Please note, this posting contains two positions.

Position: Front End Developer, Baseball Operations

Location: Cleveland, Ohio

Primary Purpose:
The Front End Developer will focus on building applications and systems to support Cleveland’s players, coaches, and front office. The position will collaborate with Baseball Operations personnel, along with colleagues and peers in Information Systems, to rapidly deliver working software, from ideation to delivery, break/fix, and everything in between.

This role will report to the Manager, Front End Development in Cleveland’s Information Systems department.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities:

Design and Development of Baseball Systems

• Work closely with Baseball Operations and Information Systems departments to design, develop, and improve new and existing baseball applications
• Create tests and documentation for bug fixes and new application features/functions
• Design and develop dashboards and various analytical tools to directly support front office and field personnel
• Ensure technical feasibility of user interface and user experience designs
• Build and/or support mobile-friendly user interfaces and experiences
• Build and/or support web services and business-layer applications that speak to both back end databases and front–end interfaces
• Collaborate with other teammates and stakeholders

Support of Baseball Systems

• Provide development support and guidance to Baseball Operations power users and general support to all Baseball Ops front-office and field personnel, as needed
• Examine and where appropriate, prototype new technologies in the pursuit of creating competitive advantages through software, applications and tools; considers future requirements and possibilities
• Work closely with Data Architects and Infrastructure/Operations resources on the Information Systems team to ensure secure, scalable and high-performing applications

Education and Experience Requirements:

• Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a related field is preferred
• At least 3 years of experience in software development in a web-based development environment
• Experience in consuming Service Oriented Architectures is preferred
• Knowledge of Web Development languages/standards, including Javascript, HTML5, and responsive design Use of Open Source JavaScript libraries such as JQuery and Vue
• Experience with Tableau a plus Experience with Node.js a plus
• Experience working with baseball data or delivering sports analysis tools and/or applications is a plus
• Extensive general knowledge and experience with computer system hardware, networks, operating systems and business applications software
• Knowledge of Microsoft SQL server database design, programming and access methods is a plus

Job Requirements:

• Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills
• Highly self-motivated
• Ability to work extended hours and weekends as necessary.

Standard Requirements:

• Reads, speaks, comprehends and communicates English effectively in all communications.
• Represents the Cleveland Indians in a positive fashion to all business partners and the general public.
• Ability to develop and maintain successful working relationship with members of the Front Office.
• Ability to act according to the organizational values and service excellence at all times.
• Ability to work with multicultural populations and have a commitment to fairness and equality.
• Ability to walk, sit or stand for an entire shift.
• Ability to work extended days and hours, including holidays and weekends.
• Ability to move throughout all areas and levels of the Ballpark.
• Ability to work in a diverse and changing environment.
• Occasional physical activity such as lifting and carrying boxes up to 25lbs.

To Apply:
To apply, please complete the application, which can be found here.

Position: Back End Developer, Baseball Operations

Location: Cleveland, Ohio

Primary Purpose:
To design, implement, manage, and troubleshoot the Baseball Department’s information architecture, and to expose that data to UI developers through a web service layer or direct SQL. The Back-End Developer will partner with the Baseball Analytics and Software Development teams to maintain data infrastructure, support needs, implement solutions, and drive innovation in baseball’s data-driven decision process. Key functions will include data modeling, integration, warehousing, and consumption, as well as the development and maintenance of web services in C# that expose data through REST web services.

This role will report to Manager, Back End Development in Cleveland’s Information Systems department.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities:

Work with the baseball department and software development team to design, develop, test and deploy new functionality, applications, and systems.

Data Consumption

• Support data and reporting requirements for a variety of applications, analysts, and end-users in all departments.
• Provide technical and strategic advice of the management in the creation and implementation of new data standards, databases, products, and vendors.

