The calendar has moved to May, which means it’s time to get some positional Shuffle Ups your way. We have enough data to form some actionable opinions (in some cases), or at least educated guesses (in some other cases).
The players below are salaried and ranked as if I were entering a fresh draft tonight. What’s happened to this point is an audition, nothing more. Don’t get hung up on the salaries in a vacuum, which are just comparison tools. Players at the same salary are considered even.
Most of the players who have 2B or SS eligibility in Yahoo leagues are on this list. I excluded anyone currently on the IL, and didn’t rank anyone in the minors.
Have some respectful disagreement? That’s good, that’s why we have a game. Share your thoughts anytime on social media: catch me on Twitter/X or on Bluesky.
And away we go.
The Big Tickets
$38 Bobby Witt Jr.
$36 Elly De La Cruz
$30 Fernando Tatís Jr.
$25 Trea Turner
$24 CJ Abrams
$24 Brice Turang
$22 Ozzie Albies
$22 Zach Neto
$22 Jazz Chisholm Jr.
$21 Nico Hoerner
Worried about Witt, looking to trade him? Trade him to me. The average and steals are where we’d expect, and there’s no reasonable reason to expect he won’t hit between 20-30 homers when the season is over. He’s still the fastest player in baseball and in a prime age pocket. Patience, please.
De La Cruz’s pop disappeared in the second half last year, but whatever that problem was, he’s corrected it. And Elly’s plate discipline is better than many realize — he’s above board in chase rate and walk rate, and at least his strikeout rate is improving. De La Cruz doesn’t have to apologize for his hard-hit profile; it’s as red as the uniform he wears. This is a superstar spreading his wings.
Tatís now has second-base eligibility, so enjoy the flexibility. Maybe a home run will come later this week. If you’re looking for positives, he has an expected average of .280 and an expected slugging of .402 — he’s been unlucky. His line drive rate has actually improved this year, too. It will work out.
Chisholm still carries a strikeout problem despite acceptable walk and chase rates. There are two ways to slice that — you appreciate his respectable zone judgment, but it also means he’s getting beat inside the strike zone more than you’d like. Normally, when you see a .214 average and a .349 slugging tied to a presumable star, you assume the bad-luck signs must be flashing, but Chisholm’s hard-hit metrics support those puny stats. Alas, we can’t go too low on Chisholm, as he’s on pace for about 18 homers and 50 steals.
Legitimate Building Blocks
$19 Gunnar Henderson
$18 Otto Lopez
$18 José Caballero
$18 Ketel Marte
$17 JJ Wetherholt
$17 Kevin McGonigle
$17 Maikel García
$17 Willy Adames
$15 Corey Seager
$15 José Altuve
$14 Xavier Edwards
$14 Geraldo Perdomo
Maybe Lopez is a little over his skis so far, but the expected stats (.298 average, .479 slugging) still validate him. You worry that Lopez could be exploited by a free-swinging approach and a puny walk rate, and the Miami ballpark doesn’t help, either. But the category juice plays, and heck, he’s a career .270 batter. He’s set to beat, perhaps smash, his spring ADP.
It hurts me to rank Seager this low, but he’s never been a runner and we always have to assume he’ll need some IL time. He’s also in an age-32 season, so some skill erosion is to be expected. Nobody misses the sauna atmosphere that was The Ballpark at Arlington, but we do miss the scoring atmosphere — the newer park has always favored the pitchers.
I moved Perdomo’s salary down but I didn’t collapse it — he still has more walks than strikeouts and an OPS+ of 111. The Diamondbacks won’t move him to the bottom of the order, and you can always bank on the steals. Figure on 12-15 homers this time around, but the average will ultimately be a positive.
Some Plausible Upside
$13 Bo Bichette
$12 Xander Bogaerts
$11 Dansby Swanson
$11 Brandon Lowe
$11 Colson Montgomery
$10 Konnor Griffin
$9 Ceddanne Rafaela
$8 Ildemaro Vargas
$7 Casey Schmitt
$6 Matt McLain
$6 Jeremiah Jackson
$6 Luis Arráez
$6 Daniel Schneemann
$6 Trevor Story
$6 Ernie Clement
$5 Brooks Lee
$5 Angel Martinez
$5 Cole Young
$5 Brayan Rocchio
$5 Jacob Wilson
$5 Masyn Winn
$5 Oswald Peraza
$5 Luis García Jr.
$5 Colt Keith
$5 Ezequiel Tovar
$5 Travis Bazzana
Vargas is a tricky case, though I’ve bumped him up a little bit. Everything he’s done this year has been wonderful and metric-supported; his expected batting average is .339, his expected slugging .498. But we’re talking about a 34-year-old journeyman who’s been a below-average offensive player almost every step of the way (a mediocre 86 OPS+). I’m rooting for Vargas because I love players who swing at anything but make contact anyway, not to mention he covers multiple positions and he’s become a recent pickup of mine. But this is the type of player you extend a tiny leash towards; be ready to bail at the first sign of extended trouble. Root with your heart, but make decisions with your head.
I was willing to write off McLain’s mediocre 2025 season to the first year back off a major injury, but he’s also off to a horrible 2026 start and was recently dropped in the batting order. The Reds have a lot of moving parts to their infield — Sal Stewart has started to pick up 2B reps — and McLain probably won’t get the entire season to come around, like he was given last year. At least he’s running when he gets the opportunity, but I’m legitimately concerned here.
Bichette is swinging at everything, like he always does, but the average has been comically unlucky — the Statcast data says he should be at .287. We can’t count on stolen bases here, and his power profile hasn’t been great the last few years. Sometimes a young player looks like a sure star but turns into a good-not-great player. That’s the file I’m putting Bichette in right now.
Bargain Bin
$4 Gleyber Torres
$4 Nasim Nuñez
$4 Luke Keaschall
$4 Jose Fernandez
$4 Andrés Giménez
$4 Mauricio Dubon
$4 Nolan Gorman
$3 Nick Gonzales
$3 Chase Meidroth
$3 Austin Martin
$3 Hyeseong Kim
$3 Willi Castro
$2 Edouard Julien
$2 Bryson Stott
$2 Jeff McNeil
$2 Amed Rosario
$2 Brice Matthews
$2 Brett Baty
$2 Caleb Durbin
$2 Marcus Semien
$2 Marcelo Mayer
$1 Curtis Mead
$1 David Hamilton
$1 Ezequiel Duran
$1 J.P. Crawford
$1 Ben Williamson
Read the full article here