This might be the position at which there is the biggest drop between the top two players -- Troy Tulowitzki and Jose Reyes -- and the rest of the field.

With Hanley Ramirez playing third base now that Reyes is with the Marlins, our No. 3 shortstop is the Tribe's Asdrubal Cabrera. On the surface, Cabrera's numbers were pretty darn good last season -- 25 homers, 92 RBI, 17 steals and 87 runs. Keep in mind, however, that, after posting a .293 average and .836 OPS in the first half of 2011, Cabrera batted .244 with a .729 OPS in the second half.

Throw in the fact that Cabrera's previous career highs were six homers and 68 RBI, and there is cause for concern.

Will Cabrera be productive again this season? Probably. But we don't expect him to be nearly as good as Tulowitzki (.302, 30 homers, 105 RBI and nine steals in 2011) and Reyes (101 runs, 39 steals and a .337 average last year).

Our top five shortstops are solid, as you would expect, but after that, it gets dicey. The No. 6 player at the position (at least in my mind), the Rangers' Elvis Andrus, scored 96 runs and had 37 steals, but he hit .279 last year and has no power. No. 7 J.J. Hardy had 30 homers and 80 RBI in 2011, but he had a combined 17 homers and 85 RBI in 2009 and '10.

On to the top 20 ...

Note: All players are ranked at the positions at which they are expected to spend the most time in 2012, not all positions at which they are eligible. ... Stats are from 2011.

Rank, player, team R-HR-RBI-SB-Avg.
1. Troy Tulowitzki, Rockies 81-30-105-9-.302
2. Jose Reyes, Marlins 101-7-44-39-.337
3. Asdrubal Cabrera, Indians 87-25-92-17-.273
4. Jimmy Rollins, Phillies 87-16-63-30-.268
5. Starlin Castro, Cubs 91-10-66-22-.307
6. Elvis Andrus, Rangers 96-5-60-37-.279
7. J.J. Hardy, Orioles 76-30-80-0-.269
8. Derek Jeter, Yankees 84-6-61-16-.297
9. Jhonny Peralta, Tigers 68-21-86-0-.299
10. Erick Aybar, Angels 71-10-59-30-.279
11. Alexei Ramirez, White Sox 81-15-70-7-.269
12. Dee Gordon, Dodgers 34-0-11-24-.304
13. Yunel Escobar, Blue Jays 77-11-48-3-.290
14. Ian Desmond, Nationals 65-8-49-25-.253
15. Rafael Furcal, Cardinals 44-8-28-9-.231
16. Stephen Drew, Diamondbacks 44-5-45-4-.252
17. Alcides Escobar, Royals 69-4-46-26-.254
18. Jed Lowrie, Astros 40-6-36-1-.252
19. Alex Gonzalez, Brewers 59-15-56-2-.241
20. Zack Cozart, Reds 6-2-3-0-.324

Last three out: Cliff Pennington, Athletics; Jason Bartlett, Padres; Ruben Tejada, Mets.

Eligibility notes: We have the Marlins' Ramirez ranked as our No. 2 third baseman, but he will be eligible at shortstop. ... Marco Scutaro was traded from Boston to Colorado, where he will move from shortstop to second base. ... Another Marlin, Emilio Bonifacio, is ranked at second base on many sites, but he is an outfielder.

Key stats: The only concern with Tulowitzki is injury. The last four seasons, he has had 377, 543, 470 and 537 at-bats. That's an average of 482 at-bats. He missed 14 of the Rockies' last 19 games in 2011.

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If there is good news regarding Troy Tulowitzki's wrist injury, it's that the Rockies shortstop might return as soon as six weeks -- in plenty of time for you to have him back for the stretch run of the regular season.

If you're a Jhonny Peralta fan (all three of you), there is another reason to smile, but more on that in a bit.

Let's look at 10 potential replacements for Tulowitzki in deep leagues (all stats are through Monday):

The 50-percent-and-over group

The only player who is owned in more than 50 percent of the leagues on ESPN.com who might be readily available is the Braves' Yunel Escobar. The 2009 standout missed 13 games with a leg injury before returning in mid-May, and many owners gave up on Escobar after a brutal start to 2010 (.215 batting average in April and .207 in May).

Escobar -- who batted .299 with 89 runs, 14 homers, 76 RBI and five steals last season -- has heated up this month. He's batting .328 with two steals and an .847 OPS, but he has scored only seven runs and has no homers and five RBI.

If he's available in your league and you need help at short, he's the best option on this list.

Not a shortstop, but ...

The Tribe's Peralta -- much to our delight -- is no longer playing the marquee defensive position in baseball, but he is eligible at shortstop in some leagues because of 2009 qualifications. That alone makes him relevant in fantasy.

If you can play him at his former position, he's the No. 2 option here, thanks to a June in which he's batted .314 with 11 runs scored and 11 RBI in 70 at-bats. As poor as he can be in the field and on the basepaths, in fantasy what matters is he can hit for power (Peralta averaged 20 homers, 77 RBI and 89 runs from 2005-08) and drive in runs. Peralta is available in more than 79 percent of the ESPN leagues.

Nos. 3-10

3. Mike Aviles, Royals (owned in 18.4 percent of the leagues on ESPN.com): Aviles is a second baseman, but he's started seven games at short and is eligible there in many leagues. He won't help you much in homers and RBI, but he's batting .339 in June and he hit .317 in May.

4. Ian Desmond, Nationals (21.1 percent): He's struggled this month (.242, no homers, six RBI, .613 OPS), but has four homers, 33 RBI and four steals on the season. In 309 career at-bats, he's driven in 45 runs.

5. Clint Barmes, Rockies (3.2 percent): He has taken over at short for Tulowitzki, and he had a productive 2009 in the power department (23 homers, 76 RBI). The bad: He hasn't homered since May 28, he's batting .222 on the season and he's hitting .255 this month. Regardless, he has 31 RBI and 20-homer potential, which is better than most candidates you'll find on the waiver wire.

6. Cristian Guzman, Nationals (30.9 percent): He's batting .300 with 31 runs, but is of no help in homers (1) and RBI (20). Guzman -- a second baseman who has started 13 games at short -- batted .380 in May, but has struggled mightily this month (.240, .603 OPS). In 2008 and '09, he batted .301 with averages of eight homers, 54 RBI, 75 runs and five steals.

7. Starlin Castro, Cubs (31.9 percent): The rookie tore up National League pitching in May (.310, two homers, 12 RBI), but he's received a reality check in his second month in the big leagues (.196, no homers, four RBI and a .527 OPS in June).

8. Yuniesky Betancourt, Royals (14.8 percent): He has decent numbers in runs (32), homers (5) and RBI (32), but he's hitting only .246 in June.

9. Jeff Keppinger, Astros (18.0 percent): He's a decent hitter (.284), but isn't much of an asset in the other categories (one homer, 22 RBI, one steal).

10. Alcides Escobar, Brewers (38.2 percent): At least he's consistent. Escobar, amazingly, has batted .250 each month, including June. He's in his third year and can help you in steals (five this season), but isn't very useful in the other categories.