Data Integration

• Create and support ETL (extract, transform, load) data integration processes.
• Understand the format, definitions, limitations, and content of external and internal data feeds.
• Reconcile differences across data sources and consolidate into a single master repository.
• Develop processes ensuring data standards, security, stewardship, lineage, and metadata management.
• Spearhead efforts to identify, obtain and integrate new data sources useful for decision-making

Data Modeling

• Understand and document existing database structures, historical design decisions, business rules, and future requirements.
• Develop and document a comprehensive information model that describes the data and maps the workflow that transform and manipulates it into usable information.
• Ensure “single version of the truth” consistency across applications and reports.

Data Warehousing

• Manage a data warehouse to support reporting and analytics.
• Assist end users in extracting data for their purposes

Web Services Development

• Creating and supporting REST-based web services to expose data to various UI layers (web, desktop, mobile app).

Education & Experience Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Computer Engineering or related field.
• At least 3 years of experience in software development or in a similar role
• Experience with business intelligence, data warehousing, OLAP, and/or data integration.
• Experience with data modeling.
• Thorough knowledge of design and integration principles for complex, heterogeneous databases
• Advanced knowledge in query development, including SQL, MDX, and stored procedures.
• Experience with ETL and BI reporting tools (e.g. Microsoft SSIS & SSRS, Tableau).
• Experience using JSON formatted data.
• Experience in C# or other .NET language.
• Knowledgeable about software development best practices and long-term maintainability of code
• Familiarity with baseball data and sabermetrics strongly desirable.
• Experience supporting or using statistical and/or data-mining applications is desirable.
• Familiarity with any of application development and/or web technologies is a plus.

Standard Requirements:

• Reads, speaks, comprehends and communicates English effectively in all communications.
• Represents the Cleveland Indians in a positive fashion to all business partners and the general public.
• Ability to develop and maintain successful working relationship with members of the Front Office.
• Ability to act according to the organizational values and service excellence at all times.
• Ability to work with multicultural populations and have a commitment to fairness and equality.
• Ability to walk, sit or stand for an entire shift.
• Ability to work extended days and hours, including holidays and weekends.
• Ability to move throughout all areas and levels of the Ballpark.
• Ability to work in a diverse and changing environment.
• Occasional physical activity such as lifting and carrying boxes up to 25lbs.

To Apply:
To apply, please complete the application, which can be found here.

The content in this posting was created and provided solely by the Cleveland Indians.

The following article is part of Jay Jaffe’s ongoing look at the candidates on the BBWAA 2020 Hall of Fame ballot. Originally written for the 2018 election at SI.com, it has been updated to reflect recent voting results as well as additional research. For a detailed introduction to this year’s ballot, and other candidates in the series, use the tool above; an introduction to JAWS can be found here. For a tentative schedule and a chance to fill out a Hall of Fame ballot for our crowdsourcing project, see here. All WAR figures refer to the Baseball-Reference version unless otherwise indicated.

In the eyes of many, Omar Vizquel was the successor to Ozzie Smith when it came to dazzling defense. Thanks to the increased prevalence of highlight footage on the internet and cable shows such as ESPN’s SportsCenter and Baseball Tonight, the diminutive Venezuelan shortstop’s barehanded grabs, diving stops, and daily acrobatics were seen by far more viewers than Smith’s ever were. Vizquel made up for having a less-than-prototypically-strong arm with incredibly soft hands and a knack for advantageous positioning. Such was the perception of his prowess at the position that he took home 11 Gold Gloves, more than any shortstop this side of Smith, who won 13.

Vizquel’s offense was at least superficially akin to Smith’s: he was a singles-slapping switch-hitter in lineups full of bigger bats, and at his best, a capable table-setter who got on base often enough to score 80, 90, or even 100 runs in some seasons. His ability to move the runner over with a sacrifice bunt or a productive out delighted purists, and he could steal a base, too. While he lacked power, he dealt in volume, piling up more hits (2,877) than all but four players who spent the majority of their careers at shortstop, each in the Hall of Fame or heading there: 2020 first-time candidate Derek Jeter (3,465), Honus Wagner (3,420), Cal Ripken (3,184), and Robin Yount (3,142); he’s second only to Jeter using the strict as-shortstop splits, which we don’t have for Wagner. During his 11-year run in Cleveland (1994-2004), he helped the Indians to six playoff appearances and two pennants.

