SPECULATOR: Searching for 2016's surprise teams

Each spring in this space, we take a break from player-specific analysis and cast our speculative eye at team-level performance, looking for teams that might be in line to defy expectations (good or bad) in the coming season.

This year, we pushed the exercise out into the first weekend of the season, for three reasons:

  • This lets us work with the final pre-season projections.
  • Since we are light on player analysis in this piece, it made sense to hold it until after draft season.
  • There's precious little to write about during the opening weeks of the season, anyway.

As always, we turn to our favorite draft software, Rotolab, to do the heavy lifting of turning BaseballHQ.com projections into standings predictions. The results here are of...

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

Our annual exercise pitting current players on the age-old 10-step path to prospect stardom list.
Jun 11 2025 3:06am
Two-plus months into the season, we'll use QBaB to see who's making the best quality of contact, and speculate on their outlook going forward.
Jun 4 2025 3:09am
After last week's in-season "UP"side column, it's time to strike a more pessimistic tune.
May 28 2025 3:07am
We'll take a page from the Baseball Forecaster with a new batch of "UP"side projections based on 2025's early returns.
May 21 2025 3:06am
Starters who have had one (just one!) bad start, and what things would look like if we give them a mulligan
May 14 2025 3:10am

Tools