Where does the Cubs' Dansby Swanson rank among shortstops in the NL Central?

4. Joey Ortiz, Milwaukee Brewers

Joey Ortiz was a key part of the Brewers' return for Corbin Burnes last year (it's wild how deep the Orioles system is; Ortiz was ranked 15th in their organization in 2022). He's generally been regarded as a sure thing with the glove but was a bit of a late bloomer at the plate, breaking out in 2022 with Baltimore's Triple-A squad. The former New Mexico State Lobo is kind of similar to Wynn with his strong bat-to-ball skills and good defense with developing slug abilities. Ortiz doesn't have the cannon for an arm Wynn does but does offer a more disciplined approach at the plate.

Ortiz and Brice Turang make for a pretty salient double-play combination for the Cubs' upstairs neighbors. If they both make a jump in 2025, the Brew Crew's lineup is going to be able to weather the loss of Wily Adames a little more comfortably than Cubs fans were hoping.

5. Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Pittsburgh Pirates

Isiah Kiner-Falefa has carved out a pretty nice career for himself, racking up 13.5 WAR through his age-29 season. He's above-average to good defensively, carries a low strikeout rate, and is solid on the basepaths. That being said, trotting Kiner-Falefa out at shortstop every day isn't exactly going to get Pirates fans' hearts racing. He doesn't provide much power (career .351 slugging percentage) and seemingly doesn't believe in taking walks (just 29 last year). He's still a valuable MLB player, but not nearly on par with the proven production or upside of the four shortstops above him.