http://mlbbuzz.yardbarker.com/blog/mlbbuzz/espns_law_on_the_move_again/9006985?new_post=true I like reading his stuff. I think he could be a good addition to the Astros. Went to Harvard and also used to work in the Blue Jays front office. Thinks outside the box.
I hope they cleaned house in the front office. It looks Bobby Heck won't be back since he is the current scouting director and Law interviewed for that spot. Heck had some decent draft picks but overall didn't do a good enough job in his 4 years.
As they probably should. Clear out Ed Wade and cronies. Interesting to see if Law gets the(a) job or even offered.
His twitter seems to suggest that he got the job. keithlaw keithlaw My day just got a lot more interesting. 2 hours ago keithlaw keithlaw I appreciate all the kind words, everyone. 1 hour ago
Jim Crane is the man. I work at the Golf Course he is a member at. He gave me $150 bucks for Christmas. Now He's hiring Keith Law.
This is good news. Law never seemed to buy into the Ed Wade/Tal Smith regime and was quite critical of every move they made.
Interesting things I've learned about Keith Law; he's only 38, graduated with honors from Harvard and has a really great blog largely devoted to food and books. He seems to be a Moneyball guy due to working under Riccardi in Toronto and being recommended to Riccardi by Paul DePodesta. Also seems to be a Red Sox fan at heart.
I remember reading Law years ago. Basically big stat guy even back when statheads were considered fringe. Given the Astros lack of success going old school with Wade, this seems like a direction worthy of trying.
http://www.boston.com/sports/baseba...pos_of_nothing___new_years_version/?page=full 14. ESPN’s Keith Law deserves a chance to be back in a baseball front office. Smart guy.
WAS a "Moneyball" guy. http://www.drunkjaysfans.com/2011/0..._campaign=Feed:+DrunkJaysFans+(DrunkJaysFans)
That quoted blurb from him in the post above is awesome...sounds like wisdom from experience, recognizing you need a healthy balance of scouting with statistical analysis. Not to mention the fallacy that if everyone buys into the Moneyball approach, what was once cheap talent is now more highly valued..defeating the purpose.
By definition, doing something that someone else had already gone and accomplished 4-5 years ago is not moneyball. In fact that kind of philosophy is the opposite of moneyball. It would be the philosophy of "follow the leader ball".
IN BASEBALL: There is Moneyball the philosophy - find what is undervalued and capitalize on that... There is Moneyball in actual practice - emphasis primarily on on-base percentage. The Moneyball push did help GM's/scouts/executives recognize the value of on-base percentage...but once they did, it was no longer undervalued. It became part of what made players expensive and it was no longer something to captialize on at a deflated price.
Exactly. So Keith Law wasn't anti-moneyball at all. If anything, he was trying to use Moneyball philosophy at Toronto by using more scouting and other ways to find talent in the draft. Now whether he's capable of finding such value here in Houston is another thing. But at the very least you need some analytical guys who can provide the basic statistics that all teams can use. After Ed Wade, I feel the Astros aren't even on par with your average MLB team in terms of analysis, much less the ability to stay ahead of the curve.
I agree, and I'm hopeful. Sure seems like Crane understands the value of having statistical gurus around.
