Here’s a sentence that you probably didn’t expect to see a few years ago: The Pittsburgh Pirates were one of the most exciting teams of 2024. They had the Rookie of the Year and an instant contender for best pitcher in baseball in Paul Skenes. Jared Jones was electric. They’re chock full of young hitting prospects. And let’s reiterate: Paul Skenes!

As you might expect, the Pirates hit this offseason with some momentum. It’s hard to find superstars, but Skenes is one of the best five pitchers on the planet, and honestly, I think he might be the best, period. This is the type of winter that lends itself to going for it. The hype will likely never be greater. Add a star or two around Skenes, fill out the bottom of the lineup, and this team could win a weak NL Central. Come playoff time, no one in the world would want to face the Pirates. So it’s with some remorse that I announce their latest signings. On Monday, lefty reliever Tim Mayza agreed to a one-year, $1.15 million contract; on Tuesday, utilityman Adam Frazier followed suit with a one-year, $1.525 million pact.

Frazier was a fun story the last time he was on the Pirates. In the depths of their despair, he was a rare burst of energy, Luis Arraez before Arraez hit the big time. He rarely struck out, rarely hit homers, and caused chaos by putting the ball in play even without blazing speed. Heck, he even drew a nice trade return when the Pirates sent him to the Padres ahead of the 2021 deadline, headlined by Jack Suwinski and Tucupita Marcano, both of whom have made contributions to the big league club. Read the rest of this entry »

For the 21st consecutive season, the ZiPS projection system is unleashing a full set of prognostications. For more information on the ZiPS projections, please consult this year’s introduction and MLB’s glossary entry. The team order is selected by lot, and the final team this year is the San Diego Padres.

Batters

After an extremely disappointing 2023 with Juan Soto in tow, the Padres bounced back to punch above their weight without him in 2024, thus giving less analytically inclined observers ample ammunition to reach spectacularly wrong conclusions about cause and effect. Losing Soto didn’t help the Padres, but a phenomenally successful move to the rotation for Michael King, a rebound season from Fernando Tatis Jr., and a stunning rookie campaign from Jackson Merrill did a lot to make up for his absence. (It also helped that they didn’t underperform their Pythagorean record by 10 wins like they did in 2023.) Read the rest of this entry »

As the reliever market picked up over the last week, two right-handers, both former closers, found new homes in the Central divisions. First, last Wednesday, Paul Sewald agreed to a one-year deal with the Cleveland Guardians. Then, on Sunday, Ryan Pressly waived his no-trade clause in order for the Houston Astros to send him to the Chicago Cubs for the final guaranteed year of his contract.

While both of these pitchers are likely past their peaks in terms of stuff, they’ll look to continue being contributors with their new clubs. Let’s examine the potential impact of these moves and discuss how the two pitchers will fit into the bullpens of their new teams.

Sewald Joins Elite Cleveland Bullpen

Coming off a down year relative to his previous three seasons, Sewald’s deal with the Guardians is for one year and $6 million, with a $10 million mutual option for 2026. The move solidifies the middle part of their bullpen, which already was one of the best in the majors. With Emmanuel Clase, Cade Smith, and Hunter Gaddis anchoring the group, Sewald will occupy a lesser role than he’s held over the last few years. That’s not a bad thing for him, as he can work to return to form without the pressure of having to deliver in high-leverage innings.

As velocities have increased over the years, and hitters have adapted to them, the margins for error for pitchers living in the low-90s band have grown thinner and thinner. What we saw from Sewald last season is a good example of what happens when pitchers with such a profile lose even just one tick on their fastballs.

From 2021-23, a three-year stretch during which Sewald was one of the better relievers in baseball, his four-seamer ranged from 92.2 mph to 92.5 mph. It was extremely consistent on that front. Then, in 2024, that number dropped down to 91.4 mph on average, and with that, his performance also dropped. Here is a quick summary of how Sewald’s performance on his heater regressed last season:

As his fastball velocity fell last year, Sewald saw a sharp decrease in its effectiveness by both whiffs and overall performance. This could be related to the pitch’s location and its release angle; over the last four seasons, he’s been throwing his fastball progressively higher and higher in the zone and releasing it closer to the middle of the pitcher’s mound. Combine that with a dip in velocity and, suddenly, the pitch was just more normal than it had been in the past.

