Job Posting: New York Yankees Baseball Operations

by
October 18, 2018

Please note, this posting contains multiple positions.

Position: SQL Developer

Position Overview:
The New York Yankees organization is accepting applications for an experienced SQL developer in their Baseball Operations department. This position reports to their senior Baseball Operations executives and will assist in the development of database systems. Their goal is to integrate these systems with existing baseball analytics tools and web-applications as part of their player information and evaluation platform.

Primary Responsibilities:

  • Analyze business requirements and design reports using stored procedures to support Yankees front office baseball applications
  • Perform data integrity checks between systems to identify discrepancies
  • Set up ETL operations to import and normalize data from different data providers
  • Performance tuning of SQL objects and queries
  • Work with major and minor league pitch, hit and player tracking datasets, college and other amateur data, international baseball data, and many other baseball data sources

Qualifications and Experience:

  • Must have 3-5 years experience developing in T-SQL
  • Proven experience developing stored procedures, CRUD operations and advanced data manipulation skills with T-SQL (CTEs, pivots, temp tables, XML)
  • Ability to design and layout a database schema from scratch, including table objects, constraints, indexes, foreign keys, and triggers
  • Experience in ETL operations, specifically loading data via different techniques, including bulk loading using BCP operations
  • Experience performance tuning of queries and database objects, including things like table partitioning, index tuning, query hints, locking, schema normalization
  • Ability to utilize SQL Profiler and a thorough understanding of execution plans
  • Excellent communication and problem-solving skills – must be able to breakdown a complex task and put together an execution strategy with little guidance
  • Proven understanding of typical baseball data structures, basic and advanced baseball metrics, and knowledge of current baseball research areas

Job Questions:

  • How did you hear about this job?
  • Do you have 3+ years experience writing in T-SQL?
  • Describe techniques you have used for performing data loading operations.
  • How you would approach the identification of a performance issue in a SQL query?
  • Have you ever worked with any baseball datasets before? If so, please describe which ones and how you used them.

To Apply:
To apply, please complete the following application.

Position: Web Application Developer

Primary Responsibilities:

  • Assist in the design and implementation of web-based tools and applications for senior baseball operations personnel
  • Migrate and adapt existing web applications for mobile devices and various hardware platforms
  • Interface with all departments within Baseball Operations (scouting, player development, coaching, analytics) to build tools and reporting capabilities to meet their needs
  • Work with major and minor league pitch, hit and player tracking datasets, college and other amateur data, international baseball data, and many other baseball data sources

Qualifications and Experience:

  • Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or related field
  • 3-5 years experience with data-driven web application development using:
    • ASP.NET/C# using MVC and WebAPI
    • nHibernate or other O/R framework
    • AngularJS and Bootstrap
  • An understanding of CSS, cross-browser, and responsive web development, including a strong understanding of desktop vs. mobile UI/UX design techniques
  • Familiarity with Microsoft Visual Studio and source code management tools (Subversion, Git, TFS/VSS)
  • Proficient in SQL databases and various database design principles (Microsoft SQL Server a plus)
  • Knowledge of the software development lifecycle (requirements definition, design, development, testing, implementation, verification), Agile, and industry best practices
  • Excellent communication and problem solving skills – must be able to breakdown a complex task and put together an execution strategy with little guidance
  • An understanding of typical baseball data structures, basic and advanced baseball metrics, and knowledge of current baseball research areas a plus

Job Questions:

  • How did you hear about this job?
  • Do you have experience writing database-driven web applications, using ASP.Net/C#?
  • Describe one data-driven web application you’ve developed and how you’ve utilized ASP.NET/C# and an RDBMS in its development?
  • Do you have experience with AngularJS or other client-side Javascript framework?
  • List any active websites or mobile applications you have developed (and the technologies they use) that might showcase your work.

To Apply:
To apply, please complete the following application.

