FanGraphs Baseball | Page 387 | Daily baseball statistical analysis and commentary

Job Posting: New York Mets – Multiple Associate and Intern Openings

December 1, 2022

Associate, Amateur Scouting

Locations:
Citi Field – Queens, New York

Status: Full time

Summary:
Seeking two individuals to support the Amateur Scouting Department in the day-to-day operations, research projects, and administration tasks. This is an entry-level position that is looking to be filled immediately and will end in late- November. This is a fixed-term position that will run through the 2023 Minor League season.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities:

Process daily scout video from our amateur scouts.
Input, map, and/or tag any Trackman data and stats in our database/website.
In-depth research projects from either your own ideas or directed from the department.
Opportunity to write evaluations and reports on upcoming draftees.
Weekly meetings that will require important notetaking.

Qualifications:

Bachelor’s degree preferred.
Experience with SQL
Proficiency in either R or Python is a plus; but not required
Familiarity with baseball specific data (i.e., Trackman, blast motion, k-vest) and knowledge of current baseball research.
Prior playing or knowledge in baseball/softball is a plus; but not required
Proficiency in Microsoft Office.
Ability to work evenings, weekends, or holiday hours with willingness to adjust availability to the baseball schedule.
Strong verbal communication and collaborative skills.
Spanish speaking skills is a plus; but not required

The above information is intended to describe the general nature, type, and level of work to be performed. The information is not intended to be an exhaustive or complete list of all responsibilities, duties, and skills required for this position. Nothing in this job description restricts management’s right to assign or reassign duties and responsibilities to this job at any time. The individual selected may perform other related duties as assigned or requested.

The New York Mets recognize the importance of a diverse workforce and value the unique qualities individuals of various backgrounds and experiences can offer to the Organization. Our continued success depends heavily on the quality of our workforce. The Organization is committed to providing employees with the opportunity to develop to their fullest potential

Salary Range: $18/hr

To Apply:
To apply, please follow this link.

Associate, Baseball Systems

Locations:
Clover Park – Port Saint Lucie, Florida
NYSEG Stadium – Binghamton, New York
Maimonides Park – Brooklyn, New York
NBT Bank Stadium – Syracuse, New York

Status: Full time

Core Objectives:
The New York Mets Baseball Systems Associates will be responsible for the oversight of video, technology, and administrative needs at our different Minor League affiliates. This is a fixed-term position that will run through the 2023 Minor League season.

Elective Paths:
This position will also provide each associate the opportunity to choose from our different career development programs integrated within Coaching, Scouting, and Analytics. With consideration to everyone’s area of interest, this initiative will foster the development of specialized skillsets for each individual.

Regarding the selection of the elective paths, the supervisor will consider several factors when determining the path in which the associate will be most impactful. Once the supervisor and associate agree on a topic, objectives for a long-term project will be created. The associate will then collaborate with leaders from relevant branches of Baseball Operations throughout the season to complete their assigned project.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities:

Assist players and coaching staff with accessing all video and data needs.
Operate stadium Hawk-Eye system to be sure data is being collected accurately.
Manage the setup and operation of all baseball technology to be sure data is being collected as accurately as possible.
Utilize proprietary software to processes both data and video for games and any early work requests including batting practice, bullpens or individual work.
Compile advanced scouting reports to be utilized prior to each series.
Assist front office staff with administrative needs, including meal money distribution, hotel reservations and rooming lists.
Travel with the team on all road trips, while being responsible for all technology equipment on the road.

Qualifications:

Bachelor’s degree is strongly preferred
Strong communication, organization skills, mentality, and eagerness to learn.
Knowledge of baseball technologies such as Hawk-Eye, TrackMan, Blast Motion, etc.
Strong knowledge pertaining to information technology including proficiencies with Excel and other Microsoft Office software.
Experience with video editing software, such as Premiere, Photoshop and Illustrator is a plus.
Spanish speaking skills is a plus
SQL/Analytical experience is a plus
Must have a valid driver’s license
Must be able to lift and carry up to 50 lbs.
Ability to work evenings, weekends, or holiday hours.

Brooklyn Salary Range: $18/hr

To Apply:
To apply, please follow this link.