To some, that makes Vizquel an easy call for the Hall of Fame. Debuting on the 2018 ballot, he received 37.0% of the vote, a level of support that doesn’t indicate a fast track to Cooperstown but more often than not suggests eventual enshrinement. Last year’s rise to 42.8%, modest though it may look, is an even stronger indication of eventual election — although these eyes aren’t so sure it’s merited. By WAR and JAWS, Vizquel’s case isn’t nearly as strong as it is on the traditional merits. His candidacy has already become a point of friction between old-school and new-school thinkers, and only promises to be more of the same, not unlike that of Jack Morris.

Read the rest of this entry »

“Overconfidence is a powerful source of illusions, primarily determined by the quality and coherence of the story that you can construct, not by its validity.” – Daniel Kahneman

If the 2019 Indians thought they the lone contenders in the AL Central, the Minnesota Twins very quickly disabused them of that notion. Cleveland still fought their way to a 93-69 record, but after a quiet offseason, the loss of some key players, and a final run at the playoffs destroyed by a five-game losing streak, this is a team that ought to be haunted by their what-ifs. Much of the team’s core remains intact (at least for now), but with key contributors approaching free agency, these Indians may have peaked.

The Setup

If a baseball season is a marathon, the 2018 Indians were allowed to use a car. They grabbed first place in the AL Central in late April and never relinquished it. The Minnesota Twins ran afoul of the Regression Gods, and the rest of teams in the division were still firmly in the moribund section of their respective rebuilds. With the bullpen not rocking as it had in previous years, Cleveland traded top prospect Francisco Mejía to the San Diego Padres for Brad Hand and Adam Cimber, players who could reinforce the bullpen past 2018. Also added were Leonys Martin and Josh Donaldson, players the team believed could have upside for the playoffs. Read the rest of this entry »

Pitch movement isn’t as exciting as high velocity these days, especially when talking about four-seam fastballs. The harder you throw, the more attention you draw, and any additional cut, run/ride, or rise you produce is the icing on the cake. So what happens if you throw a fastball with average velocity and minimal movement?

There are a few pitchers who don’t rely on heavy movement and can compensate for unimpressive velocity with things like pitch command or control and being able to use their offspeed and/or breaking pitches with the fastball effectively. While looking at some 2019 four-seam movement data, I came across a few pitchers that produce minimal four-seam action. Since the fastball is essentially the foundation on which all other pitches thrive, I wondered about the capacity of their other secondary pitches working off of this somewhat linear-moving pitch.

I found Cleveland Indians relief pitcher Hunter Wood to be of interest to me. Only a half-win player in 2018, Wood took a small step backward in 2019 after a decent start to the season that went south just before the All-Star break. His HR/9 skyrocketed in that time, going from 0.68 from April to June to 2.84 in July and August, and his fastball was largely responsible for the degradation.

Eventually, Wood was dealt to the Indians in late July after spending his two and a half seasons with the Tampa Bay Rays. Per Wood’s scouting report, he possesses a good level of command. His pitches generally grade out as average, with exception given to his cutter.

Wood’s undeviating four-seamer averages a horizontal break of three-quarters of an inch with the tenth-highest rise of all fastballs thrown in 2019. Given the lack of expected drop to the pitch, hitters generated a fair number of fly balls, a lot of which left the various stadiums they were hit in. Thrown for league-average velocity with the 43rd-highest spin rate, it produced a .280 batting average and a 120 wRC+ against. Below are a couple of his typical fastballs: Read the rest of this entry »

Please note this posting contains two positions.

Position Title: Amateur Scouting Fellow

Primary Purpose
The Indians Fellowship program is designed to accelerate the pace of development and impact for high-potential candidates. Fellowship roles are focused on complex challenges, developing new approaches, tools and techniques to meaningfully drive the organization forward.