Another problem for Sewald last year was his sweeper, the pitch that was most responsible for turning him into a high-leverage reliever upon joining the Mariners in 2021. His overall numbers with it suggest it was still a weapon — he held opponents to a .196 average (.214 xBA) and a .214 wOBA (.258 xwOBA) against it — but a closer look tells a different story.

During his aforementioned three-year stretch of excellence, he was comfortable throwing his sweeper to both lefties and righties as a way to keep them off his fastball. In each of those three seasons, he threw his sweeper at least 45% of the time against righties and at least 35% of the time when facing lefties, and it was effective against both sides. That’s especially important because Sewald is mostly a two-pitch pitcher. Last year, however, lefties teed off on his sweeper. Check this out:

So what changed? Perhaps some of it can be attributed to his diminished fastball velocity, which has cut the velocity gap between his fastball and sweeper to 8.3 mph, down from 9.7 in 2022. Except, the velo difference between the two pitches was also 8.3 mph in 2023, and that season both pitches were still effective against lefties and righties. The greater issue here seems to be the same thing that threw off his fastball: his release point, which also shifted more toward the middle of the mound when throwing his sweeper. As a result, he struggled to command his sweeper in 2024, as you can see in these two heat maps. The first one is from 2023, the second from 2024.

He started throwing the pitch more in the middle plate and less often out of the zone. Even with lesser command, he could still keep righties at bay with his sweeper because the pitch breaks away from them. Against lefties, though, he has less margin for error with his location. Sweepers that remain in the zone against lefties break nicely into their bat paths. That’s not a recipe for success.

It’s worth noting that some of Sewald’s struggles in 2024 could be injury-related, as he dealt with both neck and oblique injuries that could’ve caused his dip in velocity. These ailments might also explain his change in location and horizontal release point, as the neck and oblique muscles are especially important for a pitcher’s upper-body mechanics. Sewald turns 35 in late May, so some of his diminished stuff could be attributed to aging, but if he is healthy, we should expect him to have some sort of rebound — even if he doesn’t get back to the peak performance from his days with the Mariners.

Pressly Takes Over as Cubs Closer

For most of the offseason, the Astros have been trying to trade Pressly to shed some salary, and as they revived their efforts to re-sign Alex Bregman last week, moving Pressly seemed to become an even greater priority. Of course, Houston has not yet brought back Bregman, but either way, trading Pressly gave the Astros more financial flexibility.

Houston sent over $5.5 million to cover Pressly’s salary this season, but nothing if his contract vests for 2026. The Cubs sent back Juan Bello, a 20-year-old pitching prospect who was recently ranked no. 31 on the Cubs’ prospect list. Bello is a 35+ FV starting pitcher who, according to our prospect writers Eric Longenhagen and Travis Ice, “has enough projectability and existing stuff to be forecast in a depth starter role, but he’ll need to harness his secondaries in the zone more often to consistently get more advanced hitters out and turn over a lineup.”

The 36-year-old Pressly had been a valuable member of the bullpen since the Astros traded for him in late July 2018, and during the same three-year stretch in which Sewald shined, Pressly emerged as one of the top closers in the American League. However, Houston’s signing of Josh Hader before last season relegated Pressly to a setup role and ultimately made him expendable this offseason. Astros GM Dana Brown said earlier today that the Hader signing and Pressly’s corresponding demotion in the bullpen pecking order caused a “fracture” in his and Pressly’s relationship. Now with the Cubs, Pressly is expected to return to closing games.

Similar to Sewald, Pressly is coming off a season with a notable decrease in velocity, from 94.7 mph in 2023 to 93.8 mph last year. His diminishing fastball didn’t exactly come as a surpsise, though. In 2022, batters posted a .402 xwOBA against his four-seamer, and in response, he cut its usage from 32.9% that year down to 23.1% in 2023. He leaned more on his slider, which for years has been his best pitch by run value by a wide margin. It’s odd, then, that he used his four-seamer more often than any other pitch in 2024. This pitch mix shift didn’t pay off, as opponents slugged .500 against his heater with a .371 wOBA and a .365 xwOBA, compared to their .333 SLG, .276 wOBA, and .271 xwOBA against his slider. I imagine Chicago will get him back to throwing primarily sliders again next season. For some more context, here is a three-year snapshot of Pressly’s Stuff+ and usage for his three main pitches:

Relievers who switch teams looking for bounce backs are always fun stories to follow. Both Sewald and Pressly are in the later stages of their careers but have an opportunity to be important contributors on contending clubs. I’ll be paying attention to any potential adjustments they make come spring time.

