I’m one week into my JAWS-flavored profiles of the 35 candidates on the BBWAA’s 2019 Hall of Fame ballot, and figured it would be worth laying out a tentative schedule for the series as well as providing a clearinghouse for a bit of business, including a very cool new feature that was put together by developer Sean Dolinar. That’s the sexy stuff, so let’s get to it first.

In the spirit of what we do with our annual free agent contract crowdsourcing, FanGraphs invites registered users to fill out their own virtual Hall of Fame ballots. You must be signed in to vote, and you may only vote once. To replicate the actual voting process, you may vote for anywhere from zero to 10 players; ballots with more than 10 won’t be counted. You may change your ballot until the deadline, which is December 31, 2018, the same as that of the actual BBWAA voters, who have to schlep their paper ballot to the mailbox.

The ballot is here and contains all 35 candidates. There are no write-ins, for those of you fixated on Pete Rose. I’ll write up the crowdsourcing results sometime in early January, when we’re all jonesing for Hall news in advance of the announcement of the official results on January 22.

As for the schedule, here it is below, broken into five-day weeks, as we’re not planning to publish these on weekends. Please keep in mind that the schedule is tentative and subject to change, particularly when it comes to the new profiles (denoted with asterisks), which take time to do justice. There’s also the chance that I’ll want to weigh in on current events, which is still part of my job here (hence the all-rerun week coinciding with the Winter Meetings).

November
Nov. 26: Mariano Rivera*
Nov. 27: Edgar Martinez
Nov. 28: Mike Mussina
Nov. 29: Roy Halladay*
Nov. 30: Larry Walker

December
Dec. 3: Scott Rolen
Dec. 4: Todd Helton*
Dec. 5: Andruw Jones
Dec. 6: Omar Vizquel
Dec. 7: Gary Shefield

Dec. 10: Manny Ramirez
Dec. 11: Fred McGriff
Dec. 12: Winter Meetings Travel Hell
Dec. 13: Lance Berkman*
Dec. 14: Jeff Kent

Dec. 17: Andy Pettitte*
Dec. 18: Roger Clemens
Dec. 19: Barry Bonds
Dec. 20: Roy Oswalt*
Dec. 21: Billy Wagner

Dec. 24: Happy holidays
Dec. 25: Happy birthday to me (yes, really), Merry Xmas to those celebrating.
Dec. 26: Curt Schilling
Dec. 27: Sammy Sosa
Dec. 28: One-and-Dones, Part 1

Dec. 31: My Virtual Ballot

January
Jan. 1: Happy New Year
Jan. 2: One-and-Dones, Part 2
Jan. 3: One-and-Dones, Part 3

As for those One-and-Dones — the candidates with no real shot at election or even making it to next year’s ballot — since I started the JAWS project with the 2004 ballot, I’ve covered every single BBWAA candidate, at least in brief, and I’m not about to miss any now. It used to be that I wrote up every candidate within 20 JAWS points of the standard, but in recent years I’ve made exceptions due to scheduling, and this year is tight enough that I may have to do so again.

Finally, some thanks are due. First, to my former colleagues at Sports Illustrated — namely SI editorial director Chris Stone, assistant managing editor Stefanie Kaufman, and SI.com managing editor Ryan Hunt — who worked with us to find a satisfactory solution that allowed me to continue revising profiles written during my Sports Illustrated tenure (they still own the copyright). Second, to the aforementioned Mr. Dolinar for putting together the crowdsource ballot and carving out some real estate for Hall stuff on the FanGraphs home page, and David Appelman for accommodating all of this. And finally, to our new managing editor Meg Rowley, who’s charged with the task of wrangling this series of epic posts while dealing with my excessive quantity of em-dashes, liberal use of semicolons, and wavering commitment to serial commas. Cheers all around!

Position: Baseball Operations Fellow

Description:
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.

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.

Education and Experience Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree
• Demonstrated passion for at least one of 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

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 found here.

These positions are paid.

