The 2016 MLB season starts Sunday with a triple-header of games capped by a rematch of last fall’s World Series meeting between the New York Mets and Kansas City Royals on Sunday Night Baseball.
After an offseason of exciting wheeling and dealing, ongoing arguments about which team will reign supreme in 2016 and the always prevalent overreaction to spring training performances, what really matters is finally about to begin.
So before Opening Day arrives, let’s set the stage with a rundown of the game’s 50 best players heading into the season.
For position players, offensive production, defensive metrics such as defensive runs saved and ultimate zone rate per 150 games and track record of success were taken into account with an eye on potential indicators of regression such as batting average on balls in play.
For pitchers, performance, pure stuff, durability and track record of success were factored into the equation, with fielding independent pitching and the aforementioned BABIP making up the two biggest potential indicators of regression.
That being said, a certain level of subjectivity always goes into a list like this.
The simple question “Would I rather have Player A or Player B if I were building a team?” also played a part in determining where each of the following players landed in the rankings.
Let’s kick things off with a few guys who just missed the cut before diving into the best 50 players in the game at the start of the 2016 regular season.