Please Note: These prices are for standard 5×5 leagues, $260 NL or AL only. Ratings are for mixed leagues, and you will notice that on occasion they do not match dollar values. This is because I prefer my riskier players in the shallower mixed league format, where decent replacements are usually available. In mixed leagues of 18 teams or less, regular players and good left-handed hitters in the field should be available at the end for $1, or as reserves or free agents, not to mention rotational starters, not to mention relievers quality intermediates by the bucket. Therefore, in mixed leagues, there is only one sin: paying too much for mediocrity. Gift your favorites to the moon if you like, but don’t pay $10 for César Hernández.

The Reserve A and Reserve B designations are players I think are more or less worth the money, but not a dollar, usually because they won’t start in the majors. PFA stands for Possible Free Agent, or not worth a valuable reserve slot as they are further away from contributing for various reasons – but some will no doubt have an impact in 2022. When you see $0 it means I don’t want be a part of it and I’m thrilled if someone else in the room does.

Feel free to comment and welcome to 2022.

Shortstop

Bo Bichette, Blue Jays No one is really safe but here’s one of the most projectable hitters for 2022, at .300 with 30/25 and 105/105. $35, one less in OBP leagues.

Xander Bogaerts, Red Sox Okay, nobody’s ever really automatic, but he’s pretty close. The wide range of the aging curve suggests that 2019 was his career year, but anyone who can do what Bogaerts did is capable of a monster season at 29, or even 33.

Tim Anderson, White Sox Yeah, his BABIP just keeps dropping, from .399 to .383 to .372. You might expect the slide to continue, maybe down to .367, except Anderson posted an HH rate of 41.8%, an easy career high.