Position: San Diego Padres Baseball Research and Development Analyst and Intern

Location: San Diego, California

Description:
The Padres are looking to grow their Research and Development group by adding an Analyst and Intern who have a passion for baseball and winning through data-driven decision making to their team. Through both collaborative and individual work, members of their team will impact every part of the R&D process: idea and question generation, data exploration and analysis, development of decision making tools utilizing analyses, and communication of results to decision makers and other staff. Ideal candidates are those that are excited to challenge the status quo, improve how the Padres make decisions, and contribute to the continual development of the department.

Responsibilities:

• Develop statistical models and perform general quantitative analysis dealing with player valuation, player development, and strategic decision making.
• Collaborate with other members of the baseball operations department in the development process.
• Investigate ad hoc research projects as requested.
• Effectively present completed projects and communicate new insights to decision makers and other staff.
• Maintain a knowledge of the latest data analysis techniques and data sources to aid in the continual development of the department.

Qualifications:

• Intern: Bachelor’s degree (BA) in a job related area or currently enrolled in a Bachelor’s degree program. Strong foundation in mathematics, statistics, operations research, engineering, or physics.
• Analyst: Bachelor’s degree (BA) in a job related area or 2+ years of related work experience.
• Some experience with computer programming. Experience with R, Python, SQL, and Stan preferred.
• Demonstrated ability to solve problems in a data-driven way.
• Creativity to brainstorm new avenues of research for the department.
• Strong work ethic and attention to detail with the ability to balance multiple projects.
• Passion for baseball and familiarity with current baseball research.
• Comfortability with and ability to effectively communicate technical concepts to a non-technical audience.
• Ability to work evening/weekend/holiday hours.
• Consistent, punctual and regular attendance.
• Professional image and demeanor.
• Excellent time management, interpersonal, verbal and written communications, decision-making, and organization skills.
• Minimum physical requirements: able to travel to and gain access to various areas of the ballpark for prolonged periods of time during games and events; able to lift and transport up to 25 pounds.

To Apply:
To apply, please send an email to BBOpsJobs@Padres.com with the subject “R&D Positions” and include a resume, an unofficial transcript (if you were enrolled in a college degree program within the last three years), and answers to the following questions:

• When would you be available to start?
• Are you planning to attend the 2018 Winter Meetings?
• Where did you learn about this opportunity?
• What is a project you believe would add substantial value to a baseball team? Please describe the project and outline the steps you would take to complete it.

The San Diego Padres are an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Please note, this posting contains two positions.

Position: Associate, Baseball Operations

Department: Baseball Operations

Locations: Flushing, NY; Syracuse, NY; Binghamton, NY; Port St. Lucie, FL; Columbia, SC.

Summary:
The New York Mets are seeking individuals to work in Baseball Operations, both in Flushing at the major league level and at their minor league affiliates. This is an entry-level, yearly position intended to gain exposure to a variety of responsibilities within Baseball Operations. Location will be determined based off fit. Applicants should be available to start in January.

Responsibilities:

• Compile advance scouting reports.
• Assist the amateur scouting department with information gathering in preparation for the Rule 4 Draft.
• Support players and coaching staff with video and player-tracking technology.
• Assist front office with administrative needs.
• Data collection and entry.
• Those at the minor league affiliate level will travel with the club on all road trips, filming and charting games, and operating the Trackman radar while the club is at home.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree.
• Familiarity with baseball concepts, strategy, rules, recent developments, etc.
• Confidence in verbal communication skills with front office, coaching staff, and players.
• Proficient with Microsoft Office.
• Comfortable learning and operating new technologies.
• Organized, attentive, and accountable.
• Available to start in January.

To Apply:
Interested candidates should apply using this Google form with a resume by November 30, 2018.

Position: Associate, Baseball Research & Development

Department: Baseball Operations

Location: Citi Field, Flushing, NY

Summary:
The New York Mets are seeking individuals with a background in data analysis to work with the club’s Research and Development team. This is an entry-level, yearly position in which associates will analyze baseball data and use their findings to provide insight within the different areas of Baseball Operations. These may include player development, amateur and international scouting, and major league advance scouting. Applicants should be available to start in January.

