So there was a discussion this morning on MLB radio in regards to the Dodgers' FO. It is massive.

 

Link

 

They have some really bright minds in their FO which allows them to have multiple perspectives on things - a way of diversifying their portfolio, so to speak.

 

I remember a few years ago making an argument that the White Sox Org should make more investments in instruction and coaching throughout the entire organization.

 

There are areas where investments can be made, which seem like incredibly efficient and wise investments to make, particularly when compared against the costs of player acquisition/retention.

 

Is this something the White Sox could benefit more from? Have they already been doing this?

So there was a discussion this morning on MLB radio in regards to the Dodgers' FO. It is massive.

 

Link

 

They have some really bright minds in their FO which allows them to have multiple perspectives on things - a way of diversifying their portfolio, so to speak.

 

I remember a few years ago making an argument that the White Sox Org should make more investments in instruction and coaching throughout the entire organization.

 

There are areas where investments can be made, which seem like incredibly efficient and wise investments to make, particularly when compared against the costs of player acquisition/retention.

 

Is this something the White Sox could benefit more from? Have they already been doing this?

 

I don't care as much about hiring 15 former GMs as much as getting a lot more people in for player development, nutrition coaching, more people like Santiago for helping with transitioning to new living/culture/language etc. and more scouts.

I don't care as much about hiring 15 former GMs as much as getting a lot more people in for player development, nutrition coaching, more people like Santiago for helping with transitioning to new living/culture/language etc. and more scouts.

Yeah, I'm with you on that...and while I'm not saying I love Anthopolous, these guys make peanuts compared to player acquisition/development costs. I think snatching up a mind like Fahran Zaidi is an incredibly wise investment.

How about that hire the Indians made? They hired a guy from the Eagles this offseason who had specialized in creating custom nutrition and sleep plans for players. Stuff like that I know is on Sox radar, Fabian mentioned it at SoxFest, but we don't know if they ever implement it.

How about that hire the Indians made? They hired a guy from the Eagles this offseason who had specialized in creating custom nutrition and sleep plans for players. Stuff like that I know is on Sox radar, Fabian mentioned it at SoxFest, but we don't know if they ever implement it.

Yeah, I think these are lower cost investments with the potential to make big impacts.

 

I really think smaller organizations absolutely need to be on the cutting edge of things like this if they hope to compete.

Can we interview Haber on what they're planning to do with all the MLB payroll cost savings?

 

Japan/Korea market? Minor league development/staffing? More scouts? More invested into Fabian's high tech databases and proprietary algorithms?

Edited July 21, 20178 yr by caulfield12

About time that a team pays analytics people.

 

Most other teams take data analysts that would make 100K in a big company and pay them 40K to work 80 hours a week. They still do it because it is working in baseball and they are not doing a bad job but why not pay ten super qualified guys 500K each?

 

5M is a lot of money but teams are paying that to 38 year old washed up pitchers with a 4.5 ERA. Every team can afford that and such a team is probably easily getting that money back (by not signing the washed up pitcher:)). Every team could afford that not just the Dodgers.

About time that a team pays analytics people.

 

Most other teams take data analysts that would make 100K in a big company and pay them 40K to work 80 hours a week. They still do it because it is working in baseball and they are not doing a bad job but why not pay ten super qualified guys 500K each?

 

5M is a lot of money but teams are paying that to 38 year old washed up pitchers with a 4.5 ERA. Every team can afford that and such a team is probably easily getting that money back (by not signing the washed up pitcher:)). Every team could afford that not just the Dodgers.

Yeah that was my take as well...not that you need 5 GMs in your FO but I think the strategic thinking/analysis as well as coaching and development are things that are not properly valued by the market.

I always wonder why teams don't spend more for better analytics, scouting, marketing, coaching and player development staff, etc. when we could shell out $5M a year for a relieve pitcher. I don't know how much the White Sox or other teams spend or if there is already increase focus on these areas but I feel like each of those areas contributed greatly to team success so it would be silly not to.

 

For example, we always heard that xxx team is great at developing hitters but not the White Sox, or xxx player is not the type of player the Sox could develop. Well, what exactly do teams like the Cardinals, Braves, Cubs, or Astros have that we don't? Why do we keep allowing the failure of hitting development to be ok and then blindly spending hundreds of millions to field a sub .500 team? If what it takes is better coaching and training staff, better (and more) scouting, then why don't we increase expenditure in those areas? Or is player development completely based on luck and we just keep striking out the past decade?

Teams are still new to analytics, read Big Data Baseball about the Pirates in 2014 and their switch over to shifting defense. Even with having overwhelming data the baseball dinosaurs still vehemotely oppose the idea.