The Cleveland Indians are seeking two Fellows to join their Amateur Scouting department. Each Fellow will work collaboratively with the amateur scouting staff. Fellows will operate as an extension of the front office staff and be a resource for scouts and Baseball Operations. Fellows will be expected to manage the collection of multiple data streams on amateur players to prepare the organization for acquisition opportunities.

The ideal candidate will be curious, creative, open-minded, and excited to work in a collaborative and rapidly-changing environment. The candidate will have exceptional interpersonal skills and execute the organization’s vision through passion, resourcefulness, curiosity and strategic thinking. They will take the initiative to perform research that advances the Indians’ procedures and philosophies, especially on the draft.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities
Baseball Technology:

• Operate bat/ball tracking technology and other sports science technology.
• Manage video process from all opportunities to assess players, including but not limited to games, workouts and events.
• Manage the corresponding data and video collection process.

Support Scouting Operations:

• Assist scouting staff with the organization and execution of the scouting process through thorough data collection.
• Assist scouting staff with player workouts.
• Assist scouting staff with various administrative and information-gathering tasks.
• Provide holistic player assessments.
• Understand and apply organizational philosophies to all phases of the scouting and information-gathering processes.

Role Requirements and Preferences
Education & Experience Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree
• Demonstrated passion for at least one of scouting, baseball analytics, sports science, hitting or pitching analysis and/or biomechanics, strength and conditioning, motor learning, or other baseball related field.

Skills:

• Organization: Ability to create, maintain and execute a schedule with precision and agility.
• Work Ethic: A relentless drive to collect more and better information.
• Passion: Demonstrate a clear passion for the game, teammates, the organization and learning.
• Resourcefulness: Utilize organizational resources to develop and understand organizational philosophies.
• Self-awareness: Understand your skillset, understand your biases, and recognize your areas of development.
• Strategic Thinking: Employ a problem-solving mindset and strategic thinking.

Job Requirements:

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Working knowledge of advanced baseball statistics and publicly available research.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office.
• This position will require travel to games, workouts, and events across the country.

Standard Requirements:

• Reads, speaks, comprehends and communicates English effectively in all communications.
• Represents the Cleveland Indians in a positive fashion to all business partners and the general public.
• Ability to develop and maintain successful working relationship with members of the Front Office.
• Ability to act according to the organizational values and service excellence at all times.
• Ability to work with multicultural populations and have a commitment to fairness and equality.
• Ability to walk, sit or stand for an entire shift.
• Ability to work extended days and hours, including holidays and weekends.
• Ability to move throughout all areas and levels of the Ballpark.
• Ability to work in a diverse and changing environment.
• Occasional physical activity such as lifting and carrying boxes up to 25 lbs.

To Apply
To apply, please complete the application, which can be found here.

Position Title: Baseball Operations Fellow

Primary Purpose
The Indians Fellowship program is designed to accelerate the pace of development and impact for high-potential candidates. Fellowship roles are focused on complex challenges, developing new approaches, tools and techniques to meaningfully drive the organization forward.

The Cleveland Indians are seeking multiple Fellows to join their Baseball Operations department. Each Fellow will work full-time with one of the Indians’ minor league affiliates and report to both the Player Development and Baseball Operations departments. Fellows will operate as an extension of the front office staff and be a resource for both players and coaches. Fellows will be expected to manage the collection of multiple data streams. Fellows will gain exposure across multiple departments and have access to and be encouraged to use a suite of internal, proprietary resources.

The ideal candidate will be curious, creative, open-minded, and excited to work in a collaborative environment. The candidate will have exceptional interpersonal skills and the ability to present complex topics to a wide range of audiences. They will take the initiative to perform research in the areas of their choosing that advances the Indians’ player development procedures and philosophies.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities
Baseball Technology:

• Operate bat/ball tracking technology and other sports science technology.
• Manage pre-game and in-game video process.
• Manage the corresponding data and video collection process and assist with interpretation.