Associate, Minor League Analytics (Affiliates)

Locations:
Maimonides Park – Brooklyn, New York
New York Mets Complex – Dominican Republic
NYSEG Stadium – Binghamton, New York
Clover Park – Port Saint Lucie, Florida
NBT Bank Stadium – Syracuse, New York

Status: Full time

Summary:
The New York Mets are seeking Minor League Associate in Baseball Analytics. Each Analyst will be assigned to one of the Mets’ minor league sites (AAA Syracuse, AA Binghamton, High-A Brooklyn, Low-A Port St. Lucie, Complex in Port St. Lucie, Dominican Republic Academy). Candidates are welcome to apply to only certain sites, so long as they clarify during interviews which one(s) they would be willing to go to. The Analyst will spend the full year traveling with their respective club, from Spring Training through the end of the season.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities:

Drive the direction of Player Plans by working with the Player Development & Performance departments to choose the right individual development focus and find ways to measure progress
Work with members of Player Development, including coordinators and the coaching staff, to help the affiliate prepare for games and to help the players develop their skills
Work with the other affiliate analysts to help improve each other’s understanding of the game and our minor league players, especially as players transfer from one affiliate to another
Interpret data and model-based results on internal reports and websites to help coaches use the information to work with their players
Modify existing codebase and develop new automated reports to be used by coaches and players before games
Develop a strong understanding of the various types of technology that are used throughout Player Development
Provide feedback to the rest of Baseball Analytics and Baseball Systems on reports, models, and tools that relate to Player Development
As time permits, analysts will be assigned additional coding and/or statistical modeling projects relating to Player Development
Additional ad hoc requests from Baseball Analytics and Player Development in line with these job responsibilities

Qualifications:

Bachelor’s degree in a quantitative field or equivalent experience
Firm understanding of modern baseball technology
Basic proficiency in R, Python, or similar, as well as proficiency in SQL
Strong communication skills
Fluency in Spanish is a strong plus
Statistical modeling experience is a plus
Ability to work cooperatively with others
Willingness to travel with a minor league team throughout the duration of the season, which includes working nights, weekends, and holidays as dictated by the team’s schedule

Salary Range: $18/hr

To Apply:
To apply, please follow this link.

Associate, Minor League Analytics (Citi Field)

Locations:
Citi Field – Queens, New York

Status: Full time

Summary:

The New York Mets are seeking an Associate Analyst in Baseball Analytics. This position is based at Citi Field with the option of remote work available. The Associate Analyst would be in-person at Spring Training with occasional travel to the Mets’ minor league sites (AAA Syracuse, AA Binghamton, High-A Brooklyn, Low-A Port St. Lucie, Complex in Port St. Lucie, Dominican Republic Academy).

Essential Duties & Responsibilities:

Perform thorough research analysis on Mets players to help Player Development build and maintain individual Player Plans
Execute short-term research on topics pertaining to Player Development
Modify existing codebase and develop new automated reports to be used by coaches and players before games
Interpret and integrate data and model-based results from internal reports and websites to help coaches use the information to work with their players
Ad hoc requests from Baseball Analytics and Player Development in line with these job responsibilities
Develop a strong understanding of the various types of technology that are used throughout Player Development
Provide feedback to the rest of Baseball Analytics and Baseball Systems on reports, models, and tools that relate to Player Development
Work with the other affiliate analysts to help improve each other’s coding abilities and quantitative abilities
As time permits, analysts will be assigned additional coding and/or statistical modeling projects relating to Player Development

Qualifications:

Bachelor’s degree in a quantitative field or equivalent experience
Firm understanding of modern baseball technology
Basic proficiency in R, Python, or similar, as well as proficiency in SQL
Strong communication skills
Statistical modeling experience is a strong plus
Fluency in Spanish is a plus
Ability to work cooperatively with others
Willingness to travel with a minor league team throughout the season, which includes working nights, weekends, and holidays as dictated by the team’s schedule

Salary Range: $18/hr

To Apply:
To apply, please follow this link.

Associate, Video Operations

Locations:
Citi Field – Queens, New York

Status: Full time

Summary:

The New York Mets are seeking an Associate, Video Operations, in the Baseball Analytics department. The Associate should be an individual with a passion for baseball and video technology. The Associate will help our major league coaching staff better prepare our players to face upcoming opponents, and to improve their own quality of play. This is an entry-level position which will run from March 2023 through the end of the 2023 major league season.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities:

Help provide specific video content to major league coaches, players, and members of the front office.
Edit video in real time as the game is occurring, for use after the game by people in the clubhouse.
Help prepare videos for use in player advance meetings before each series and game.
Assist with maintaining computer equipment necessary for the performance of job functions.
Ensure that the Mets are abiding by all MLB rules relating to the use of video.
Assist the Manager and Senior Coordinator of Video Operations in a variety of ad hoc tasks relating to baseball video and data.