Last time we saw Tobias Myers, he was beating the bejeezus out of the New York Mets in Game 3 of the NL Wild Card Series: Five innings, 66 pitches, five strikeouts, no walks, two hits allowed, one hit batter. Being a rookie starting pitcher in a playoff game in the 2020s, he exited early, but having allowed zero runs, it was to a chorus of Hosannas mixed with “Who the heck is this guy?”

Myers’ chief weapon in his most famous start was his slider, which he threw 31.8% of the time, generating four whiffs, two foul balls, and three called strikes. The Mets made contact seven times, resulting in six outs.

But Myers’ most effective pitch during the regular season — at least on a per-pitch basis — was his changeup. Myers threw 245 of those across his 138 regular-season innings, resulting in a whiff rate of 44.4% and an opponent batting average of .083. Only four of the 27 changeups that were put in play turned into hits, and because all four of those were singles, Myers’ had an opponent SLG to match his opponent batting average: .083. Read the rest of this entry »

Last week, Mets owner Steve Cohen addressed his team’s ongoing contract negotiations with Pete Alonso. During a panel discussion in front of fans, he expounded on the process at length:

“We made a significant offer to Pete. He’s entitled to explore his market. That’s what he is doing. Personally, this has been an exhausting conversation and negotiation. I mean, Soto was tough — this is worse. A lot of it is, we made a significant offer … I don’t like the structures that are being presented back to us. It’s highly asymmetric against us. And I feel strongly about it. I will never say no. There’s always the possibility. But the reality is we’re moving forward. And as we continue to bring in players, the reality is it becomes harder to fit Pete into what is a very expensive group of players that we already have. That’s where we are. And I am being brutally honest. I don’t like the negotiations. I don’t like what’s been presented to us. Listen, maybe that changes. Certainly, I’ll always stay flexible. If it stays this way, I think we are going to have to get used to the fact that we may have to go forward with the existing players that we have.”

That quote caught my eye for a few reasons. First, the length! That’s not a no comment or even close to one. He noted a few specific points where the negotiations had gotten stuck, mentioned that the deal gets less likely as the offseason goes on, and at least nodded in the direction of how an Alonso offer affects team construction. That’s not exactly par for the course when owners give quotes; I’m looking at you, Bill DeWitt Jr., who early this winter said, “The best way to build a championship club is to have good young players.”

Second, I kept coming back to “highly asymmetric against us.” I can’t help it. I’m a contract nerd. I immediately started thinking about what that could mean. The possibilities are nearly endless. Accumulators? Collars? Conditional ownership share? Alonso gets to choose the roster every Tuesday?

Well, probably not. Agent Scott Boras threw some cold water on my ideas in a response. “Pete’s free-agent contract structure request[s] are identical to the standards and practices of other clubs who have signed similarly situated qualifying-offer/all-star level players,” he told The Athletic’s Will Sammon. “Nothing different. Just established fairness standards.”
Read the rest of this entry »

In 2023, Jurickson Profar was quite possibly the worst full-time player in Major League Baseball. In 2024, he was one of the best. Slashing .280/.380/.459 while playing half his games at the pitcher-friendly Petco Park, Profar finished with a 139 wRC+, sixth best among qualified NL batters. Despite his mediocre baserunning (-0.8 BsR) and poor defense (-8 DRS, -6 FRV), his bat carried him to a 4.3-WAR season. Still, he entered free agency in a tricky position. He’d be looking for a suitor who’d put much more stock in his recent phenomenal performance than the long, uneven period that came before it. On Thursday, the Braves emerged as one such team. Deciding that Profar’s pros far outweighed his cons, Atlanta inked the veteran outfielder to a three-year, $42 million contract.

