Tim Lincecum Might Have Some Magic Left

Tim Lincecum was once one of the joys of baseball.

At just 5-foot-11, 170 pounds and with hair past his shoulders, he could be mistaken for someone at your neighborhood skate park, only he could also throw 98 mph. His frame dropped him to the 10th pick of the 2006 draft even after he struck out almost all of Division I while pitching for the University of Washington. The Giants took the risk and were rewarded for betting on his unorthodox delivery and build. His mid-90s fastball, sharp-breaking curve, and elite changeup led him to two Cy Young awards. He was part of three world-championship clubs.

Then Lincecum and his velocity went missing before resurfacing this winter.

Now 33, Lincecum has been quietly working out at Driveline Baseball with the hope of rediscovering some of his stuff and returning to the majors. He worked out for MLB teams on Thursday, and the results are reportedly encouraging.

This is an instance where the radar-gun readings really mean something.

Read the rest of this entry »


Job Posting: Braves Pro Scouting Trainee

Position: Pro Scouting Trainee

Location: Atlanta, GA

Description:
Assist and provide support to the Atlanta Braves Professional Scouting Department and Staff, and gain exposure to a MLB Baseball Operations department.

Position responsibilities include but are not limited to:

  • Organize information on all Professional players including Depth Charts, Player Lists.
  • Coordinate stats, video, and other information on Major and Minor League players
  • Read and think critically about submitted Scouting Reports
  • Provide written and verbal assessments on Major and Minor League players
  • Assist with day to day administrative needs of Professional Scouts

In addition to the general requirements, the ideal candidate will possess:

  • Strong foundation in the application of statistical concepts to baseball data and the translation of data into useable scouting information
  • An active listener – ability to quickly discern the information needs of Scouting Staff
  • Experience producing a reliable work product under stressful circumstances
  • Experience working with individuals of a wide variety of backgrounds and beliefs
  • Demonstrated track record in role as a self-starter
  • Ability to work extensive hours as dictated by the Major League season schedule (including weekends and holidays throughout the season)
  • Proficiency in Microsoft Office
  • Familiarity with programming language SQL is a plus
  • Preferred: Professional/collegiate playing experience
  • Must be detail oriented with excellent verbal and written communication skills
  • Must be able to work in a team atmosphere and handle multiple projects at one time
  • Must complete a successful background check

To Apply:
Qualified candidates can apply online at www.braves.com/employment

The Atlanta Braves are an Equal Opportunity Employer


Job Posting: Baseball Info Solutions Business Development Associate

Position: Business Development Associate

Location: Lehigh Valley, PA

Position Overview:
Would you be interested in working closely with a small team to bring sabermetrics to a larger audience? Baseball Info Solutions is seeking a full-time Business Development Associate to work out of their Lehigh Valley, PA office. This is a great opportunity in a casual office environment with the leading provider of in-depth sports analytics.

The candidate will develop new sales opportunities as well as help maintain existing client relationships. Strong candidates will possess a self-motivated attitude, great communication skills, and be able to work in a collaborative team environment or independently as needed.

Responsibilities:

  • Build new business relationships independently or as part of a business development team
  • Maintain and expand existing client relationships
  • Assist with marketing efforts and represent the company in professional settings
  • Communicate with clients and prospects in-person, over the phone, and via email
  • Educate current and future clients on cutting-edge data and analytics from SIS
  • Collaborate with BIS Operations, R&D, and IT colleagues to build new products and fulfill customer needs
  • Travel to meet with clients as needed

Qualifications:

  • A track record (1-2 years) working in a business development environment
  • Experience with Salesforce or CRM tool preferred
  • A firm grasp on the baseball, football, fantasy sports, and sports media industries, including the latest sabermetric research
  • Open-minded approach and ability to think creatively to anticipate client and industry demands
  • Outgoing personality and flexible sales style to engage with a wide variety of prospective clients
  • Professional demeanor with excellent verbal and written communication skills
  • Strong organizational skills as well as diligence and high attention to detail
  • Initiative to voluntarily commit long hours, night, and weekends as when needed
  • Proficient in Microsoft software, including Word, Excel and PowerPoint

To Apply:
To apply, please use the following link: Business Development Associate Position


The Cubs Need and Also Now Have Yu Darvish

Yu Darvish augments a rotation that lost two key members to free agency.
(Photo: Mike LaChance)

At the beginning of the offseason, Travis Sawchik suggested in these pages that, at a moment in the game defined by the presence of Haves and Have Nots, that the Cubs would need to sign right-hander Yu Darvish in order to retain their standing among the former group. Much later in the offseason — just a couple weeks ago, in fact — Craig Edwards asserted that the Cubs still needed to sign him.

As of this afternoon, however, the Cubs no longer need Yu Darvish. Because they already have him, is why. Please allow Ken Rosenthal to explain.