Qualifications:

Experience with video-editing software.
Familiarity with baseball is a strong plus.
Detail oriented and organized with ability to balance multiple projects.
Strong verbal communication and collaborative skills.
Proficiency in Microsoft Office.
Ability to work evenings, weekends, or holiday hours with willingness to adjust availability to the baseball schedule.

Salary Range: $18/hr

To Apply:
To apply, please follow this link.

Intern, Baseball Analytics

Locations:
Citi Field – Queens, New York

Status: Full time

Summary:

The New York Mets are seeking an intern in Baseball Analytics. The Associate Analyst will join the department for 2-3 months in the summer, during which time they will be assigned one primary statistical project to work on under the guidance of a full-time analyst. At the end of the summer, the associate analyst will be tasked with presenting the project to both technical and non-technical audiences. Additional ad hoc projects may be assigned as well. Prior experience in or knowledge of baseball is not required.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities:

Build a statistical model to answer a baseball-related question
Present model outputs in an effective way, both for technical and non-technical audiences
Communicate well with both the Director and Manager of Baseball Analytics as well as other Baseball Operations personnel to understand the parameters of the research project
Other ad hoc projects as needed

Qualifications:

Must have completed at least two years of college, with a preference for candidates majoring in a quantitative field
Strong background in a wide variety of statistical techniques
Strong proficiency in R, Python, or similar, as well as strong proficiency in SQL
Proficiency with Microsoft Office
Strong communication skills
Ability to work cooperatively with others, and a willingness to learn from the other members of the department

Salary Range: $18/hr

To Apply:
To apply, please follow this link.

The content in this posting was created and provided solely by the New York Mets.

Job Posting: New York Mets – Multiple Affiliate Openings

by David Appelman

December 1, 2022

Affiliate Development Coach

Locations:
Clover Park – Port Saint Lucie, Florida
NYSEG Stadium – Binghamton, New York
NBT Bank Stadium – Syracuse, New York

Summary:
The New York Mets are seeking a Development Coach at the Minor League affiliate level. The primary responsibility of this role will be to work in conjunction with the affiliate coaching staff and analyst to produce individualized player plans for each Minor League player. We expect these roles to grow into the next generation of coaches and leadership with the Mets.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities:

Partner with the hitting, pitching, and bench coach at each affiliate to provide productive environments for players to reach their goals
Bridge sub-departments within Player Development to further a more interdisciplinary approach to player plans
Work with affiliate staff to integrate principles of skill acquisition into daily practices
Participate in structured learning opportunities directly related to furthering the New York Mets’ understanding within the field of skill acquisition and motor learning
Assist the Baseball Systems department in the process of data collection, specifically surrounding the intention and contextualization of practice data
Propose and help execute novel player development research projects that will build long-term competitive advantages for the Mets
Dedicated core competency training throughout the year – specifically in the domains of each sub-department of Player Development

Qualifications:

Experience within a professional, collegiate or facility setting in one of the following areas:
Hitting/Pitching/Fielding development, Strength & Conditioning, Analytics, Sports Science, or Biomechanics
Understanding of, and ability to operate, general baseball technology used by the Mets within their player development process
Ability to throw batting practice, hit fungoes, and generally facilitate a baseball practice
Disposition to actively communicate across different disciplines within Player Development
Mindset/desire to learn, especially from those on their own affiliate staff
Spanish fluency OR a desire to learn basic components of the language

To Apply:
To apply, please follow this link.

Affiliate Hitting Coach, Player Development

Location:
Clover Park – Port Saint Lucie, Florida

Summary:

The New York Mets are seeking a Hitting Coach at the Minor League affiliate level. The primary responsibility of this role will be to serve the development of the affiliate’s hitters. Specifically, the affiliate Hitting Coach will be tasked with monitoring, executing, and communicating each player’s individual player plan alongside the organizational hitting philosophy.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities:

In conjunction with the Hitting Coordinator and the entirety of the department, design daily practice plans that provide productive environments for each hitter’s development
Utilize all relevant information/data across Player Development sub-departments in order to best inform each hitter’s individualized plan
Utilize the available tools and technology to create efficient feedback loops for each hitter in conjunction with the Baseball Systems and Baseball Analytics departments
In conjunction with the Hitting Coordinator and the entirety of the department, ensure that each hitter is receiving work in environments focused on their primary deficiencies
Facilitate the creation of each day’s schedule to ensure the appropriate time is given for each hitter’s on and off-field needs

Qualifications:

Experience working with hitters in a professional organization, a collegiate organization, or a facility setting
Fluency and ability to utilize relevant data streams provided by the Mets
Ability to throw batting practice, hit fungoes, and generally facilitate a baseball practice
Disposition to actively communicate across different disciplines within Player Development
Mindset/desire to learn, especially from those on their own affiliate staff
Spanish fluency OR a desire to learn basic components of the language

To Apply:
To apply, please follow this link.