In hindsight, this contract and pairing feel so predictable that I could have pre-written this article weeks ago. When it comes to projecting Profar’s future performance, the error bars are wide. We’re talking about a player who was released by, of all teams, the Colorado Rockies in 2023 and found himself starting for the NL All-Stars less than a year later. Yet, projecting his contract turned out to be surprisingly easy. Ben Clemens predicted Profar would sign for three years and $45 million. MLB Trade Rumors predicted Profar would sign for three years and $45 million. Kiley McDaniel of ESPN predicted Profar would sign for three years and $45 million. The median projection from our contract crowdsourcing exercise? Yep, three years and $45 million. As divided as this country might be, we could all agree on one thing: Profar would sign a three-year deal with an AAV close to $15 million. Lo and behold, the Braves will pay him $14 million per annum through 2027.

Three years and $42 million is the same contract both Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Jorge Soler signed last offseason, and very close to the three-year, $43.5 million deal Mitch Haniger signed the winter before. In other words, it’s the going rate for a corner outfielder in his early 30s with something like a two-win projection but All-Star upside. Profar might have a wider range of outcomes, but his median projection is right in that window. If he reverts to the version of himself that we saw in 2023, the Braves will soon regret his contract. If he keeps up his 2024 performance, his salary will look like a bargain. Ultimately, however, Profar only has to be the player he was in 2018 (107 wRC+, 2.2 WAR), 2020 (113 wRC+, 0.9 WAR), or 2022 (110 wRC+, 2.4 WAR) for this deal to pay dividends. That’s exactly the kind of player Steamer thinks he’ll be in 2025: Read the rest of this entry »

For the 21st consecutive season, the ZiPS projection system is unleashing a full set of prognostications. For more information on the ZiPS projections, please consult this year’s introduction and MLB’s glossary entry. The team order is selected by lot, and the penultimate team is the St. Louis Cardinals.

Batters

The 2024 St. Louis Cardinals experienced a bit of a bounce back from the team’s worst season in decades, but in a year where it took 89 wins to grab the final NL Wild Card spot, the Red Birds were still well short of being able to squeeze back into the playoffs. While things were sunnier than they were the year before, the Cardinals were outscored on the season, and neither of the stars in the lineup, Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado, returned to their 2023 form. It doesn’t appear as if the Cards feel like they’re on the precipice of an October return, as they’ve largely spent the offseason trying to trade Arenado.

Might Arenado actually be underrated at this point? While his offensive production has come down quite a bit from its peak, his 149 wRC+ in 2022 was likely always a late-era outlier, and a 102 wRC+ is hardly lousy for a third baseman. He’s no longer a star without a resurgence at the plate, but he was at least a good player in 2024, amassing 3.1 WAR thanks to very good defense at the hot corner. I think the perception of Arenado’s 2024 might be a lot worse than his season actually was. When I posted the depth chart graphic on social media, it led to a couple of conversations about ZiPS projecting a comeback season, even though the 2.9 WAR it forecasts is below his 2024 number!

With two glaring exceptions, ZiPS mostly thinks that the Cards are adequate to good around the diamond. Masyn Winn projects as the lineup’s second-best player, and though ZiPS isn’t crazy about Thomas Saggese, it likes Brendan Donovan enough to end up with a good second base WAR number, assuming the latter gets the plate appearances projected on our Depth Charts. The system projects that Willson Contreras will be good enough offensively that he could be a reasonable first baseman, and though it pulls back considerably on Iván Herrera’s rookie offense, the tandem of him and Pedro Pagés also looks solid.

Where ZiPS is unhappy is in the non-Lars Nootbaar portions of the outfield. In center field, Victor Scott II’s defense isn’t enough to completely cancel out a bleak offensive projection, and the computer doesn’t see Michael Siani as providing much of a shove. Scott’s a weird one to project in that he actually hit pretty decently in Double-A in 2023, but he was absolutely horrific in the minors last year, putting up a 59 wRC+. Note that that’s not the translation, but his actual number. Scott hit somewhat better in July after changing his stance, putting up a .711 OPS for the Triple-A Memphis Redbirds, but that hint of production disappeared in the majors and he earned a demotion in mid-September.

As for the other exception, Jordan Walker, ZiPS actually thinks he improved his defense somewhat in 2024, to the point that he’s not a pure designated hitter, just a fairly lousy right fielder who could play if he hits. But that’s kind of the problem. Walker now has about 500 PA of not hitting Triple-A pitchers. If Scott had a 93 wRC+ at Triple-A, it would be cause for optimism, but it’s completely inadequate for someone who is supposed to be valued entirely for his bat. Walker isn’t old, and you can squint and still kind of see his upside, but the odds are against him being a real contributor in 2025.

