SPECULATOR: Longshot leaders '16

Each year in this space, we close out the pre-season calendar with a look at some possible long-shot league leaders and award winners. We are a week later than usual this year, partially because we intentionally don't want these out-on-a-limb predictions to influence your Draft Day plans. We don't think it is at all interesting to predict a Mike Trout MVP or a Clayton Kershaw Cy Young Award. Around here, we dig deeper....

Batting champions

National League
David Peralta (OF, ARI) hit .312 last year, so maybe this isn't such an outrageous pick. But he did that with a .286 xBA, so our usual approach here at BaseballHQ.com would be to call for regression. (Indeed, we're projecting a .299 BA, essentially splitting that BA/xBA gap from 2015)....

Almost!

You’re just a few clicks away from accessing this feature and hundreds more throughout the year that have a singular goal in mind: Winning your league. Subscribe to BaseballHQ.com here!

Already a subscriber? Sign in here

More From Speculator

Baseball is back, and it's time to overreact... because what else are we supposed to do?
Apr 1 2026 3:08am
Our Opening Day Eve tradition speculating on the top category producers who went late in drafts.
Mar 25 2026 3:07am
If history is any guide, this year's end-of-season Top 15 will come from all stages of the draft.
Mar 18 2026 3:08am
What lessons can we apply from Drew Rasmussen's 2025 breakout to this year's player pool?
Mar 11 2026 8:36am
Applying lessons learned from George Springer's 2025 breakout to this year's player pool
Mar 4 2026 3:04am

Tools