Wednesday, January 18, 2006

Non-Legal but Philosophical Baseball Thoughts

I ventured into the realm of football with my last post, and did so with a very "baseball" state of mind--I complained about refs. I suppose baseball would be my expertise (must you pay for my stats?), so here are some random thoughts.

1) Many baseball insiders--coaches, managers, general managers, scouts--in baseball believe that the pendulum of player grading has swung too far in the direction of sabermetrics; or at least, that too big a deal is made of it. Subscribers to the dynamics of dialectics (and baseball purists) would argue that the pendulum will swing back somewhere to the synthesis of balance between strict adherence to sabermetrics (thesis) and reasonable use of scouting the intangibles (antithesis).

I do not doubt sabermetrics' usefulness for economically valuing players for the purposes of arbitration or free agency. However, inter alia, there is debate as to its limited effectiveness in predicting minor league prospects' success, as well as the normative question of HOW it should be used. Mike Scioscia, Manager of "The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in Orange County within Southern California" prioritizes the statistic that gauges how often a player goes from first to third. Since his team won the A.L. West in 2005 (and won the 2002 World Series), is he a better sabermetrician than Billy Beane? Does Scioscia even believe in the value of sabermetrics?

2) Front office dynamics. Professor McCann recently noted the new, young brand of General Managers in MLB. Besides a grasp for player development and the overused, talked-to-death sabermetrics, these General Managers must also fully understand the MLBPA, including issues such as the Rule V Draft (of which I was a draftee in 2002, and found out from the Cubs after my Crim Law final), player options, arbitration, free agency, the amateur draft and how they affect each other.

Generally, the dynamic at the top of baseball organizations is set up thus: if the General Manager is a veteran "baseball guy" whose expertise is scouting talent, then he'll be complemented with a Special Assistant who is the procedural expert; if the General Manager is the procedural expert, then the Special Assistant is the veteran talent scout.

3) If I owned a team (I'm saving up), Kim Ng would be my General Manager. She has a first rate mind (Univ. of Chicago Law) and experience, so I do think she knows the game. Additionally (and much less importantly), the enlightened media would be over the top with this story and predictably favorable.

4) Professor McCann's post, here, is my favorite. I've made this same argument for years, albeit much less eloquently, and with a beer instead of coffee mug in front of me. A-Rod and other professional athletes don't get a "take 2."

Comments are welcome.

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