Pitchers

I’m not sure why ZiPS is suddenly reminded of a couple of knuckleballers, Phil Niekro and Tom Candiotti, when it looks at Sonny Gray, but removing them from the large cohort doesn’t change Gray’s projection, which makes him the favorite to represent the Cardinals at the All-Star Game this summer. It’s hard to tell how seriously the team really considered trading Gray, but he does have some pretty decent value with two years left on his contract. Of course, that assumes that his forearm tendinitis isn’t something darker, but really, you could say that about every pitcher who has ever existed.

He projects as having lower long-term upside than either Quinn Mathews or Tink Hence, but ZiPS is increasingly a fan of Michael McGreevy, who has good control and keeps the ball down, which has value in front of what ZiPS projects to be an above-average infield. Both Mathews and Hence project as legitimate starters right now, with ZiPS a little more confident about the former for 2025. ZiPS isn’t expecting quite as good a year from Erick Fedde, but it remains comfortable with the back of St. Louis’ rotation, both in terms of its non-horrendous quality and its reasonable depth.

It might be a stretch to say that ZiPS sees the Cardinals bullpen as “Ryan Helsley and some other guys,” but their hard-throwing closer is the only reliever who the computer can summon any excitement about. Helsley lost a couple of strikeouts per game coming back from his 2023 injuries, but ZiPS isn’t worried about that, as his velocity is intact and his contact rate is consistent with that of a whiffier pitcher. Ryan Fernandez, JoJo Romero, and John King all project as a bit above average, and the computer would put Matthew Liberatore in that group as well. ZiPS is rather meh on the low-leverage portion of the bullpen, and while the Cardinals could certainly add an arm or two there, this doesn’t appear to be a team that intends to make so much as a ripple in free agency.

Unlike most seasons, ZiPS does’t see the Cardinals as being in the same tier as the Brewers and Cubs. St. Louis has better projections than the Pirates and Reds, at least for now, but even then, only barely. It has been an incredibly quiet offseason in St. Louis outside of the constant Arenado rumors, with the team doing just about nothing, and we’re now only a few weeks from the opening of spring training. The team’s biggest signing this winter? Ryan Vilade. Even throwing in the towel would be more interesting, and probably more helpful than cosplaying as the heat death of the universe.

Ballpark graphic courtesy Eephus League. Depth charts constructed by way of those listed here. Size of player names is very roughly proportional to Depth Chart playing time. The final team projections may differ considerably from our Depth Chart playing time.

Players are listed with their most recent teams wherever possible. This includes players who are unsigned or have retired, players who will miss 2025 due to injury, and players who were released in 2024. So yes, if you see Joe Schmoe, who quit baseball back in August to form a Norwegian Ukulele Dixieland Jazz band that only covers songs by The Smiths, he’s still listed here intentionally. ZiPS is assuming a league with an ERA of 4.11.

Hitters are ranked by zWAR, which is to say, WAR values as calculated by me, Dan Szymborski, whose surname is spelled with a z. WAR values might differ slightly from those that appear in the full release of ZiPS. Finally, I will advise anyone against — and might karate chop anyone guilty of — merely adding up WAR totals on a depth chart to produce projected team WAR. It is important to remember that ZiPS is agnostic about playing time, and has no information about, for example, how quickly a team will call up a prospect or what veteran has fallen into disfavor.

As always, incorrect projections are either caused by misinformation, a non-pragmatic reality, or by the skillful sabotage of our friend and former editor. You can, however, still get mad at me on Twitter or on BlueSky.

The Tampa Bay Rays have a reputation of getting the best out of previously undervalued pitchers, and Garrett Cleavinger is a prime example. Acquired from the Los Angeles Dodgers in August 2022 in exchange for German Tapia, the 30-year-old southpaw was subsequently limited to 12 games in 2023 due to a knee injury, but a breakout was right around the corner. Cleavinger made a career-high 68 appearances last year, logging a 3.75 ERA and a 26.7 strikeout rate over 60 relief innings. His ledger included seven wins and six saves.