Position: Data Engineer

Description:
The New York Yankees Baseball Operations department is accepting applications for an experienced data engineer with a focus on data quality analysis. This position reports to the senior Baseball Operations executives and will assist in the development and maintenance of the Yankees data processing pipelines.

Primary Responsibilities:

  • Prepare, clean, format analytical datasets for processing by data scientists
  • Become an expert in the team’s datasets, their strengths and weaknesses, and write code to pull and verify data in response to data scientist requests
  • Using R, visualize complex, multi-source data to pinpoint data quality issues
  • Build automated pipelines for processing and cleaning data
  • Conduct database feature engineering to support ongoing quantitative research
  • Work with developers to create and deploy systems for anomaly detection
  • Interface with data scientists, software developers, and other baseball operations staff as needed
  • Design department-wide principles and workflow for data quality management
  • Serve as the main point-of-contact for questions about data structures, definitions, and quality

Qualifications and Experience:

  • Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or related field
  • 3+ years of experience developing in SQL (preferably T-SQL)
  • 2+ years of experience with data profiling, data modeling, and data pipeline development
  • 2+ years of experience developing in R (or a similar statistical programming language), including experience with data manipulation and visualization in that language
  • Ability to write succinct code with optimal performance and simplicity
  • Excellent communication and problem-solving skills – must be able to break down a complex task and put together an execution strategy with little guidance
  • An understanding of typical baseball data structures, basic and advanced baseball metrics, and knowledge of current baseball research areas

Job Questions:

  • How did you hear about this job?
  • Describe your experience writing in T-SQL.
  • Describe your experience writing in R. What packages do you use most?
  • Describe your experience with data engineering and the specific techniques you’ve used.
  • At a high-level, describe briefly what steps you would take to identify data biases or inconsistencies in an unfamiliar/new dataset?
  • Have you ever worked with baseball data sets before? If so, please describe which ones and how you used them.

To Apply:
To apply, please complete the following application.

Position: Associate, Quantitative Analysis

Description:
This position is a rigorous 12-month program geared to prepare entry level candidates for a career within the Baseball Operations industry.

Responsibilities:

  • Assist in research and analysis of various baseball topics
  • Design, test and implement predictive models using advanced statistical techniques
  • Prepare, manage, and visualize large-scale data sets
  • Develop processes for monitoring and ensuring data quality across multiple data sources
  • Responsibilities may also include data collection and entry, running database queries and administrative tasks

Qualifications:

  • Bachelor’s degree or higher in a Mathematics, Statistics, Computer Science or related field required
  • Experience building predictive models, preferably in R
  • Computer programming experience
  • Experience using SQL
  • Familiarity with current baseball research
  • Understanding of fundamental concepts in statistics and probability

Job Questions:

  • How did you hear about this job?
  • When are you available to start?
  • What classes have you completed in math, statistics, probability, and/or computer science?
  • Describe any previous experience building statistical models.
  • Which programming languages are you proficient in and what is your preferred language? If applicable to the language, please describe any libraries/packages you use.
  • Describe any previous experience using SQL, if any.
  • Please list any previous baseball/softball experience. This can include playing experience, research experience, coaching experience, writing experience, and more.
  • Will you now or in the future need visa sponsorship status to lawfully work in the United States?

To Apply:
To apply, please complete the following application.

Position: Associate, Baseball Operations

Description:
This position is a rigorous 12-month program geared to prepare entry level candidates for a career within the Baseball Operations industry.

