The FanGraphs Library is all about getting readers up to speed on the statistics and principles we use on the site. For some readers, it’s a place to verify the exact formula we use to determine a player’s replacement level runs in our WAR formula, but for others, it’s a place to learn the basics.

One of my goals with the Library over the last few months has been to make it easier for new readers to get up to speed if they aren’t familiar with sabermetrics. Part of that process has been making the specific statistical explanations a little more explicit, but I’ve also tried to put together a series of blog posts that walks the newcomer through some of the important building blocks of the discipline.

Today, we’re rolling out a “Getting Started” section in the Library that tries to solidify that second part of that approach. One of the most challenging parts of trying to learn something new is knowing where to start. The amount of information can be overwhelming and without any guidance, people often give up or get lost. This new page (visible as a tab at the top of every Library page), will help guide you.

Right now it features sections on why we care about sabermetrics, the first few stats you should learn, what we offer at FanGraphs, and some various concepts and terms we use often. Over time, we’ll add more sections. The page’s introduction also features direct links to those various sections if you want to skip around to the parts you think will be useful.

As always, drop any questions in the comments thread or find me on Twitter @NeilWeinberg44 if you’re looking for help.

The four Caribbean winter leagues have entered their respective playoff rounds. Below is a (probably incomplete) collection of video feeds for Wednesday’s games. The author will update it haphazardly over the course of the evening. Readers are invited to provide useful links, as well. Games listed in chronological order, with most recent start time on top.

Game: Tiburones at Caribes (Venezuela)
Start Time: 7:10pm ET
Players of Note: Alcides Escobar
Video / Box

Game: Navegantes at Tigres (Venezuela)
Start Time: 7:10pm ET
Players of Note: Ramon Flores, Avisail Garcia, Jason Lane (Pitching!), Josmil Pinto
Video / Box

Game: Gigantes at Estrellas (Dominican)
Start Time: 6:30pm ET
Players of Note: Robinson Cano, Maikel Franco, Jean Segura
Video / Box

Game: Toros at Aguilas (Dominican)
Start Time: 6:30pm ET
Players of Note: Alen Hanson, Carlos Martinez, Cesar Puello
Video / Box

Earlier this week, FanGraphs CEO and founder David Appelman announced that the ballots for the 2015 FAN Projections are now available for the tender ministrations of this site’s readership. With a view to ensuring that all notable players are addressed sufficiently — and also towards producing the number of posts he’s required to publish each week — the present author is highlighting certain players whose ballots are of some particular interest.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued its long-awaited ruling in the appeal of San Jose’s lawsuit against Major League Baseball today. The lawsuit involves the proposed relocation of the Oakland Athletics to the city. As Wendy Thurm has previously discussed quite extensively (here, here, and here), after MLB delayed its approval of the relocation for a number of years, San Jose filed suit in June 2013 claiming that the league’s refusal to approve the move violated federal antitrust law.

In October 2013, the district court dismissed the lawsuit, finding that MLB’s historic antitrust exemption shielded the league’s relocation policy. The city then appealed that decision to the federal court of appeals, resulting in today’s decision. The Ninth Circuit’s opinion is available here.

Like the district court, a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit unanimously held that baseball’s antitrust exemption generally protects the “business of baseball,” including matters involving the league’s relocation policy. Indeed, the appellate court concluded that relocation issues are central to the baseball business, as MLB’s relocation policy is “designed to ensure access to baseball games for a broad range of markets and to safeguard the profitability – and thus viability – of each ball club.”

Read the rest of this entry »

The four Caribbean winter leagues have entered their respective playoff rounds. Below is a (probably incomplete) collection of video feeds for Wednesday’s games. The author will update it haphazardly over the course of the evening. Readers are invited to provide useful links, as well. Games listed in chronological order, with most recent start time on top.

Game: Navegantes at Tiburones (Venezuela)
Start Time: 7:00pm ET
Players of Note: Alcides Escobar
Video / Box

Game: Toros at Gigantes (Dominican)
Start Time: 6:30pm ET
Players of Note: Alen Hanson, Cesar Puello, Jean Segura
Video / Box

Game: Aguilas at Estrellas (Dominican)
Start Time: 6:30pm ET
Players of Note: Robinson Cano, Juan Perez, Manny Ramirez
Video / Box

The Braves housecleaning reportedly continued today, with the team nearing a deal that would ship sometimes-catcher Evan Gattis to Houston in exchange for prospects Mike Foltynewicz, Rio Ruiz, and Andrew Thurman. The quick overview of the players going both directions.

