For the rest of their lives, Carlos Correa and Francisco Lindor are destined to be compared with each other. They are superlative ballplayers born within a year of each other (Lindor is 24, Correa 23), they are both from Puerto Rico, and of course, they are both shortstops.
But they are very different in style and substance. Lindor is under 6 feet, a switch-hitter who runs well and is regarded by evaluators as the better defender. Correa is bigger, with an A-Rod frame, and stronger; he will probably hit a lot more homers in his career, and because of that, some executives believe his performance ceiling could be higher.
They are friends, but just as Magic Johnson and Larry Bird measured their own progress according to the standard set by the other during their careers, Correa and Lindor will always naturally push each other -- with respect.
In the months leading up to the World Baseball Classic, Puerto Rico GM Alex Cora and manager Edwin Rodriguez faced a potentially difficult situation because of the middle infield riches on their roster, with three incredibly talented shortstops -- Correa, Lindor and Javier Baez. That was resolved, Cora later explained, through magnanimity: Correa asked A.J. Hinch and Cora at the outset of spring training if he could prepare to play third base for Puerto Rico. Baez played second, Lindor shortstop, and Puerto Rico reached the championship game.
Two years ago, Lindor served as an anchor to a league champion that played to the 10th inning of Game 7 of the World Series before falling. Two months ago, Correa was the anchor to a team that won Game 7 of the World Series -- and then he topped it off with a marriage proposal on the field.
Like Bird and Magic, they will probably continue to take turns in the achievement spotlight in the years ahead, and Correa and Lindor top our Top 10 list of shortstops, a ranking based on the input of MLB evaluators, with the help of researchers Mark Simon, Paul Hembekides and Sarah Langs.
1. Francisco Lindor, Cleveland Indians
The Indians thought his swing got a little long last season and that he sometimes got away from what he does best -- that is, consistently hitting the ball hard -- and he batted .252 before the All-Star break. But he finished well and closed the year with 81 extra-base hits, including 33 homers, and was fifth in the AL MVP voting. He has played all but seven games in the past two regular seasons.
From Langs: The only other shortstop to hit at least 30 homers in a season before turning 24 years old is Alex Rodriguez, who did that twice.
2. Carlos Correa, Houston Astros
If Correa hadn’t torn up his thumb in midseason, he might have vied with teammate Jose Altuve for the AL MVP and taken the No. 1 ranking on this list. Correa missed about a third of the Astros’ schedule after having surgery and still managed to finish 17th among all position players in fWAR at 5.2. Correa’s power breakout, long predicted for the 6-foot-4, 215-pound shortstop, is happening: His slugging percentage jumped to .550, and he tied for eighth in the majors in wRC+. He is already known among veteran teammates for being a very serious student of the game, digging in and diagnosing and dissecting.
From Langs: Correa has generated 16.3 WAR in his first three career seasons, second most by any shortstop, behind Arky Vaughan (17.4).
Said one evaluator: “For me, you have Lindor and Correa … and then there’s a gap from the rest of the pack.”
3. Corey Seager, Los Angeles Dodgers
In his first two full seasons in the big leagues, Seager has been more than an adequate defender while providing big-time production at the plate. As with a lot of young players, Seager’s next challenge will be in improving his plate discipline: Among talent evaluators trailing the Dodgers in the postseason last fall, there was a sense that Seager could be pitched to in big spots because of his aggressiveness. But while Seager tends to attack at the plate, he still is among the best infielders at reaching base: He has a .374 OBP in his short time in the majors.
4. Andrelton Simmons, Los Angeles Angels
You start with the defense, of course. No one had a greater defensive impact than the Angels’ shortstop, who led all position players with 32 defensive runs saved -- more than double that of any other shortstop last year. Simmons has five full seasons in the big leagues, and in that time, he has lorded over all other shortstops in his defensive pre-eminence:
Defensive Runs Saved, 2013-2017
Simmons 144
Zack Cozart 40
Nick Ahmed 37
Francisco Lindor 32
But he also has developed into a solid if unspectacular offensive player, to the degree that Simmons led all shortstops in WAR last year with 7.1 after batting .278 with 38 doubles and 14 homers. Braves staffers who loved Simmons always acknowledged that because of his aggressiveness he would probably never be a high-level hitter, but last season Simmons had the best rate of hard-hit balls (29.2 percent) in his career.
5. Elvis Andrus, Texas Rangers
Two years ago, Andrus seemed to be in a midcareer malaise, with three consecutive summers of sub-.700 OPS production, and his contract was probably regarded as unmovable. But Andrus, still under 30 years old but on the cusp of his 10th year in the big leagues, rededicated himself to the sport, made changes and has become a much better player.
“For a while, I wondered how much he cared about it,” said one rival executive. “He looks energized to me.”
Andrus had 191 hits last season, a career high, with 68 extra-base hits; for the first time, he scored 100 runs. He ranked among the top half of shortstops in defensive runs saved.
A big financial carrot is now right in front of him: Andrus can opt out of his contract after the 2018 season, something that would’ve been unthinkable a few years ago.
From Langs: He hit 20 homers in 2017 after never hitting more than eight in any prior season.
6. Brandon Crawford, San Francisco Giants
One evaluator mentioned the off-field issues that hovered over Crawford last year, when he and the Giants struggled. “For me, he gets a mulligan,” said the scout. “Because he’s been a good player for a long time.” Crawford won the NL Gold Glove Award for the third straight season.
7. Xander Bogaerts, Boston Red Sox
His defensive metrics are among the worst in MLB, but new Boston manager Alex Cora was responsible for a lot of the shifting that the Astros did last year, and presumably he could foster alignments that help Bogaerts. If not, this could be a pivotal year for Bogaerts and decisions about where he should play in future seasons. His second-half decline at the plate seemed directly related to injuries, so he’ll probably hit for more power this year.
8. Didi Gregorius, New York Yankees
He seemed to graduate to another level last year, generating a lot of big hits and hitting .287 with 87 RBIs in 136 games in the regular season before mustering five extra-base hits in 13 postseason games.
9. Jean Segura, Seattle Mariners
He had an adjusted OPS+ of 110 last season, and despite injuries he batted .300 and scored 80 runs in 125 games, giving the Mariners the type of production they had hoped for when Seattle traded the talented Taijuan Walker to Arizona for him.
10. Trea Turner, Washington Nationals
When he’s healthy and playing well, Turner has demonstrated that he can be a high-impact player, with transformative speed -- he’s got 81 stolen bases in 97 attempts in just 198 games. However, Turner still hasn’t had a season in which he’s played 100 games.
In defensive runs saved, he ranked in the bottom half of MLB shortstops who had at least 800 innings at the position last year.
Best of the rest
• Addison Russell, Chicago Cubs: He had a really rough season on and off the field in 2017, and the Cubs hope for a rebound from Russell, who turns 24 this month. There was speculation among rival executives about whether the Cubs would be open to moving him, but his defense is hard to replace -- even in a down year, he rated very well in his glove work.
• Orlando Arcia, Milwaukee Brewers: His first season as a big league regular was impressive, with hints of great stuff to come. Arcia showed some pop, generated a lot of web gems and was eighth among shortstops in defensive runs saved.
• Paul DeJong, St. Louis Cardinals: He had a strong rookie season, taking the position away from Aledmys Diaz and hitting 25 homers in 108 games.