Responsibilities:

  • Coordinate and prepare advance scouting material for the New York Yankees
  • Support the Baseball Operations and Pro Scouting staffs with daily logistical tasks
  • Chart select games from video, as well as execute additional video projects
  • Introductory level player evaluation
  • Assist with various research tasks
  • Data collection and entry
  • Administrative tasks as assigned

Qualifications:

  • Bachelor’s degree required
  • Experience working with BATS coaching system
  • Must be able to recognize pitch types and know how to score a baseball game
  • General understanding of MLB rules and regulations
  • Detail oriented and organized
  • Strong verbal communication and collaborative skills
  • Experience working with video and in baseball

Job Questions:

  • How did you hear about this job?
  • What is the earliest date that you are available to start the Associate program?
  • What are your favorite statistics for evaluating baseball players?
  • What are your favorite baseball-related websites, books, or podcasts?
  • Who do you think are the five best starting pitchers in MLB right now?
  • Do you have any previous baseball or softball experience? Please provide specific examples.
  • Will you now or in the future need visa sponsorship status to lawfully work in the United States?

To Apply:
To apply, please complete the following application.

These descriptions are intended to describe the type of work being performed by a person assigned to these positions. They are not an exhaustive list of all duties and responsibilities required by the employee. The New York Yankees is an Equal Opportunity Employer. The company is committed to the principles of equal employment opportunity for all employees and applicants for employment.


A Brief Survey of Postseason Paranoia

by
October 17, 2018

The story on the field is that we’ve got a couple of excellent league championship series. The story off the field has been different from that. Yesterday’s headline, from Danny Picard:

Metro Exclusive: Astros may have been cheating in Game 1 against Red Sox

This isn’t about a sunscreen or pine-tar thing. Teams don’t care about that, because their own players partake. This is about a sign-stealing thing. The Indians tipped off the Red Sox about an Astros employee with a camera by the dugout. It seems super suspicious. The Astros, for their part, have insisted the guy was there to make sure the opponent wasn’t cheating. It’s a weird and complicated story. There are other elements, as well, but I’m not going to get into them. Major League Baseball considers the matter closed. The league says it’s taken steps in the playoffs to try to make sure teams aren’t cheating via technology. You can believe they’re doing enough, or you can not believe it. I can’t pretend to have all the necessary information.

Read the rest of this entry »


Manny Machado Gets Dirty

by
October 17, 2018

Last night, Manny Machado scored the decisive run in an extra-inning walkoff victory to tie the NLCS at two games a piece and put the Dodgers within two wins of the World Series. When discussing Machado and last night’s game, we’d ideally be focusing on his key hit, his smart and aggressive take of second base on a wild pitch, and his impressive dash from second to home on a single to right field that barely beat a strong throw from Christian Yelich.

We aren’t talking about that, though. We’re talking instead about a play in the 10th inning of last night’s game on which Manny Machado made contact with Brewers first baseman Jesus Aguilar:

In real time, it looked really awkward, but not necessarily malicious. After the game, the Brewers said the play was dirty or insinuated as such by questioning Machado’s general attitude about playing hard. From the MLB.com story:

“It’s a dirty play by a dirty player,” Brewers right fielder Christian Yelich said.

“It looked like it,” Aguilar said. “I’ve known Manny for many years and I don’t know why he would act like that.”

Brewers manager Craig Counsell threw shade at Machado when asked if the play went beyond the grounds of hard play.

“I don’t know,” he said. “I guess they got tangled up at first base. I don’t think he’s playing all that hard.”

Machado didn’t really back down either:

“If that’s dirty, that’s dirty,” Machado said. “I don’t know, call it what you want. I play baseball. I try to go out there and win for my team. If that’s their comments, that’s their comments. I can’t do nothing about that.”

Let’s start by giving Machado the benefit of the doubt and assume, for sake of argument, that it was just a weird play. In that spirit, let’s take a few closer looks at it to see what kind of determinations we might be able to make. Here’s another angle from directly behind Machado.

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Jose Reyes Has Been Honored for His Off-Field Behavior

by
October 17, 2018

Known primarily for his work as the former executive director of the MLBPA, Marvin Miller was an NYU-educated economist by training. His efforts as union head eventually led to the elimination of the reserve clause and start of free agency for MLB players. It was Miller who negotiated the players’ very first collective bargaining agreement, brought arbitration to professional sports, and did all of this despite contending with anti-semitism from the team owners on the other side of the bargaining table and a disability leaving him with limited use of his right arm. Miller was called by Hank Aaron “as important to the history of baseball as Jackie Robinson.”

