Tiers are a simple but effective way of plotting out a draft strategy that assures you won't fall behind at any position while maximizing your return on every pick. They serve as an alternate form of rankings that groups players by expected level of production, denoting the points in the rankings where the most significant drop-offs occur. In the heat of a draft, you'll know which position to target by observing which one is closest to having its current tier depleted.
Below are the shortstop tiers for 2020. They depict a star-studded position with plenty of depth at the top that nonetheless can still be get shallow in leagues with more teams or deeper rosters. We broke down the position in our shortstop preview on the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast, including why we're so excited about someone like Corey Seager even at a stacked position:
The Super Elite: Trea Turner^, Alex Bregman, Francisco Lindor, Trevor Story
The Elite: Fernando Tatis, Xander Bogaerts
The Near-Elite: Gleyber Torres, Jonathan Villar^, Adalberto Mondesi^, Marcus Semien, Bo Bichette, Javier Baez, Manny Machado, Carlos Correa
The Next-Best Things: Tim Anderson^, Corey Seager
The Fallback Options: Jorge Polanco
The Last Resorts: Amed Rosario, Elvis Andrus, Didi Gregorius, Paul DeJong, Jean Segura, Kevin Newman, Jon Berti^, Dansby Swanson, Carter Kieboom
The Deep-Leaguers: David Fletcher†
The Leftovers: Luis Urias, Nico Hoerner, Nick Ahmed, Andrelton Simmons, Willy Adames, Niko Goodrum, Freddy Galvis
^:one tier lower in points leagues