Responsibilities:

• Conduct research in the field of baseball analytics and communicate insights with others in Baseball Operations department.
• Research, develop, and test predictive models to support Baseball Operations decision-making (i.e., player evaluation, roster construction, player development, in-game strategy).
• Create data visualizations that integrate into Baseball Operations web application.
• Collect and manage large data sets. This may involve writing scripts for automation as well as manual data entry.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience in Statistics, Data Science, Mathematics, Physics, Computer Science, or similar quantitative field.
• Strong experience querying and managing data with SQL.
• Demonstrated experience using statistical tools and packages in R or Python.
• Familiarity with baseball specific datasets (i.e., Trackman, Statcast, PITCHf/x) and knowledge of current baseball research.
• Preference for candidates who have demonstrated experience building web applications in Python, Java, PHP, Javascript, etc. Please provide a link to the application and/or codebase (Github) if possible.
• Available to start in January.

To Apply:
Interested candidates should apply using this Google form with a resume and a sample of a past research project, preferably in sports analytics, by November 30, 2018.

Many of you are home, or traveling home, for the Thanksgiving holiday. Not only aren’t you in the mood to read about baseball — I bet you’re especially not in the mood to read about Derek Dietrich, who the Marlins designated for assignment on Tuesday. I’m not really in the mood to linger on Derek Dietrich, myself, which is why I’m going to do this fast. Won’t waste your time. I’ll get to the point and leave you alone.

Dietrich is a useful player. He’s 29 years old, and he has a career wRC+ of 109. He can play a lot of positions, albeit none of them all that well. Hidden in the numbers, however, is that Dietrich has a specialty. Now, whenever anyone talks about players getting hit by a lot of pitches, the name that ought to come to mind is Brandon Guyer. We’ve written about Guyer at FanGraphs before, and indeed, if you set a low enough minimum, Guyer is easily the all-time leader in HBP rate. But Guyer has 1,487 big-league plate appearances. What if you set the minimum at, say, 1,500?

Given that cutoff, here are the highest career HBP rates since the turn of the last century:

Dietrich has a lower rate than Guyer, but he’s also played a lot more than Guyer. Dietrich’s the all-time leader with a 1,500 PA cutoff. He’s the all-time leader with a 2,000 PA cutoff. Yes, it’s true that Guyer is more anomalous, but Dietrich is anomalous as well. As these things go, that’s a pretty healthy lead Dietrich has over second place.

Dietrich’s the all-time leader, maybe with a minimum-related asterisk, but all rate-stat leaderboards come with some kind of minimum, and they’re always arbitrary. So I want to give Dietrich his moment in the sun, in what’s otherwise probably a pretty crappy week for him. Dietrich has been hit by 93 pitches. He’s been hit by 13 pitches in an 0-and-2 count. He’s been hit by 39 pitches with the pitcher ahead. He’s been hit by seven pitches by Tanner Roark.

Courtesy of Baseball Savant, here are all the pitches that hit Dietrich somewhere, or were at least judged to have done so:

Here’s that weird low one over the plate:

Here’s one close to the strike zone:

Here’s another one close to the strike zone:

Here’s one I just think is kind of quirky:

Here’s the one time he’s been hit with the bases loaded:

Here’s the one worth the most positive win probability added:

And here’s the one that happened in the lowest-leverage situation:

At least in terms of WPA, Dietrich’s career hit-by-pitches have been worth almost a combined three wins. Dietrich has been hit by 93 pitches while drawing just 144 walks — a dozen of which have been intentional. Dietrich hasn’t exactly built a career around getting hit by the baseball, but getting hit by the baseball has given his career a jolt, and it’s a career that’s going to continue, despite all of the aches and pains. Every year, Derek Dietrich feels a lot of pain in his legs and his elbow. And, every year, for pitchers facing Derek Dietrich, he is a pain in the ass.

The headliner in the James Paxton deal is LHP Justus Sheffield. He’s been a top prospect for so long that it’s easy to find updated reports on him and understand where he falls in the prospects landscape. The short version is that he has an above-average-to-plus four-pitch mix, but his command ranges from average to below average, so he could still fit in a number of roles in the big leagues, ranging from multi-inning relief power arm to mid-rotation starter.

