It's interesting that (per Rome) Brown did not interview/speak with any members of the Astros FO, but did speak with both Bagwell and Jackson. I think it's apparent that one goal of Crane and his buddies with this hire was to find a real "baseball guy" and not just some ****ing nerd armed with spreadsheets.
If every team out there is truly going all-in on analytics and valuing Ivy League degrees vs experience... taking the hybrid approach actually is the "analytical" move that would give a front office an edge.
Makes sense. It's funny that it will be several years before the roster isn't made up from 3 different GM contributions. And that doesn't even take Crane into account.
Yea hopefully Dana and Dusty have a much better relationship than Dusty and Click did. It's obvious they were not on the same page on a lot of issues We had so much pitching last year we were able to overcome pretty much any issues that came up, but the value of having your GM and Field Manager on the same page is pretty big
I don’t think analytics necessarily means “zig when they zag.” I see it as a more rigorous and scientific approach to operational management. It means requiring more than simply “my gut,” “my eyes,” or “so and so did it and he knows baseball” to back up analysis. Saying you should balance that with the old way of doing things is like you should balance modern germ theory with the outmoded theory of miasma. It makes no sense.
There is no purely scientific approach possible, especially to building a minor league system. Analytics can help evaluate raw talent and components of what might make someone elite. And it can help dictate the required outcome to be elite (a certain spin rate, pitch mix, bat speed, contact rate, etc.). But there are real human elements it cannot judge - willingness to learn and adapt, susceptibility to addiction or “bad influence”, etc. These two alone have huge impact on minor league success - see Whitley, Martes, Singleton. It may not be about zigging when others zag, but having and listening to “people people” who can understand personalities and rewarding coaches who can reach players and help them develop makes a massive difference. Houston has thrived with that on the Latin players, and Atlanta has thrived recently also. A comparison to “modern” and “outmoded” is just wrong. An analytic-only approach is impossible and does not negate the human side of scouting development. Click, whatever you think of his purely “objective” skill, was poor at reading and relating to people or else he would still be here. I hope Brown can put a better culture in place in that regard while maintaining the objective approach to evaluation and planning.
Little chance is better than no chance. Somebidy had a gut feeling to bring him back to international tryouts for 15K.
There's a few HOFers out there now being historically looked at with questions as to whether 'analytics' would have prevented them from even having a shot. Wade Boggs and Tony Gwynn come to mind if you're heavily focusing on exit velocity, speed, tools, etc. We're still going to see players come out of nowhere like Altuve did because sometimes you just can't deny the greats from making it.... even if they weren't heavily sought after. And that is why this game is so great.
Analytics is not without limitation. Intangibles matter, and young men are growing and changing. Some are late bloomers. Alvarez likely was one of those. LA didn't want him. Big Mistake.
