In a recent post on ESPN.com, Dan Szymborski hailed MLB’s current crop of shortstops as quite possibly the best the sport has ever seen (Insider access required). Citing projected WAR over the next 10 years, there are currently 16 shortstops who could put up 20+ WAR over the next decade. If we dial it back to last year, there were still 14 such studs.
The next-best class on the list hailed from 2001-10 and included Derek Jeter, Miguel Tejada, and Jimmy Rollins, among others. They had nine 20-WAR players. And the 1987-96 group featuring Hall of Famers Cal Ripken Jr.