In light of Miller’s relevance to the livelihoods of its members, it’s not surprising that the MLBPA makes some effort not only to preserve his legacy but also to honor those who continue it. To that end, the union gives an award every year for off-field service and community leadership. The Marvin Miller Man of the Year Award, started in 1997 and rebooted in 2000, is considered “one of baseball’s top honors[.]” The award is based on popular vote by the players, with the recipient being the teammate whom the voters “most respect based on his leadership on the field and in the community.” Each team has its own top vote-getter honored by the MLBPA.

In 2017, the list of top vote-getters contained an impressive collection of players notable not just for their exploits on the field, but for their charity work off of it, as well.

Among [2017]’s nominees are players involved in providing clean water and other necessities to poverty-stricken villages in remote parts of the world, supporting the needs of servicemen and women and their families, building schools, ensuring clothing and meals for inner-city poor,  raising funds for research and respite to cancer victims and their families,  rescuing abandoned and mistreated animals,  and sending truckloads of emergency supplies to victims of natural disasters.

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Cody Bellinger Wasn’t Clutch Until He Was

by
October 17, 2018

Postseason baseball has not come easily to Cody Bellinger. After setting an NL rookie record with 39 home runs in 2017, the then-22-year-old endured ups and downs last October, coming up big in the Dodgers’ Division and League Championship clinchers but going 4-for-28 with a record setting 17 strikeouts in the World Series. Those struggles had continued this fall, in the form of a 1-for-21 skid through Game Four of the NLCS and a spot on the bench for Game Four, as lefty Gio Gonzalez started for the Brewers. Nonetheless, in a five-hour, 15-minute slog that he didn’t even enter until the sixth inning, Bellinger played the hero, first with a diving catch on a potential extra-base hit off the bat of Lorenzo Cain in the 10th inning and then a walk-off RBI single in the 13th, giving the Dodgers a 2-1 victory.

The hit was actually Bellinger’s second of the night. His first came in the eighth inning, when he countered the Brewers’ defensive shift with an opposite-field single off the nearly unhittable Josh Hader, a Nice Piece of Hitting.

Bellinger, despite his pull tendencies, ranked ninth in the majors on grounders against the shift during the regular season, with a 98 wRC+. His 111 wRC+ overall on balls in play against the shift ranked 24th among the 123 hitters with at least 100 PA under such circumstances, which is to say that he’s fared well in this capacity — among the many other ways he’s fared well — despite this October slump.

Paired with Max Muncy’s leadoff single earlier in the inning, it was the first time all year that the Brewers’ fireman yielded multiple hits to left-handed batters in the same outing. The Dodgers couldn’t convert there — more on which momentarily — but Bellinger would only come up bigger.

Here’s Bellinger’s catch off Cain’s liner, which led off the 10th inning against Kenley Jansen. According to Statcast, it had a hit probability of 94%:

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Meg Rowley FanGraphs Chat – 10/17/18

by
October 17, 2018
12:00
Meg Rowley: Good morning, and welcome to a special Wednesday edition of chats with Meg!
12:00
Meg Rowley: Who else is tired? I feel tired!
12:00
machado: Do you think Machado’s actions the last two nights will impact his free agency value?
12:01
Meg Rowley: I do not.
12:02
Meg Rowley: I think he should stop being a bonehead, especially if his preferred method of being a bonehead puts him the neighborhood of potentially injuring other players on the field, but in the end he’s very good at baseball.
12:02
Meg Rowley: Lot of dudes who get up to boneheaded stuff end up with big contracts.

