By Nick James The current Top 15 SS is an interesting group that is HS-heavy. While Grant Green is the clear front-runner, he isn’t the sure-fire bet you’d expect from the top positional player at a premium position. He has been compared to former Long Beach St. shortstops Evan Longoria (3b, Tampa Bay Rays) and Troy Tulowitzki (SS, Colorado Rockies) but his defense is not on par with Tulo, nor is his bat as devastating as Longoria’s. Once you get past Green there is a lot of potential movement among the next five or so, with the remainder of the class grouping closely together, as well. One omission that some will question is Ryan Jackson (Junior, University of Miami – FL). I just don’t see the bat there to place him ahead of any of the below 15, at this point. While his defense is solid, and he has shown an ability to make the spectacular plays, he isn’t consistently amazing with the glove, which is what I’d need to see to comp for a below-average bat with well below average power. While there’s an argument to be made for his more refined defensive game getting the nod over some of the high school talents on the list, there needs to be growth in his offensive game for him to make a splash come draft day. A light college class and a lot of very solid but unspectacular high schoolers make this position one of the thinner groups in the ’09 class thus far: Fall 2008: Top 15 Shortstops 1. Grant Green, Junior, University of Southern California 2. Mychal Givens, Senior, Plant HS (FL) 3. Deven Marrero, Senior, American Heritage HS (FL) 4. Richie Shaffer, Senior, Providence HS (NC) 5. David Nick, Senior, Cypress HS (CA) 6. Robbie Shields, Junior, Florida Southern College 7. DJ LeMahieu, Sophomore, Louisiana State University 8. Jiovanni Mier, Senior, Bonita HS (CA) 9. Chris Sedon, Junior, University of Pittsburgh 10. Stephen Perez, Senior, Gulliver Prep HS (FL) 11. Jason Thompson, Senior, Germantown HS (TN) 12. Jeremiah Sammy, Senior, Lamar University 13. Levi Michael, Senior, North Davidson HS (NC) 14. Nick Franklin, Senior, Lake Brantley HS (FL) 15. Darnell Sweeney, Senior, American HS (FL) Best Hitter: Grant Green Best Power: Grant Green Best Defense: Deven Marrero Best Arm: Mychal Givens Best Speed: Kenny Diekroger, Woodside HS (CA) -- Next Position: Top 15 2B --

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