Affiliate Manager, Player Development

Locations:
Clover Park – Port Saint Lucie, Florida
New York Mets Complex – Dominican Republic
NYSEG Stadium – Binghamton, New York
NBT Bank Stadium – Syracuse, New York

Summary:
The New York Mets are seeking a Manager at the Minor League affiliate level. The primary responsibility of this role will be to create the daily lineup and schedule of the affiliated team in conjunction with the Front Office. In particular, they will be responsible for facilitating a winning environment for the minor league players at their affiliate.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities:

Create lineups and daily schedules in conjunction with Front Office
Engage the players and staff of the affiliate daily by emphasizing the fundamentals of the Mets organization in the Minor Leagues
Utilize all available/relevant information across Player Development sub-departments to drive development with each player
Facilitate innovation within the affiliate staff as it relates to practice design, feedback loops, and constraints, particularly by adapting the schedule to the needs of players and staff
Create a monthly report on the state of the clubhouse, with particular attention paid to individual players’ health and well-being

Qualifications:

Experience within a professional organization as an on-field coach
Mindset to challenge conventional baseball norms
Strong understanding of workload management and the ability to integrate that into scheduling
Ability to throw batting practice, hit fungoes, and generally facilitate a baseball practice
Disposition to actively communicate across different disciplines within Player Development
Strong command of pre-game and in-game tactics and strategies
Mindset/desire to learn, especially from those on their own affiliate staff – Spanish fluency OR a desire to learn basic components of the language

To Apply:
To apply, please follow this link.

Affiliate Pitching Coach, Player Development

Locations:
Clover Park – Port Saint Lucie, Florida
NYSEG Stadium – Binghamton, New York
NBT Bank Stadium – Syracuse, New York

Summary:
The New York Mets are seeking a Pitching Coach at the Minor League affiliate level. The primary responsibility of this role will be to serve the development of the affiliate’s pitchers. Specifically, the affiliate Pitching Coach will be tasked with monitoring, executing, and communicating on each pitcher’s individual player plan alongside the organizational pitching philosophy.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities:

In conjunction with the Pitching Director and the entirety of the department, design daily practice plans that provide productive environments for each pitcher’s development
Utilize all relevant information/data across Player Development sub-departments in order to best inform each pitcher’s individualized plan
Utilize the available tools and technology to create efficient feedback loops for each pitcher in conjunction with the Baseball Systems and Baseball Analytics departments
In conjunction with the Pitching Director and the entirety of the department, ensure that proper throwing workload guidelines are adhered to, both in practice and game settings
Facilitate the creation of each day’s schedule to ensure the appropriate time is given for each pitcher’s on and off-field needs

Qualifications:

Experience working with pitchers in a professional organization, a collegiate organization, or a facility setting
Fluency and ability to utilize relevant data streams provided by the Mets
Ability to throw batting practice, hit fungoes, and generally facilitate a baseball practice
Disposition to actively communicate across different disciplines within Player Development
Mindset/desire to learn, especially from those on their own affiliate staff
Spanish fluency OR a desire to learn basic components of the language

To Apply:
To apply, please follow this link.

The content in this posting was created and provided solely by the New York Mets.

40-Man Deadline Analysis: AL West

by Eric Longenhagen and Tess Taruskin

December 1, 2022

2022 40-man Deadline

The 40-man roster deadline led to the usual squall of transaction activity, with teams turning over portions of their rosters in an effort to make room for the incoming crop of young rookies. Often, teams with an overflow of viable big leaguers will try to get back what they can for some of those players via trade, but because we’re talking about guys straddling the line between major league viability and Triple-A, those trades tend not to be big enough to warrant an entire post.

Here we’ve endeavored to cover and analyze the moves made by each team, division by division. Readers can view this as the start of list season, as the players covered in this miniseries tend to be prospects who will get big league time in the next year. We’ll spend more time discussing players who we think need scouting updates or who we haven’t written about in the past. If you want additional detail on some of the more famous names you find below, pop over to The Board for a more thorough report.