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Where It Went Wrong for Clayton Kershaw Last Time

by
October 17, 2018

Five years from now, when we think about Game One of the NLCS between the Dodgers and Brewers, I’m guessing we’ll probably think about the ninth inning: taut, suspenseful, and fundamentally baseball-y in the best way. If the Brewers go on to win the World Series, completing the job the 2008-11 versions of the club never could and exorcising some of the demons still haunting the area formerly occupied by County Stadium (which is actually just the parking lot right outside Miller Park), that ninth inning will be remembered as a key step along the way. I hope it is. The ninth inning was The One Where the Brewers Hung On. But I hope that fond memory is not eclipsed, at least today, by our shared memory of the third inning: The One Where Clayton Kershaw Couldn’t Hit His Target.

For the sake of narrative appeal, it would have been ideal for Kershaw to have entered the inning all youth and innocence, grown in stature by vanquishing a series of increasingly insalubrious foes, and then fallen to an antagonist at the dramatic climax of the tale.

That is not what happened, however. What happened instead is that Kershaw just began the inning by allowing a home run to Brandon Woodruff. Here is a picture of where Yasmani Grandal wanted the pitch that Woodruff ended up hitting out:

And here is a picture of where the ball ended up right before Woodruff blasted it into Toyota Territory™:

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Effectively Wild Episode 1284: The Ghosts of Game Seven

by
October 16, 2018

EWFI
Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about Game 3 of the NLCS, the apparent breakouts of Orlando Arcia and Brock Holt, Josh Hader as Poochie, why Yasmani Grandal and other playoff catchers can’t catch, whether a “cruising” pitcher is actually likely to keep cruising, and the 15th anniversary of Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS. Then (26:12) they bring on former Red Sox senior baseball analyst and Diamond Mind developer Tom Tippett to talk about how he started working for Boston, simulating the 2003 ALDS for Theo Epstein, simulating ALCS Game 7 for NESN, why Grady Little’s decision not to pull Pedro Martinez may not have been quite as bad as it seemed, how Boston’s subsequent success affects our perception of Game 7, the value of managers, how teams prepare for the playoffs, whether working in baseball is satisfying forever, and more.

Audio intro: Fionna Apple, "A Mistake"
Audio interstitial: Vitamin C, "Unhappy Anniversary"
Audio outro: Uncle Tupelo, "Fifteen Keys"

Link to post about catchers not catching
Link to Russell’s research about cruising pitchers
Link to MGL’s research about cruising pitchers
Link to MGL’s research about quick hooks
Link to Pedro’s recent comments on Game 7
Link to Tom’s Game 7 simulation article
Link to full Game 7 telecast
Link to Ben’s Game 7 retrospective

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One Simple Fix for Rich Hill’s Pitch-Tipping

by
October 16, 2018

There’s been a tiny little surge of pitch-tipping content. Ben Harris identified credible evidence that Luis Severino was tipping some of his pitches. And Fabian Ardaya wrote about Ross Stripling tipping his pitches. Now, within the Stripling article, there’s also a brief point made about Rich Hill. Chase Utley is apparently a wizard at looking for pitch signals. Utley saw that Stripling was doing something, but Utley also saw that Hill was doing something. Being a good teammate, Utley let the pitchers know. Hill already folded in a quick fix. One you’re probably able to spot, and spot easily.

Here’s Hill throwing a pitch on September 22:

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Catchers Aren’t Catching the Ball

by
October 16, 2018

This is a simple game.

You throw the ball.

You hit the ball.

You catch the ball.

You got it?

I didn’t have to look far and wide for the clips above. Every single one of them is from the first few games of the League Championship Series. Every team is represented, and the collection is hardly exhaustive. I’ve omitted many wild pitches and all of the postseason’s passed balls. So far, during the 2018 playoffs, there have been 24 of the former and six of the latter. Among postseasons since 2002, the current one has already produced the fourth-most wild pitches — with 10 or more games to go. Only once since 2004 have there been more passed balls than during this postseason.

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