A high-octane heater was one of his best weapons; at 96.3 mph, Cleavinger’s four-seamer ranked in the 84th percentile for velocity. With that in mind, I asked the Lawrence, Kansas native if he identifies as a power pitcher.

“It’s a part of my game,” Cleavinger told me at the close of the 2024 campaign. “I’m definitely not a pinpoint command guy like some pitchers are — I wish I was a little bit better in that aspect — but power stuff coming out of the pen does kind of fit the description for me.”

Possessor of a varied arsenal is another accurate description. The erstwhile University of Oregon closer now features five-pitches, only one of which he threw less than 10 percent of the time. Per Baseball Savant, the breakdown was: cutter 26.3%, four-seamer 24.8%, slider 22.0%, sweeper 17.4%, and two-seamer 9.5%. Two of those were recent additions. Read the rest of this entry »

Junior Analyst, Baseball Strategy and Information

Department: Baseball Strategy and Information
Status: Full Time
Reports to: Director, Baseball Strategy and Information
Salary: $23.00/hour*

*Compensation rates vary based on job-related factors, including experience, job skills, education, and training.

The Baseball Strategy and Information team of the Los Angeles Dodgers is responsible for supporting the Major League Coaching Staff and Baseball Operations leadership group with data and information needed for strategic decision making. As a Junior Analyst, you will work with other members of the Baseball Strategy and Information team to build reports and visualizations to communicate insights clearly and concisely to stakeholders. This position offers the opportunity to push the boundaries of conventional thinking, grow analytically by solving challenging problems, and collaborate with leaders throughout Baseball Operations. As a member of the Baseball Strategy and Information team, you will see your work impact the Major League team on a nightly basis.

Essential Duties/Responsibilities:

• Coordinate and execute a selection of R scripts on a daily, series, and ad-hoc basis, which produce reports containing data and visualizations for Major League Coaching staff and Baseball Operations Leadership.
• Interpret data and conduct in-depth analysis on players, team strategy, and in-game tactics, providing insights and observations to enhance coaching and decision making.
• Support Data Collection and Data Management processes involving a variety of tracking and training technologies.
• Work with Performance Science and Quantitative Analysis departments on the development of new proprietary metrics.
• Collaborate across departments within Baseball Operations to advance various initiatives related to player evaluation and process automation.
• Assist with on-boarding and training of interns within Baseball Operations
• Occasional travel to represent the department outside of LA, such as an annual Spring Training trip, road trips with the club, affiliate visits, and scouting trips.
• Complete ad-hoc research using SQL and R/Python to enhance in-game strategy and/or player improvement as requested.

Basic Requirements/Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in a STEM field (or equivalent experience)
• 1+ Years of Experience with R or Python in a non-classroom environment
• Familiarity with SQL, Git, and cloud-based computing
• Experience playing on a sports team or working with a sports organization is preferred (college or professional)
• Ability to relocate to Los Angeles and commute to Dodger Stadium
• Ability to work frequent overtime including evenings, weekends, and holidays. Overtime compensation will be provided according to company policy and applicable laws.

To Apply:
To apply, please follow this link.

The content in this posting was created and provided solely by the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Direct links to applications (please see job details below):

Pro Player Analyst
Developer-Baseball Systems

Pro Player Analyst

Location: Kauffman Stadium, One Royal Way, Kansas City, Missouri, United States of America

Job Summary: The Kansas City Royals Baseball Club is seeking a highly motivated and creative analyst to join the organization. Under the direction of the Assistant Director of Research & Development/Player Personnel and the Director of Pro Personnel & Strategy, the analyst will be involved in several stages of the player evaluation process to meet the needs of the organization. The successful applicant will leverage baseball data to provide a competitive edge when evaluating players for the Kansas City Royals. This role will be located in Kansas City, MO.