Research and Development:

• Collaborate with coaching staff and player development staff to monitor player goals and player progress.
• Perform ad hoc research and analysis, both at the request of staff and independently.
• Communicate findings and insights to Minor League Coaches, Players, and Player Development and Baseball Operations Department.

Coaching Staff Support:

• Assist Minor League field staff with pre-game on-field activities.
• Assist Minor League field staff with Advance Scouting process.
• Assist affiliate staff with various administrative tasks.

Role Requirements and Preferences
Education & Experience Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree
• Demonstrated passion for at least one of scouting, baseball analytics, sports science, hitting or pitching analysis and/or biomechanics, strength and conditioning, motor learning, or other baseball related field.
• Conversational Spanish or better a plus

Skills:

• Organization: Ability to create, maintain and execute a schedule with precision and agility.
• Work Ethic: A relentless drive to collect more and better information.
• Passion: Demonstrate a clear passion for the game, teammates, the organization and learning.
• Resourcefulness: Utilize organizational resources to develop and understand organizational philosophies.
• Strategic Thinking: Employ a problem-solving mindset and strategic thinking.

Job Requirements:

• Experience with SQL and statistical software (i.e. R, Python, Stata, SAS) a plus.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Working knowledge of advanced baseball statistics and publicly available research.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office.
• This position will be based at an affiliate and will include travel to away games.

Standard Requirements:

• Reads, speaks, comprehends and communicates English effectively in all communications.
• Represents the Cleveland Indians in a positive fashion to all business partners and the general public.
• Ability to develop and maintain successful working relationship with members of the Front Office.
• Ability to act according to the organizational values and service excellence at all times.
• Ability to work with multicultural populations and have a commitment to fairness and equality.
• Ability to walk, sit or stand for an entire shift.
• Ability to work extended days and hours, including holidays and weekends.
• Ability to move throughout all areas and levels of the Ballpark.
• Ability to work in a diverse and changing environment.
• Occasional physical activity such as lifting and carrying boxes up to 25 lbs.

To Apply
To apply, please complete the application, which can be found here.

The content in this posting was created and provided solely by the Cleveland Indians.

At this time last year, the Cleveland Indians were coming off a disappointing exit from the playoffs after getting swept by the Astros in the Division Series. Michael Brantley was on his way out the door as a free agent, soon to join the team that had ousted him from the playoffs in October. His departure left a gaping hole on Cleveland’s roster with no obvious internal replacements. Signing a free-agent outfielder seemed like an obvious need, but no significant move came. The Indians entered the season with the outfield trio of Jake Bauers, Leonys Martín, and the husk of Carlos González. Reinforcements arrived as the season wore on; Yasiel Puig came over in a trade with Cincinnati, and Cleveland’s 12th-ranked prospect Oscar Mercado made his major league debut.

Cleveland’s outfield is in nearly the same state now as it was in early November last year. Puig is a free agent and they have Bauers, Mercado, and Greg Allen penciled in as their starting outfield trio. Luckily, it looks like Mercado can be a long-term solution in center field.

Originally drafted by the Cardinals as a glove-first shortstop out of high school in the second round of the 2013 draft, Mercado struggled to hit during his first few years as a professional. Over his first four seasons in the minors spanning three different levels, he posted a combined 79 wRC+. The Cardinals shifted him to center field in 2017 and he enjoyed a breakout year at the plate, posting a 114 wRC+ in Double-A. Here’s how Eric Longenhagen described Mercado’s improved approach prior to the 2018 season:

Mercado has embraced his modest, but viable, pull-side pop and his approach is largely geared for contact in that direction. This narrow approach caused his strikeout rate (a career 13% entering the season) to spike, but Mercado is making loud contact for the first time in his career.

Mercado was traded to Cleveland at the deadline in 2018 and made his major league debut in May of this year. Through the ebbs and flows of his rookie campaign, he thrived when he stuck with the pull-heavy approach that got him to the majors.

