Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com has released his top 10 shortstop prospects today, and Alen Hanson made the list. Hanson was ranked 8th overall. The top seven in order were Jurickson Profar, Francisco Lindor, Javier Baez, Xander Bogaerts, Carlos Correa, Nick Franklin, and Addison Russell.
Mayo notes that Hanson has the range and hands to stay at shortstop, but that his arm has been erratic. He also notes that more people believe Hanson can stay at short now than they did before his full season debut in West Virginia. The consensus opinion on Hanson seems to be that he’s a question mark to stick at the position long-term, mostly due to arm strength. He definitely has the bat to add a lot of value from the middle infield spots, and if he could just be passable defensively at short, he could provide the Pirates with a very valuable shortstop down the line.