Washington Nationals Editorial: Where Does Danny Espinosa Rank Among Shortstops In The NL East?
By Ricky Keeler
Our NL East rankings for 2016 continue as we look at the shortstop position
Throughout this week, we have begun our preview of the National League East in 2016 by seeing which players are the best at each position. Keep in mind, if a player is fifth on a list, the team gets one point and if the player is first, that team gets five points. We have already looked at third base and center field, so let’s look at another position on the left side of the infield, shortstop.
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If you go solely by .OPS last season, this division had four of the ten lowest totals in the league (Braves, Phillies, and Marlins). Washington’s shortstops were 14th in OPS (.724). In 2016, the NL East will have three new shortstops that didn’t take the field with their respective team in 2015. Ian Desmond is still a free agent, Andrelton Simmons was traded to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, and Wilmer Flores is now on the bench for the Mets.
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Instead of those three players, the Nationals have Danny Espinosa with Stephen Drew on the bench and Trea Turner likely in the minors to start the season, the Braves have Erick Aybar, who they acquired in the Simmons trade, and the Mets signed Asdrubal Cabrera, who used to play for the Nats. The two players that are the same from last year are the Phillies’ Freddy Galvis and the Marlins’ Adeiny Hechavarria.
So, without further ado, here is my list of how I would rank the shortstops in the NL East, starting with number five.
Next: Number Five