For rising star Mookie Betts and prominent trade acquisition Todd Frazier, it’s far from a disaster that they’ve landed berths on the 2016 MLB All-Hype Team.
What it means is the Boston Red Sox right fielder and the Chicago White Sox’s new third baseman posted such impressive overall numbers in 2015 that they’re now the subject of unrealistic expectations.
There are two types of players who landed spots on this squad. The first group includes ascending giants of the game like Betts. The second is composed of free-agent additions and trade pickups like Frazier who joined their new employers at exorbitant price tags.
All of the players on this list impressed in 2015, but after digging through the overall track records, considering sample sizes, home/road splits and first-/second-half splits, there’s no guarantee those numbers will repeat in 2016.