The more intriguing pieces of this deal are the other two names, RHP Erik Swanson and CF Dom Thompson-Williams. Neither were on the year-end version of THE BOARD, but both were on our radar; we intentionally didn’t comb through every 40 FV candidate in the in-season update since that’s what we focus on in the winter.

If we were doing the Mariners list today, both would be 40 FVs; they’re good examples of guys who sneak up on you during the season and in whom you have greater confidence moving up once the season ends. Swanson works 92-94 with a rising four-seamer, hitting 98 mph at times with some deception and life, and backs it up with a solid average slider and advanced feel for how to use both pitches in tandem. He could be something like a back-end starter who mostly uses two pitches, but he’s more likely to be the 5th-7th best starting option for a contender, and fits most comfortably as a David Phelps-type multi-inning fireman who can also do the job of long relief and spot-starting. There’s upside as a 50 FV here (4th starter or setup guy) but he’s more likely to be a 45 FV in the big leagues as a useful utility-type arm, so a 40+ or 40 FV would be appropriate.

Thompson-Williams is a sneaky athlete who’s a solid average runner with an average arm that some think can play a solid center field, but that most think is a fourth outfielder-type who can play all three spots. He has plus raw power and some feel to hit, so there’s low-end everyday upside if things continue to come together at the plate as they did in 2018. But he was 23 years old in High-A, so he’ll need to move quickly to be likely to reach that upside. More likely, Thompson-Williams is a useful bench option as a platoon at multiple spots or as a player who can provide some thump off the bench. Given his shorter track record and age, that’s a 40 FV for now with a chance to turn into a 45 FV with more performance, certainty, and proximity to the majors.

I’ve been asked a few times where these prospects fall on the dollar scale of our new prospect valuation metrics. Sheffield likely won’t rank exactly 54th on our next Top 100 in January, but the $29 million figure is about right. Swanson and Thompson-Williams combine for about $5 million more. Paxton is due in the $20-$25 million range for his next two years via arbitration while projected–using the same $9 million per WAR figure that generated the prospect values–to be worth somewhere around $60-$69 million in that span. So the Mariners receive around $35 million in prospect value, and send $35-$50 million of value back, depending on where Paxton ends up in his range. That’s within the margin for error, but is a bit lighter than expected for a Paxton package given the wide interest. That said, this trade appears to bring the Mariners out of the cellar of our first farm system rankings.

The Nationals have signed free-agent catcher Kurt Suzuki for two years and $10 million. The Nationals have had Kurt Suzuki before. In August 2012, they got him from the A’s. In August 2013, they sent him back to the A’s. In between, he batted 445 times, with a backup catcher’s slash line. Suzuki is now 35 years old, and he spent a long time as a relatively unremarkable catcher, by major-league standards. Never good enough or bad enough to stand out. I still don’t think Suzuki stands out in any way in the public consciousness, but when you look at the numbers, his career has taken a turn.

Over the past two seasons, out of all regular and semi-regular catchers, Suzuki the hitter ranks fourth in wRC+. First place is only four points away. His wRC+ ranks above that of Gary Sanchez. It ranks above that of J.T. Realmuto. It ranks above that of Willson Contreras. I don’t mean to suggest that Suzuki and Realmuto are one and the same or anything, but statistics reflect performance, and for the most part, performance reflects ability. Suzuki has had the ability to be this productive, over 661 plate appearances.

Read the rest of this entry »

Position: Baseball Operations Intern

Location: Minneapolis, MN

About Inside Edge:
Inside Edge Scouting Services specializes in data capture and analytics down to the finest details of every Major League game. Major league clubs, media, and other clients subscribe to Inside Edge’s real-time pitch-by-pitch data, custom-tailored reports, and advanced analytic tools to gain an edge on their competition. They provide a fun, fast-paced work environment and an opportunity to get started on a career in baseball and differentiate yourself from other job seekers. Past interns have gone on to positions with both major league clubs and media organizations.