Given the strength of their offense, the Cubs were never in danger of failing to compete at some level this season. Chicago’s field players recorded the fifth-best WAR collectively among the league’s 30 clubs last season. They’re currently forecast to improve upon that finish, situated second at the moment in FanGraphs’ depth-chart projections for 2018.

Read the rest of this entry »


2018 Prospects Week Overview Grid

We covered a bunch of prospects this week. While I can’t provide analysis in the same way Eric and Kiley have, I can summarize the prospects into a sortable table by team and grade.

You are able to toggle between the Top 100 group and then a second group that features the Top 100 plus the 115 additional prospects mentioned at the end of the Top 100 and 45/40 grade post. Have fun!






Job Posting: OnDeck Digital Cape Cod League Video Scouting Internships

Position: OnDeck Digital Cape Cod Baseball League Video Scouting Internships

Location: Cape Cod, Mass.

Description:
OnDeck Digital provides outsourced video scouting services to Major League Baseball Organizations. OnDeck Digital’s system for processing full-game video and statistics for is industry-leading and revolutionizes the way amateur baseball video is captured.

OnDeck Digital is seeking qualified candidates to work as Video Scouting Interns for the 2018 Cape Cod Baseball League season. Interns will track rosters, capture live video footage from every game of the CCBL season, and chart those games using our specialized software. The internships run from June 8, 2018 to August 14, 2018 and will include compensation.

Responsibilities:

  • Manage video and computer equipment for data capture.
  • Score and chart live games using specialized software.
  • Track and update rosters and player information.
  • Verify data accuracy and video quality.
  • Provide daily updates to OnDeck Digital staff and content partners.

Qualifications:

  • Knowledge of baseball rules and scorekeeping.
  • Proficiency with computers (Windows, Mac).
  • Experience with video equipment including cameras, sd cards, and basic cabling is preferred.
  • Strong work ethic and attention to detail.
  • Must have access to reliable transportation and housing on Cape Cod.

To Apply:
To apply, please send an email with the subject “2018 CCBL Internship”, your resume, and cover letter to jobs@ondeckdigital.com.


Job Posting: Marlins Software Developer Positions

The Marlins are hiring a Head Software Developer and a Software Developer.

Position: Head Software Developer

Position Summary:
The Head Software Developers will be responsible for creating the code that power the applications used by the entire Baseball Operations department. Opportunities for full stack and skill specialists exist at this time. The successful applicants will work in a collaborative, result-oriented, team environment.

Essential Functions:

  • Writing clean, concise, modular code
  • Backend – Java 8, Spring, SQL
  • Frontend – web fundamentals (HTML, JS, CSS), Angular, Bootstrap, jQuery
  • Build tools – Maven for Java; Gulp (or similar) for JS

Qualifications & Requirements:

  • Proficiency in more than one of the stated development skills
  • Excellent interpersonal, verbal and written communications, decision-making, and organization skills
  • Passion to learn and create

Suggested Education & Experience Guidelines:

  • Experience with agile development lifecycle
  • Experience with source control
  • Development experience in other languages such as .NET / C#, Python, and R
  • Experience working in a development team
  • Degree in Computer Science or Information Systems, or equivalent job experience
  • A minimum of 5 years’ experience

Bonus Experience:
Experience with Mobile iOS development – Objective C & Swift

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

Position: Software Developer

Position Summary:
The Software Developers will be responsible for creating the code that power the applications used by the entire Baseball Operations department. Opportunities for full stack and skill specialists exist at this time. The successful applicants will work in a collaborative, result-oriented, team environment.

Essential Functions:

  • Writing clean, concise, modular code
  • Backend – Java 8, Spring, SQL
  • Frontend – web fundamentals (HTML, JS, CSS), Angular, Bootstrap, jQuery
  • Build tools – Maven for Java; Gulp (or similar) for JS

Qualifications & Requirements:

  • Proficiency in more than one of the stated development skills
  • Excellent interpersonal, verbal and written communications, decision-making, and organization skills
  • Passion to learn and create

Suggested Education & Experience Guidelines:

  • Experience with agile development lifecycle
  • Experience with source control
  • Development experience in other languages such as .NET / C#, Python, and R
  • Experience working in a development team
  • Degree in Computer Science or Information Systems, or equivalent job experience
  • A minimum of 1 year experience

Bonus Experience:
Experience with Mobile iOS development – Objective C & Swift

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


SABR Analytics Awards: Voting Now Open!

Here’s your chance to vote for the 2018 SABR Analytics Conference Research Award winners.

The SABR Analytics Conference Research Awards will recognize baseball researchers who have completed the best work of original analysis or commentary during the preceding calendar year. Nominations were solicited by representatives from SABR, Baseball Prospectus, FanGraphs, The Hardball Times, and Beyond the Box Score.