Beyond his initial success in May and June, Mercado’s wOBA looked intimately tied to his pull rate through the rest of the season. He really struggled in August when his pull rate fell to 32.5%, and he rebounded in September when he started pulling the ball almost half the time. Just look at his splits based on batted ball direction:

It isn’t surprising to see such a productive split when pulling the ball, but Mercado’s batted ball profile almost makes it too easy to understand why he is so successful when doing so. When hitting to the opposite field, his exit velocity plummets to 81 mph while his fly ball rate jumps up to 64%. The result is lazy fly balls to right field that are easily converted to outs. The same problem occurs when he hits the ball up the middle to a less-extreme degree. His bat just doesn’t have enough pop to support elevating the ball so often when he isn’t pulling it too.

With an aggressive, high-contact approach at the plate, he should be able to leverage his elite sprint speed into more hits. But putting that many balls in the air when hitting to the right side really limits his opportunities to utilize his best tools. His 97th percentile sprint speed and his good contact rate seem like a fit for an approach that uses all fields, but his swing is geared towards pulling the ball to left. Perhaps there’s some middle ground between these two, but it might require making some adjustments to his swing.

Defensively, the former shortstop has excelled in the outfield. DRS thought he was the sixth-best center fielder in 2019 with nine runs saved. UZR was a little less impressed with just 2.8 runs saved, and Statcast’s defensive metrics back this up. He was five outs above average and his elite reaction time was the sixth-highest among all outfielders. Additionally, his elite sprint speed definitely helped him cover up some less-than-ideal routes.

Cleveland hasn’t had a regular full-time center fielder since Michael Bourn from 2013-2015. Nine different players have accumulated more than 100 innings in center since 2016. Mercado’s 1.7 WAR was the best mark posted by a Cleveland center fielder since Tyler Naquin’s rookie year in 2016. The Indians have plenty of fringe candidates to fill their outfield, as Allen, Bauers, Jordan Luplow, and Franmil Reyes all profile better as corner outfielders or fourth outfielders. Meanwhile, Naquin and Bradley Zimmer have unanswered health questions that will likely prevent them from taking a full-time job in 2020. Mercado’s defensive chops in center should allow him to provide everyday value and his bat shows enough promise to help him stick long-term. That’s one outfield spot down and two more to fill.

In the second of a six-part series — you can see the AL East here — I’ll be highlighting each team’s most notable free agents and how it could fill the resulting void on the roster. A player’s rank on our recently released Top 50 Free Agents list, along with Kiley McDaniel’s contract estimates from that exercise, are listed where relevant. In some cases, the team already has a capable replacement ready to step in. In others, it’s clear the team will either attempt to re-sign their player or look to the trade or free agent markets for help. The remaining cases are somewhere in between, with in-house candidates who might be the answer, but aren’t such obvious everyday players to keep the team from shopping around for better options.

Here’s a look at the American League Central.

Chicago White Sox | Depth Chart | Payroll

Jose Abreu, 1B/DH
FanGraphs Top 50 Free Agent Ranking: 44
Kiley McDaniel’s contract projection: 1 year, $11M

Andrew Vaughn, the No. 3 overall pick in the 2019 amateur draft and the White Sox’s first baseman of the future, isn’t likely to need much time down on the farm. But it’s rare that any prospect, even one as advanced at the plate as the 21-year-old Vaughn, doesn’t spend at least one full season in the minors. Therefore, the White Sox will require a stopgap at first base in 2020 and have already taken a necessary step to keeping Abreu around for at least one more season.

