While cheat sheets and rankings are great, I often find it more valuable to come up with my own rankings based off of a research and place players by position in tiers. I am a big believer that balance is what wins, especially in fantasy baseball. I have already taken a look at my 1B TIERS, 2B TIERS, and 3B TIERS. Now, it's time to wrap up the infield with a look at shortstops.

TIER 1 - Jose Reyes (NYM), Hanley Ramirez (FLA), Jimmy Rollins (PHI)

TIER 2 - Troy Tulowitzki (COL), Michael Young (TEX), Derek Jeter (NYY)

TIER 3 - Rafael Furcal (LAD), Stephen Drew (ARI), Jhonny Peralta (CLE), JJ Hardy (MIL), Miguel Tejada (HOU), Yunel Escobar (ATL)

TIER 4 - Orlando Cabrera (OAK), Mike Aviles (KC), Khalil Greene (STL), Edgar Renteria (SF), Ryan Theriot (CHC)

TIER 5 - Asdrubal Cabrera (CLE), Jason Bartlett (TB), Cristian Guzman (WAS), Yuniesky Betancourt (TB), Erick Aybar (ANA), Jerry Hairston (CIN)

TIER 6 - Jed Lowrie (BOS), Elvis Andrus (TEX), Jack Wilson (PIT), Julio Lugo (BOS), Clint Barmes (COL), Brendan Harris (MIN), Cesar Izturis (BAL), Jeff Keppinger (CIN)

Drafting Strategy: Like most tiers that we've discussed so far the dropoff at shortstop is significant. The three players in tier 1 are no brainers, but there are solid starting options across the board. I also think there is good value deep at shortstop if you find the right guys. Once Reyes, Ramirez, and Rollins are off the board in the first round or two, you may want to wait and take your chances.

Final Take: I am going with youth at this position. You may make a move for a declining veteran, but I like the upside of some of the younger players at the position. If you play in a roto-style league (4x4 or 5x5 format) shortstop is great place to look for a player that may be stat heavy in one or two catagories.

Fantasy Baseball fantasy advice, tier rankings, fantasy ss