I Am Standing Up:
Who's Who at Shortstop Dave Paisley The situation at short is looking pretty good around the major leagues, except perhaps at Baltimore, where they have not one but two of the most dubious stiffs to ever stand to the right of second base. This most demanding defensive position in the field (catcher excepted) is beginning to be restocked with quality young players.

As I have mentioned before regarding other primarily defensive positions, defensive ability is not what differentiates the good shortstop from the bad. There are those who argue that brilliant defense at short is all anyone can ask, and that offense is merely a bonus. I disagree. Decent defensive play is the minimum requirement to even enter the shortstop Wheel of Fortune sweepstakes. Beyond that, a decent bat is a must for a shortstop on a contending team. Any less, and a player risks demotion to that all-important utility middle-infiielder roster spot.

A prime example of the great field, no-hit shortstop, looking way down the list, is Rey Ordonez. He lives on highlight reel defensive plays, but hurts his team in subtle (well, pretty obvious, actually) ways at the plate.

But to return to the cream of the crop...

Alex Rodriguez will probably do better than I've predicted, as will Nomar Garciaparra. Rodriguez had a monster "rookie" season in '96, and should bounce back to somewhere between that and his '97 perfromance. I expect a little sophomore slump/league adjustment for Garciaparra as well, but these two are the class of an emerging group of fine young shortstops. Among the outstanding veterans, Jeff Blauser's retirement account will do well as he plays Snow White to the rest of the Cubs lineup's seven dwarves impersonation. Barry Larkin is once again out for a few weeks, and one just has to wonder if he could regain that MVP form if he stayed healthy. Jay Bell should get some decent licks in the cool, air-conditioned comfort in Phoenix.

After that, a steady Derek Jeter heads the rest of the pack, and Neifi Perez and Miguel Tejada are emerging as the next pair of star quality young shortstops. Perez will of course benefit from inflated offensive numbers from Coors, but let's not discount his basic ability too much because of that.

Kevin Elster returns to Texas to provide more pop from SS than Benji Gil did last year. Come to think of it, I could provide more pop than Benji, who gets a chance to provide that loud sucking sound at the bottom the White Sox order this season. From the looks of his spring training, we'll need a microscope to see his OPS this season.

Andy Sheets was buried in Seattle behind Alex Rodriguez, but proved to be a versatile defender with some pop. He should eventually pry the starting job from Chris Gomez in San Diego.

After that comes a great glob of fair-to-middling shortstops that won't electrify anyone with the bat, but won't embarrass themselves. Of this bunch, I like Omar Vizquel, who provides brilliant defense with adequate offense.

In Pittsburgh, it looks like the promising Abraham Nunez may give Kevin Polcovich a run for his money, or will at least be the cause of some infield position juggling.

Below the waterline, there are some well-known veterans who are surviving on the good will of GMs around the league. Jose Vizcaino, Gary DiSarcina and Mike Bordick anchor the bottom of the table, and provide negative offense. Chris Gomez and Benji Gil have had adequate time to show some evidence of offense, but have failed to do so thus far. Time is running out for them to avoid the dreaded middle infield backup status.

The remainder down there are young guys who haven't had a chance to prove they can't hit, so this would be a good year for Desi Relaford and Deivi Cruz to show they have some idea of what that wooden stick is for. I have more hope for Relaford than Cruz, though.

All in all, shortstop is one of the more promising positions to watch this year.
 

