It’s like makeup, character, and fortitude come first, and then, if a person can actually play baseball, that’s a small bonus. It’s like, it’s nice that Adam Dunn can draw a walk and hit some HR, but that not going to earn him a place on an MLB roster ahead of Mother Theresa of Calcutta. So what if she’s dead? She’s still an inspiring presence in the clubhouse!

and Scrappy McScrapperton was the MVP of the World Series.

that hate WAR because it assigns wins to a specific player, are these still the same guys citing pitchers w-l records as if they have any sort of meaning?

The same people who laud the red sox for the empire they’ve built seem to refuse to acknowledge that they did it using a moneyball approach, except using moneyball with virtually limitless resources.

KeithsMoustache

You are exactly right. It’s a matter of how you think and use statistics. For many on this site this is no more than doing a WAR analysis and the team is built. I think even Billy Bean, someone that embraces this type of stuff more than other GM’s, has more depth than that.

Traditional baseball practices still are at the heart of the game. Last I looked the bases have always been 90 feet and the mound 60 feet 6 inches.

Backfish. I work for a company where Share/Volume data is used all the time. I also know a thing or two about accounting. Don’t we all know that we can make “numbers” say and do what we please. Stats like WAR have variables at the core of the analysis that were determined by someone. Last I looked no one should be the “czar” of baseball and determine what a league average player is or that 1B shouldn’t be as valuable defensively. That is my main problem with the stat. Not that you guys enjoy talking about it, but that is has extreme flaws!

As a degree holder in Biology, I say bravo on name dropping Mendel.

The demands of the Mariners were chronicled by Bryan Hoch, beat reporter for the team, and Brian Cashman said on Mad Dog Radio that demands were “expensive”

Maybe your hate for the Yankees has something to do with those statements. Bias, just like you accuse my sources of.

Ryan Langerhans – comon dude!

I will say this. First, Frank Russo sent James article to scouts in the Yankees organization. They enjoyed it and disagreed with him 100%. Although I think it is a great sign that scouts would take the time to read AA. Thats exactly the point of all this – getting your discourse out in the mainstream!

Next, I did more research, as per your request, about some modern statistical metrics

Stay tuned, another piece coming out in the AM – should be fun to continue to dialogue.

As for the haters. Keep it coming! NYBD will not allow you to bother us, bring us down, or stop our methods of reporting.

the cancer statement doesn’t necessarily fly… i’ll admit that nothing on this board influences my work however. Also… Grission!

But at the same time I would assume most people would believe that anyway. I mean I could go to a batting cage every day for the next 5 years and hire the best trainers money could buy and I’m never going to be a professional baseball player. I don’t understand why it would be so hard for to understand that a guy, who’s already a professional and likely already has the best training money can buy isn’t going to suddenly become something he hasn’t been at any level.

just kidding. but really stats are not predictors of the future, just assessments of the past. We tend to give too much stock to their predictive power. Probability and statistics are too often interchanged when they are really totally different entities. I feel that stats actually add to the fun of the game because it has that extra sense of amazement when somebody exceeds their past performance. The only thing you can say about stats is the longer these numbers remain constant, the lower the probability they go up in the future.

As a fan of the baseball card, stats – HR, SB, Avg. OBP, E is what I am used too. These new stats such as WAR and others are esoteric and appear to be effective in predicting future outcomes. Fans of sabermetrics on this site either come across as snobs or teach and want to share their knowledge. Nevertheless, AA is a top notch Mets blog and glad I’m part of this community.

"You need to watch a player and utilize scouting reports to understand their value defensively. Rey Ordonez use to be a great defensive SS, but always had a knack for blowing easy plays. Do you think any defensive metric can tell me that? No, but I watched him play for seven years so I think I can make that statement. I bet David Wright recieves great ratings when you talk about zones and range, but I have seen enough atrocious throws to know that he shouldn’t be considered a gold glove third baseman.

Again, there is nothing wrong with this type of analysis, but I don’t want a math professor from the CUNY system playing a major role in building my ballclub. This presentation, in my opinion, gives clarity to the issues with defensive metrics and proves my concerns with modern baseball statistical analysis."

I didn’t see it that way, I just took it as a neutral mention of Baumer’s background, or maybe a more general anti-intellectual/anti-“egghead” thing — but if you’re right (and there were several other people who thought this), then Silva should instantly lose all his remaining credibility with both patriotic New Yorkers and all educated people. Seriously, I’m not a mathematician, but in every field that I do know well there are tons of absolutely world-class minds teaching in the CUNY system. In some fields I know, a Ph.D. from the CUNY Grad Center is a more hotly contested property than one from some or all of the Ivies. Fine, it’s lost some of the old City College luster over the years with all those budget cuts, but it’s still one of the few great urban public university systems in the country.