The 32-year-old was tendered a qualifying offer, which will hurt his value if he wants to test the free agent waters. He could just settle for the one-year, $17.8 million contract or work out a long-term deal that would ensure he’s around to mentor the next wave of prospects, which could include Vaughn, second baseman Nick Madrigal, and outfielders Luis Robert and Luis Alexander Basabe, all who could arrive during the next two seasons. Read the rest of this entry »

Position: Area Scout

Primary Purpose
Provide high-quality information on amateur players to prepare the organization for acquisition opportunities

Essential Responsibilities and Duties

• Relationships: Create and maintain strong relationships with players and their families, along with coaches and programs, to understand the player’s background and character.
• Evaluations: Provide player evaluations and rankings by using organization’s scouting principles
• Scheduling: Through preparation and prioritization, maximize opportunities for information collection
• Data Collection: Lead a thorough data collection effort on the player pool

How will they get it done?

• Info: Capture and document info quickly on players
• Communication: Consistently communicate with internal stakeholders to lead and execute the scouting process
• Teamwork: Commit to doing what’s best for the organization and acquiring the best players for the org

Leadership, Management, Development Responsibilities

• Management: Manage and lead a scouting process within the area on amateur players within a network around them
• Leadership: The organization will provide tools, resources and exposure for growth as an emerging leader
• Development Responsibilities: The organization offers resources dedicated to personal development through leaders, research and processes.

Goals/Objectives for the Position

• Player Pool: Cultivate a robust and well-rounded understanding of the player pool by using all available information and dynamically updating evaluations
• Org Philosophies: Learn and understand organizational philosophies to accurately assess what’s happening and why/how
• Feedback: Seek out feedback and use available resources to fuel development and increase understanding of players

Background
A demonstrated track record of curiosity and continuous improvement in the game, regardless of experience

Skills

• Baseball Acumen: An understanding of the evaluation process. A technical proficiency in player assessment
• Emotional Intelligence: Ability to manage emotions and time
• Communication: Clearly and concisely explain thoughts verbally and in writing
• Work Ethic: A relentless drive to collect more and better information
• Passion: Demonstrate a clear passion for the game, teammates, the organization and learning
• Resourcefulness: Utilize organizational resources to develop and understand organizational philosophies
• Self-awareness: Understand your skill set, understand your biases, recognize your areas of development
• Strategic Thinking: Employ a problem-solving mindset and strategic thinking

To Apply:
To apply, please complete the application, which can be found here.

The content in this posting was created and provided solely by the Cleveland Indians.

Please note, this posting contains multiple positions.

Position Title: Data Scientist

Department: Baseball Research & Development

Primary Purpose:
The Cleveland Indians are seeking a data scientist to join the team’s Baseball Research and Development group. The data scientist will use their machine learning expertise and the Indians proprietary data to develop statistical and machine learning models that support baseball operations decisions across all facets of the organization. This position will work closely with other members of the R&D department as well as key stakeholders across the organization to design and build cutting edge models and tools that help the Indians stay ahead of the competition. The ideal candidate will possess experience working with large data sets and advanced machine-learning models. Strong applicants will demonstrate curiosity, creativity, and the ability to learn new concepts.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities:

• Research, design, test, and deploy machine learning models to support all aspects of Baseball Operations
• Work with high-dimensional spatio-temporal data and other large data sets
• Share technical expertise with other members of department; communicate findings to Baseball Operations staff
• Maintain an understanding of emerging data science tools and research, as well as potential new data sources and technology options

Role Requirements and Preferences:

• Education & Experience Requirements
• Advanced degree and/or demonstrated work experience in a quantitative field (i.e. computer science, statistics, engineering, mathematics)
• Experience with a variety of modeling and statistical techniques, such as neural nets, deep learning, support vector machines, gradient boosting, adversarial learning, and computer vision
• Expertise with statistical programming languages (e.g. R, Python)
• Proficiency in a database language (e.g. SQL)

Preferred Experience:

• Experience with one or more ML libraries such as Tensorflow, Keras, scikit-learn, Theano, Spark MLib, H2O
• Experience creating data visualizations with tools such as ggplot, d3.js, Matplotlib and/or Tableau
• Experience working with baseball data
• Experience with computer vision, particularly image segmentation, object detection, and tracking algorithms