Gattis is a 28 year old with top shelf power, but limited skills beyond that, as he doesn’t control the strike zone particularly well and is somewhat limited defensively; the metrics on him behind the plate are okay, but scouts have long projected him to be a first baseman or designated hitter, and the Braves certainly didn’t see him as a long-term option behind the plate. Best case scenario, he’s probably Mike Napoli with fewer walks, which is a pretty nice player but not quite a star. And with the Astros already having a crowded catching situation, he may end up getting most of his playing time at first base or left field, potentially limiting his value a bit.

Interestingly, both Steamer and ZIPS are down on Gattis, projecting him to be just a slightly above average hitter in 2015, which would make him something more like Mark Trumbo instead of Mike Napoli. That said, Gattis had an unusual career path, and perhaps his age shouldn’t be held against him quite as much as the forecasting systems think; he may be a “young” 28 in terms of baseball development. This is one case where I’d probably be comfortable taking the over on the projected offensive line.

To acquire Gattis, the Astros gave up their #5, #7, and #21 prospects according to Kiley McDaniel’s rankings. Here is what he wrote about the three.

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Not for nothing did Aristotle, in probably his Ethics or something like his Ethics, declare that contemplation is the “highest good” — but that, right after contemplation, brushes with fame were the “second-highest good.”

The editors of and contributors to this site experienced the latter of those goods last night by means of popular sitcom Parks and Recreation. Created in part by Michael Schur, writer emeritus of Fire Joe Morgan, the first episode of that program’s seventh season features a law firm whose name is composed entirely of terms borrowed from baseball’s nerd lexicon — including, but not limited to, FanGraphs WAR (often abbreviated as fWAR).

Just as the woodlands which, in Psalm 29, are stripped bare by the voice of God, the author and his colleagues are stripped bare.

Image stolen entirely sans ruth from Deadspin.

Earlier this week, FanGraphs CEO and founder David Appelman announced that the ballots for the 2015 FAN Projections are now available for the tender ministrations of this site’s readership. With a view to ensuring that all notable players are addressed sufficiently — and also towards producing the number of posts he’s required to publish each week — the present author is highlighting certain players whose ballots are of some particular interest.

Read the rest of this entry »

Multiple winter-league games are underway at the moment. Below is a (probably incomplete) collection of video feeds for same. I’ll update it haphazardly over the course of the evening. Readers are invited to provide information, as well.

Game: Gigantes at Estrellas (Dominican)
Players of Note Robinson Cano, Maikel Franco
Video / Box

Game: Toros at Aguilas (Dominican)
Players of Note Alen Hanson, Cesar Puello, Manny Ramirez
Video / Box

Game: Aragua at Magallanes (Venezuela)
Players of Note Avisail Garcia, Johan Santana, Yangervis Solarte
Video / Box

Contrary to the title of this post, it’s very possible that the reader actually will believe the one feature of the FAN Projections detailed below. In point of fact, nothing of what follows represents much of a threat to credulity.

If the present author has lied, however, it’s only to relate a greater and more urgent truth.

Yesterday, FanGraphs CEO and founder David Appelman announced that the ballots for the 2015 FAN Projections are now open. The FAN projections, if nothing else, serve as an opportunity to examine the bias of the crowd, if not always that same crowd’s wisdom.

What the FAN Projections also allow, however, is for a reader to produce a sort of insta-projection for any player he or she might so choose. Earlier today, for example, I completed ballots for Matt Kemp, Tommy La Stella, and Marcus Semien. In addition to having done my part as an employee of this weblog, what my efforts also produced was a collection of three projections which expressed my personal and probably wrong convictions about Kemp’s and La Stella’s and Semien’s respective upcoming seasons — which projections are accessible merely by clicking the My Rankings button on the FAN Projection screen.

Regard (and click to enlarge):

In theory, a properly motivated individual could produce forecasts for every single baseball player for whom there’s also a player profile at this site.

By clicking here, is how one begins this journey into the marvelous.