Position Accountabilities/Responsibilities:

• Provide data driven insights to help evaluate both pitchers and position players.
• Collaborate with other analysts and Baseball Operations personnel to provide support at all stages of the player evaluation process
• Query and organize data to effectively communicate
• Perform ad-hoc analysis to assist in decision making processes
• Work to create, advance, and or maintain machine learning models

Position Qualifications, Skills, and Experience Required:

• 4-year degree or equivalent experience in computer science, mathematics, statistics, or related quantitative field
• Proficiency with SQL and R to query and organize data from large databases
• Strong understanding of advanced baseball metrics to evaluate players
• Interpersonal and communication skills to seamlessly interact with front office, analysts, scouts, and other Baseball Operations personnel
• Familiarity with the landscape of Major League Baseball. e.g. teams, affiliates, rosters, prospects, free agents, etc.
• Ability to work evening, weekend, and holiday hours during the baseball season

Preferred Qualifications:

• Record of published baseball research and or experience ranking / evaluating players
• Intimate knowledge of MLB rosters, farm systems, free agency, and all things involving player personnel
• Experience with machine learning and modeling techniques to extract actionable insights within large data sets

Physical Requirements:

• Ability to lift items weighing as much as 25 pounds
• Must be able to work in a seated position for majority of workday
• Must be able to be productive utilizing a computer keyboard and telephone
• Must be able to be productive in a work environment where the noise level can be high at times
• Must be comfortable walking to navigate the facility to access the office, concourse, etc.
• Must be able to work extended hours and/or weekends as required by deadlines and event scheduling

The physical demands described here are representative of those that may be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job.

This role is a Full-Time, Exempt opportunity that is eligible for Company Benefits, 401K, and PTO. This role is expected to have a standard 40-hour work week.

To Apply:
To apply, please follow this link.

Developer-Baseball Systems

Location: Kauffman Stadium, One Royal Way, Kansas City, Missouri, United States of America – Virtual

Job Summary: The Kansas City Royals Baseball Club is seeking a highly motivated developer to work with our group of Developers to support baseball operations. The ideal applicant will be able to manage multiple concurrent projects that facilitate enhanced communications, reporting, and other interactions between teams internal to the organization. At this time, we are open to the possibility of Remote work for the right candidate.

Position Accountabilities/Responsibilities:

• Assist in development tasks and data operations
• Help with system administration of database and web servers
• Assist in daily task monitoring to ensure data health, quality assurance, and reliability of systems
• Automate reports and other tasks that are used on a regular basis
• Support schema and testing of databases of various sizes
• Maintain and support existing code across various languages and frameworks
• Develop, test, and optimize performance and accuracy of scripts used to calculate derived data
• Design, build, and deploy new features for organizational web applications
• Automate, manage, and report data lifecycle based on retention and storage requirements
• Explore novel tools to visualize data and explore models by implementing UI/UX in HTML, CSS, JavaScript/Vue.js
• Develop responsive front-end designs suitable for multiple devices and screen sizes
• Collaborate with baseball operations staff to create and improve internal analysis and informational tools.
• Help ensure that systems and solutions are in line with organizational objectives

Position Qualifications, Skills, and Experience Required:

• 4 year degree in computer science, electrical engineering, or related field or equivalent experience is required
• Ability to work evening, weekend, and holiday hours during the baseball season is a must
• Excellent interpersonal and communications skills and ability to interact and work with staff at all levels
• Ability to recognize and maintain confidentiality of work materials and issues as appropriate
• Experience with the following tools, platforms, and business data is required:
• Two years of experience with Python
• Strong knowledge of SQL
• Strong knowledge of Django, Flask, or similar
• Basic administration of UNIX-based servers (Linux, Mac, etc.)
• Managing cloud resources on AWS or a similar platform
• Interest in and knowledge of UI/UX and web development technologies such as HTML5, JavaScript, Vue.js, Vite, ChartJS
• Experience with the following tools, platforms and business data is preferred:
• Business intelligence experience is a plus
• Baseball knowledge and exposure to baseball statistics

Physical Requirements:

• Ability to lift items weighing as much as 25 pounds
• Must be able to be productive utilizing a computer keyboard and telephone
• Must be able to be productive in a work environment where the noise level can be high at times
• Must be comfortable walking to navigate the facility to access the office, concourse, etc.
• Must be able to work extended hours and/or weekends as required by deadlines and event scheduling

The physical demands described here are representative of those that may be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job.

This role is a Full-Time, Exempt opportunity that is eligible for Company Benefits, 401K, and PTO. This role is expected to have a standard 40-hour work week.

To Apply:
To apply, please follow this link.

The content in this posting was created and provided solely by the Kansas City Royals.