Standard Requirements:

• Reads, speaks, comprehends and communicates English effectively in all communications.
• Represents the Cleveland Indians in a positive fashion to all business partners and the general public.
• Ability to develop and maintain successful working relationship with members of the Front Office.
• Ability to act according to the organizational values and service excellence at all times.
• Ability to work with multicultural populations and have a commitment to fairness and equality.
• Ability to walk, sit or stand for an entire shift.
• Ability to work extended days and hours, including holidays and weekends.
• Ability to move throughout all areas and levels of the Ballpark.
• Ability to work in a diverse and changing environment.
• Occasional physical activity such as lifting and carrying boxes up to 25lbs.

To Apply:
To apply, please complete the application that can be found here.

Position Title: Sports Science Analyst

Department: Baseball Research & Development

Primary Purpose:
The Cleveland Indians are seeking an analyst to join the team’s Baseball Research and Development group with a focus on answering questions specific to sports science. The position will use data and statistics to provide research and analysis to support the Indians’ player development, medical, S&C, and sports science staff in helping Indians players perform at optimal levels. This individual will work closely with other analysts in the R&D department as well as sports science, player development, medical, strength & conditioning, and other staff members across the organization. The ideal candidate will possess a strong foundation in statistics and/or data science, the ability to effectively communicate findings to colleagues in non-technical roles, and a passion for learning more about baseball. Strong applicants will demonstrate curiosity, creativity, and the ability to learn new concepts.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities:

• Analyze and interpret baseball data with a focus on sports science
• Research, build, test, and deploy statistical models to support Baseball Operations
• Design and implement research studies to improve organizational knowledge in sports science
• Visualize data in concise, readable formats for non-technical staff members
• Communicate research findings to key stakeholders across the organization
• Work with sports science, strength & conditioning, and medical departments to capture player performance data
• Evaluate and recommend new data sources and technologies

Role Requirements and Preferences

Education & Experience Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree or demonstrated work experience in a quantitative field such as statistics, mathematics, computer science, operations research, economics, or data science
• Demonstrated ability to solve problems in a data-driven way
• Creativity to brainstorm new avenues of research
• Demonstrated passion for baseball analytics and/or sports science.
• Proficiency in at least one statistical programming language (e.g. R, Python)
• Proficiency in a database language (e.g. SQL)
• Ability to communicate research findings and other technical concepts to non-technical audiences

Preferred Experience:

• Working knowledge of advanced baseball statistics and publicly available research
• Advanced degree in a quantitative field
• Experience working with baseball data
• Experience with data visualization
• Experience with experimental design and/or causal inference

Standard Requirements:

• Reads, speaks, comprehends and communicates English effectively in all communications.
• Represents the Cleveland Indians in a positive fashion to all business partners and the general public.
• Ability to develop and maintain successful working relationship with members of the Front Office.
• Ability to act according to the organizational values and service excellence at all times.
• Ability to work with multicultural populations and have a commitment to fairness and equality.
• Ability to walk, sit or stand for an entire shift.
• Ability to work extended days and hours, including holidays and weekends.
• Ability to move throughout all areas and levels of the Ballpark.
• Ability to work in a diverse and changing environment.
• Occasional physical activity such as lifting and carrying boxes up to 25lbs.

To Apply:
To apply, please complete the application that can be found here.

The content in this posting was created and provided solely by the Cleveland Indians.

This is the fourth installment of this year’s Team Entropy series, my recurring look not only at the races for the remaining playoff spots but the potential for end-of-season chaos in the form of down-to-the-wire suspense and even tiebreakers. Ideally, we want more ties than the men’s department at Macy’s. If you’re new to this, please read the introduction here.

The final weekend of the 2019 season is upon us, and while five of the divisions and all of the super-complicated tiebreaker scenarios are off the table, with three games to play, each league has multiple scenarios that could result in at least one tiebreaker game. Seven hundred or so words is worth a picture, so first, behold this:

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