trade deadline edition of the rankings. As always, players are ranked for the rest of the season based on how I see them performing for the rest of the season.

Click to see other August rankings:
Top 300 | SP | RP | OF | 1B | 2B | SS | 3B | C

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Shortstop Rankings

Dropping off: Miguel Rojas (46th), Adalberto Mondesi (48th), Taylor Walls (52nd), Tucupita Marcano (53rd), Mauricio Dubon (58th), Brandon Crawford (60th)

• With Amed Rosario gone to Los Angeles, the Guardians have all three of their young shortstops in the majors. Unfortunately, it’s the least interesting of the trio for fantasy purposes – Gabriel Arias – currently being treated as the starting shortstop, since he’s the best defender in the group. Brayan Rocchio , the best prospect of the three, should see a fair amount of playing time at multiple spots, but he’d have to overtake Arias to become an option in shallow leagues. It’s bizarre how the Guardians have treated Tyler Freeman . The 24-year-old hit .329/.468/.482 in 22 games in Triple-A this year, but he’s mostly wasted away while spending over three months in the majors, collecting a total of 95 plate appearances in which he’s hit a fine .286/.344/.357. Freeman lacks upside, but he’d probably be a perfectly solid major league second baseman. Of course, the Guardians already have one of those.

• Luis García has had a baffling year, which culminated in his rather surprising demotion Wednesday. It’s rather astonishing that a player could lower his strikeout rate from 22.3% to 12.5%, not lose any exit velocity in the process and perform worse. His walk rate even went from pathetic (2.9%) to merely bad (5.2%). It’s certainly worth questioning the Nationals’ approach with young hitters, given the lack of development from the likes of Victor Robles and Keibert Ruiz . CJ Abrams probably, too, though a well-timed hot streak has his numbers looking much better. It’s probably not fair to include Carter Kieboom , given all of his injuries. I liked García coming into the year, and if anything, I’m more encouraged about his bat now. That said, his defense remains a problem, even at second base, and a change of scenery might be best for everyone at this point.