MLB Network Ranks The Top 10 Shortstops In Baseball And Leaves Out Didi Gregorious...Wait What?

I’m gonna try and be rational here without freaking out. Deep breaths. It’s fine. It’s just an error right? Nope, MLB Network thinks Didi Gregorious isn’t a top 10 shortstop in baseball. Now this isn’t Brian Kenny or Harold Reynolds saying this, it’s “The Shredder”, which is their robot rankings which takes into account all statistical data possible and zero human bias from what I gather. Well, that robot needs to be destroyed. This is one of the worst lists I’ve ever seen and there have been a lot of lists created since the beginning of time. Let’s break it down.

Now I’m not going to be irrational and say he’s a top 3 shortstop. I’m not stupid. Carlos Correa, Francisco Lindor, and Corey Seager are all better than Didi without a doubt. Where those three rank is up for anyone’s judgement (personally I’d put Lindor at the top by a hair, but it’s a very good debate to have).

In my mind, Didi’s name gets brought into the discussion once we get past the top 3. Amongst Didi in that range are Trea Turner and Andrelton Simmons. There are reasonable numbers to back up Didi coming at 4 here, but I’m gonna give that to Simmons right now. His 2017 was nothing short of remarkable as he posted the 8th highest WAR in all of baseball. Defensively he posted an astonishing 4.17 wins above replacement which paced the rest of the league by 1.35. That’s fucking insane. He’s all around fantastic no question.

At 5 is where I slide the Yankee shortstop in. Trea Turner at this point is more of a name than a star on the field, unless you’re talking to a Nats fan. He’s yet to play over 100 games in his young career so despite putting up very solid numbers in that span, he can’t be a top 5 shortstop without putting in at least a full season. Compared to qualified shortstops last year Didi ranked in the top 5 in all these categories: RBIs (3rd), HRs (3rd), AVG (5th), and OPS (5th). Defensively he’s stellar, finishing 4th in fielding percentage ahead of Simmons actually in 2017. When you factor in all of these things how does that not equate to a top 5 shortstop? To the naked eye he is for sure, but then you throw in these stats I’m just dumbfounded how a computer left him off the top 10. Who was ahead of him?

Paul Dejong? He’s a very young, up and coming player no question, but he’s not ahead of Didi on this list.

Trevor Story? You mean the guy who hit .220 away from Coors Field last year? Yeah he puts up good power numbers and OPS because he plays in Colorado, but his road splits will show you the real kind of player he is and how much he benefits from his home park. Not a chance he ranks ahead of Didi.

Tim Beckham? TIM BECKHAM? Get out of town MLB Network. What are we even talking about here?

Leaving Didi outside the top 5 is a mistake, but erasing him from the top 10 entirely is grounds for public execution. I propose we take this computer and destroy it on live television. I hope Didi saw this graphic and uses it as motivation for 2018. He already has enough of that most likely with an upcoming payday on the horizon as he’s arbitration eligible only one more year after this one. I’d expect Cashman to lock up his star in the making shortstop very soon and beat him to free agency.

Yankees fans watched all year as Didi broke out in 2017 as the true replacement of Derek Jeter, but the rest of the baseball world got introduced in October. He’s a star in the making and he’s all ours.