To read any of the finalists, click on the link below. Scroll down to cast your vote.

Contemporary Baseball Analysis

Contemporary Baseball Commentary

Historical Analysis/Commentary

Voting will be open through 11:59 p.m. MST on Monday, February 12, 2018. Details and criteria for each category can be found here. Only one work per author was considered as a finalist.

Create your own user feedback survey

Mobile or Safari users, click here to access the survey

Results will be announced and presented at the seventh annual SABR Analytics Conference, March 9-11, 2018, at the Hyatt Regency Phoenix in Phoenix, Arizona. Learn more or register for the conference at SABR.org/analytics.


Job Posting: TrackMan Calibration Specialist

Position: Calibration Specialist

Job description:
Would you like to play a key role in supporting TrackMan’s baseball operations and engineering teams? Are you ambitious, self-driven and willing to go the extra mile? Then you should join the TrackMan Baseball Operations team!

TrackMan A/S is a fast-growing sports technology company that develops, manufactures and sells 3D ball flight measurement systems for a variety of sports. Originally developed for golf, TrackMan now enjoys a market leader position in several sports disciplines such as baseball in measuring and delivering real-time sports data.

Your key responsibilities include:

  • Coordinate and perform field activities at a variety of baseball facilities
  • Perform on-field calibration of TrackMan systems
  • Act as TrackMan’s face-to-face representative with the end customer
  • Provide basic technical system support, answering phone calls and logging issues
  • Track and log all activities through detail-oriented ticketing system
  • 70%+ travel

Requirements:
Your ability to build and maintain positive relationships is crucial for the role. You will work with stadium operations staff to ensure cooperation when TrackMan is on-site and provide remote support in the initial phases of trouble shooting. Moreover, you will work in close collaboration with contractors as well as internal stakeholders in US and Denmark.

  • Ability to pitch or throw baseball accurately (regular strikes from mound)
  • Ability to travel, with short notice
  • High attention to detail and ability to provide consistent quality
  • Flexible schedule with ability to work weekends
  • Own car with valid driver’s license
  • Self-driven individual who delivers on commitments
  • Able to lift upwards of 70 lbs (calibration equipment)
  • Windows OS fundamental knowledge, Microsoft Office preferred
  • Willingness to contribute in additional roles as necessary

What does TrackMan do?
TrackMan helps athletes get better at their game through data. They currently operate within golf, baseball, tennis, soccer, and the Olympic Games. The world’s absolute top performers, as well as the serious amateur striving for improvement, rely on TrackMan’s data to gain that critical, competitive edge. TrackMan has a global footprint with its headquarter located in Denmark and offices in New York, Phoenix and Tokyo, and a dedicated, global sales force. Visit their website to learn more.

Apply today and join a company with great technologies, great colleagues, and great opportunities to grow.

To apply, or if you have any questions, please contact Matt Pullman at mpu@trackman.com. Start date is as soon as possible, and interviews take place on an ongoing basis.


Job Posting: Mariners Baseball Operations Intern

Position: Baseball Operations Intern

Location: Seattle

Description:
The Seattle Mariners are working to build a winning team with exceptionally talented people. If you are passionate about baseball and eager to make an impact using your skills, learn more about this exciting opportunity to join our Baseball Operations team. This individual will provide support to our scouting operations while working closely with various members of our Baseball Operations team.

Primary Objective:
Support the baseball operations department in day-to-day scouting operation tasks, administration, and research.

Essential Functions:

  • Assist Pro Scouting Department in a variety of areas: research projects, prospect lists, and in-office administrative duties while providing support to field staff
  • Provide support in all areas of advance scouting, including, preparation of the advance scouting report, game day duties, and preparation for pre-series meetings
  • Support the Amateur Scouting Department leading up to and during the Amateur Draft
  • Provide additional statistical analysis, economic and financial research as assigned or as time permits

Education and Experience:

  • Bachelor’s degree strongly preferred. Equivalent, relevant work may be considered in lieu of formal education if approved by management.
  • Spanish speaking skills is a plus
  • Previous evaluation or playing experience a plus, but not required

Competencies, Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSA’s):

  • Working knowledge of statistical baseball data and its application as it pertains to scouting information
  • Working knowledge of baseball strategy and current in-game management trends
  • Proficiency in Microsoft Excel & PowerPoint
  • Excellent interpersonal skills with proven ability to work in a fast-paced environment
  • Self-motivated with a high degree of integrity; takes personal responsibility for getting things done in a way that positively and professionally represents the organization
  • Demonstrated initiative; thinks creatively and takes actions that create a positive outcome for the team

Dates:
Start date is flexible. End date is end of the 2018 season. Preference will be given to candidates who can start by March 1, 2018.

To Apply:
Interested and qualified applicants may apply by February 7, 2018 through the following link: Baseball Operations Intern