Position Description:
Candidates filling this position will gain valuable experience with technologies and processes increasing their qualifications to work in baseball and the broader sports industry. Hires can expect to begin training March 8. Interns will need to make a commitment to working most nights, weekends, and holidays over the course of the season.

Key areas of responsibility:

• Participate in a rigorous training program before the season starts
• Use Inside Edge software to enter and crosscheck live pitch and scoring data
• Mark actions to be reviewed by supervisors
• Add, review, and update qualitative player notes
• Review video replay ensuring integrity of charted data
• Update internal Inside Edge logs and databases
• Generate end of game reports

Qualifications:
While in-depth training will be provided, candidates need a strong understanding of both the basics and subtleties of baseball games, and will be required to quickly and accurately recognize pitch types, locations, and scoring data.

Wages and term of employment:

• The position runs March 7 through the end of the 2019 regular season (September 29th)
• Starting compensation is $9.86 per hour

To Apply:

• Fill out Inside Edge’s online screening.
• Send an email with your resume to r.moore@inside-edge.com. Feel free to include supplemental information and a quick note on what you’re including. A cover letter is unnecessary.
• Depending on the results, Inside Edge will contact you for a resume and to set up an interview.

A timeline for the hiring process can be found here.

Position: Miami Marlins Baseball Analytics Intern

Location: Jupiter, Florida

Description:
The Analytics Intern will assist Baseball Operations decision-making through the analysis and research of baseball information. The specific day-to-day responsibilities of this position will vary depending on the baseball calendar, but will revolve around analyzing data to answer baseball-related questions. A competitive candidate will possess an established foundation of statistical, programming, and database skills. The position will report to the Director of Analytics.

Essential Functions:

• Research and develop predictive models to support Baseball Operations in player evaluation, roster construction, and in-game strategies.
• Expand upon Marlins analytical strategy by creating new data models, metrics, applications, and reports.
• Improve and refine existing processes for the Baseball Operations Department.
• Perform ad-hoc research projects as requested.
• Present results in a complete, concise, and engaging manner.

Qualifications and Requirements:

• Strong work ethic, attention to detail, and ability to self-direct.
• Demonstrated baseball research, experience visualizing data, and/or strong technical acumen.
• Ability to communicate baseball analytics concepts to individuals with diverse baseball backgrounds, including coaches, scouts, and executives.
• Understanding of and passion for the game of baseball.
• High level of familiarity with the current state of baseball research.
• Meaningful work experience with Tableau, SQL Server, R, and/or Python.
• Ability to work extended hours including evenings, weekends, and holidays from February – October 2019.

Suggested Education/Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree in statistics, engineering, applied math, physics, computer science, operations research, or related field.
• Understanding of advanced forecasting techniques is strongly preferred.
• Experience with a scripting language (e.g. PowerShell, Ruby, Perl) is preferred.
• Ability and desire to learn other programming languages as needed.
• Baseball/softball playing experience is a plus.

Please note, this position is paid.

To Apply:
Please email materials (resume, cover letter, research, etc.) to marlinsanalyticsjobs@gmail.com.

As the FanGraphs prospect team starts to roll out team lists this off season, we’ve updated THE BOARD! to include team lists as they are published. You also might notice we did an update on the interface.

Important Notes:

• Team Lists will be added as they are published. Once all 30 lists and the Top 100 prospects are published, the Team Lists will just become the preseason 2019 list.
• The Scouting section for 2019 is split into position players and pitchers. This is to accommodate the addition of columns for Tommy John surgery date and spin rate for pitchers.
• The MLB Organization and Position selection now behaves like our splits tool. If you select one team, say the Padres, it will only show players in the Padres organization. If you were to click on another team, say the Braves, it will show you players in both the Padres’ and the Braves’ organization.
• You can now search for players within a board using the search box. The search function is limited to the current board, so it won’t find a player on the 2018 International board if you have the 2019 Team Lists loaded. It’s effectively a custom filter that filters on the player’s name and signing/college information.
• A .csv data file of the current board with associated filters can be exported from the top right corner of the data grid.