The 5 Greatest Boston Red Sox Shortstops of All-Time

The Boston Red Sox have had a number of tremendous shortstops over the franchise’s history. Does Xander Bogaerts crack the top 5?

To answer that question right off the bat, no current Boston Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts is not one of the franchise’s five best. At least not yet.

Bogaerts has the potential to crack this list in the future if he sticks around in Boston for years to come. It’s tough to crack any all-time list on franchise with such a storied history.

The Red Sox five greatest shortstops of all-time list includes players from all eras. Here, we break each down for you, beginning with number 5.

5. John Valentin (1992-2001)

.281, 121 HR, 1043 H, 266 2B, .972 FLD%, 1x Silver Slugger

John Valentin ushered in the pre-Nomar 90’s. He was a solid shortstop, who would have remained at the position if not for Garciaparra. With Boston, Valentin hit 121 career homeruns, tallied over 1,000 hits and played strong defense.

Many others could have taken this spot, but part of what gets him the #5 ranking is how he handled the turnover to Garciaparra. Nothing but class from the veteran at the time.

When Nomar won the shortstop position, Valentin moved to second, and then third.