Team	Name	Age	G	AB	HR	RBI	R	OBP	SLG	AVE	OPS	OPS 5	Diff OPS	98 OPS	RG	NR
Cin	Barry Larkin	34	73	224	4	20	34	.440	.473	.317	.913	.883	3%	.900	95	28
Sea	Alex Rodriguez	22	141	587	23	84	100	.350	.496	.300	.846	.900	-6%	.870	90	23
ChN	Jeff Blauser	32	151	519	17	70	90	.405	.482	.308	.887	.785	13%	.850	88	20
Bos	Nomar Garciaparra	24	153	684	30	98	122	.342	.534	.306	.876	.861		.800	80	13
Az	Jay Bell	32	153	573	21	92	89	.368	.461	.291	.829	.783	6%	.800	80	13
NYY	Derek Jeter	24	159	654	10	70	116	.370	.405	.291	.775	.783		.770	76	9
Tex	Kevin Elster	33	39	138	7	25	14	.327	.449	.225	.776	.743	4%	.750	73	6
Col	Neifi Perez	23	83	313	5	31	46	.333	.444	.291	.777	.726	7%	.750	65	-2
Oak	Miguel Tejada	22	26	99	2	10	10	.240	.333	.202	.573			.750	73	6
SD	Andy Sheets	26	32	89	4	9	18	.299	.416	.247	.715			.750	73	6
Oak	Kurt Abbott	29	94	252	6	30	35	.315	.433	.274	.748	.734		.730	70	3
Mil	Jose Valentin	28	136	494	17	58	58	.310	.407	.253	.717	.750	-4%	.730	70	3
SF	Rich Aurilia	26	46	102	5	19	16	.321	.500	.275	.821	.680	21%	.720	68	1
Pit	Kevin Polcovich	28	84	245	4	21	37	.350	.396	.273	.746			.720	68	1
Min	Pat Meares	29	134	439	10	60	63	.323	.410	.276	.733	.687	7%	.700	66	-1
Cle	Omar Vizquel	31	153	565	5	49	89	.347	.368	.280	.715	.692	3%	.700	66	-1
Atl	Walt Weiss	34	121	393	4	38	52	.377	.384	.270	.761	.711	7%	.700	66	-1
Hou	Tim Bogar	31	97	241	4	30	30	.320	.390	.249	.710	.652	9%	.700	66	-1
Mon	Mark Grudzielanek	28	156	649	4	51	76	.307	.384	.273	.691	.697		.700	66	-1
Fla	Edgar Renteria	22	154	617	4	52	90	.327	.340	.277	.667	.705	-5%	.700	66	-1
Pit	Abraham Nunez	22	19	40	0	6	3	.289	.375	.225	.664			.700	66	-1
TB	Kevin Stocker	28	149	504	4	40	51	.335	.355	.266	.690	.697		.690	64	-3
Tor	Alex Gonzalez	25	126	426	12	35	46	.302	.387	.239	.689	.690		.690	64	-3
Stl	Royce Clayton	28	154	576	9	61	75	.306	.398	.266	.704	.676	4%	.690	64	-3
KC	Felix Martinez	24	16	31	0	3	3	.351	.323	.226	.674			.670	61	-6
LA	Jose Vizcaino	30	151	568	5	50	77	.323	.350	.266	.673	.683		.670	61	-6
SD	Chris Gomez	27	150	522	5	54	62	.326	.326	.253	.652	.670	-3%	.660	60	-7
Phi	Desi Relaford	24	15	38	0	6	3	.279	.316	.184	.595	.525	13%	.650	58	-9
Ana	Gary DiSarcina	30	154	549	4	47	52	.271	.326	.246	.597	.641	-7%	.620	54	-13
Bal	Mike Bordick	32	153	509	7	46	55	.283	.318	.236	.601	.638	-6%	.600	51	-16
ChA	Benji Gil	25	110	317	5	31	35	.263	.325	.224	.588	.583		.600	51	-16
Det	Deivi Cruz	23	147	436	2	40	35	.263	.314	.241	.577			.600	51	-16
NYM	Rey Ordonez	25	120	356	1	33	35	.255	.256	.216	.511	.558	-8%	.550	44	-23
	Average	27	111	386	7	41	52	.322	.390	.260	.712	.709		.712	67	0

All stats 97 unless noted.

Stats Glossary
G - Games played
AB - At-Bats
BA - Batting Average (Hits/At-Bats)
OBP - On Base Percentage (total times on base/plate appearance)
SLG - Slugging Percentage (total bases/At-Bats)
OPS - OBP + SLG
OPS5 - 5-year (or career if less) average OPS
Diff OPS - Difference between '97 OPS and OPS5
'98 OPS - Dave's projected OPS for '98
RC - Runs Created ([R+RBI]/2 predicted from OPS 98 based on 550 AB)
NR - Net Runs (RC - Average RC)

Dave Paisley was recently selected to be the Maitre D' at Chris Bosio's Training Table buffet restaurant. Make a reservation atdrdjp@strikethree.com.

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