The Future Value grades littered throughout these posts may be different than those on the 2022 in-season prospect lists on The Board to reflect our updated opinions and may be subject to change during the offseason. New to our thinking on this subject and wondering what the FVs mean? Here’s a quick rundown. Note that because we’re talking about close-to-the-majors prospects across this entire exercise, the time and risk component is less present here and these FVs are what we think the players are right now. Read the rest of this entry »

JAWS and the 2023 Hall of Fame Ballot: Billy Wagner

by Jay Jaffe

December 1, 2022

2023 BBWAA Ballot

The following article is part of Jay Jaffe’s ongoing look at the candidates on the BBWAA 2023 Hall of Fame ballot. Originally written for the 2016 election at SI.com, it has been updated to reflect recent voting results as well as additional research. For a detailed introduction to this year’s ballot, and other candidates in the series, use the tool above; an introduction to JAWS can be found here. For a tentative schedule, and a chance to fill out a Hall of Fame ballot for our crowdsourcing project, see here. All WAR figures refer to the Baseball-Reference version unless otherwise indicated.

Billy Wagner was the ultimate underdog. Undersized and from both a broken home and an impoverished rural background, he channeled his frustrations into throwing incredibly hard — with his left hand, despite being a natural righty, for he broke his right arm twice as a child. Scouts overlooked him because he wasn’t anywhere close to six feet tall, but they couldn’t disregard his dominance over collegiate hitters using a mid-90s fastball. The Astros made him a first-round pick, and once he was converted to a relief role, his velocity went even higher.

Thanks to outstanding lower-body strength, coordination, and extraordinary range of motion, the 5-foot-10 Wagner was able to reach 100 mph with consistency — 159 times in 2003, according to The Bill James Handbook. Using a hard slider learned from teammate Brad Lidge, he kept blowing the ball by hitters into his late 30s to such an extent that he owns the record for the highest strikeout rate of any pitcher with at least 800 innings. He was still dominant when he walked away from the game following the 2010 season, fresh off posting a career-best ERA. Read the rest of this entry »

Who Got Lucky in the Outfield?

by Davy Andrews

December 1, 2022

Mookie Betts — Michael McLoone-USA TODAY Sports

You might want to buckle up. This is an article about small sample sizes, so there’s a statistically significant chance that things are about to get rowdy. It was supposed to be an article about which outfielders are better or worse than you’d expect them to be based on their sprint speed.

Just for fun, here’s the chart I started with. I turned Outs Above Average into a rate stat I’ll call OAA/150. It’s a player’s OAA per 1,350 innings, or 150 games. (I tried several other metrics, dividing by chances instead of innings, and working with UZR and DRS range metrics. This worked best for my purposes.) The sample is 544 outfielder seasons in which the fielder had at least 50 chances on balls with a catch probability below 96% (hereafter known as starred chances). I’ve labeled the two players who stood out the most in either direction in 2022.

Daulton Varsho good, Andrew Vaughn catastrophically bad. No surprise there, but I love charts like this, thick at the bottom and thin toward the top. They show how many paths there are to each outcome. Speed is a big component of OAA; the correlation coefficient of the two is 0.54. But outfielders also need to get good jumps, make plays at the wall, and be able to run down balls in all directions. There are lots of different combinations of skills that can land you in the bottom or middle of the chart. To get to the top, you need to be good at all of them. You also need to be lucky. Read the rest of this entry »

Nelson Cruz Has 13th-Percentile Sprint Speed. Can He Outrun Time?

by Michael Baumann

December 1, 2022

Nelson Cruz — Ray Acevedo-USA TODAY Sports

The youths are everywhere you turn — loitering at the mall, hanging around in parking lots, playing catcher for the Mets. I’m serious: On September 30, Francisco Álvarez became the first person born after 9/11 to appear in an MLB game. The iPod is older than Álvarez. And it gets worse; there’s a pretty good chance that Andrew Painter, who was born in April 2003, will pitch significant innings for the Phillies next year.

This trend of increasingly younger people being allowed to play professional baseball is troubling to say the least. But it is only a trend, and not a universal dictate. There are a select few graybeards left in the game trying to hold back the tide. If a GM wants to hand a few million dollars to a player who’s too old to spend it all on vape pens and ring lights, there is an option on the free-agent market. A man who’s not only old enough to buy cigarettes, but who was also old enough to buy cigarettes back when they cost $3 a pack. A man so old the Grim Reaper followed him around for a while until he told the Grim Reaper to get off his lawn. An active player who, years after the retirement of Eric Young, Jr., played in the majors alongside Eric Young, Sr.

That’s right: Nelson Cruz. A man who straddles the line between Gen-X and Millennial like the Colossus of Rhodes. At 42 years old, he is the oldest position player on the market. And despite nods at retirement — next spring, he’ll be the GM of the Dominican Republic national team at the World Baseball Classic rather than its DH — Cruz wants to play in the big leagues in 2023. Read the rest of this entry »

Dan Szymborski FanGraphs Chat – 12/1/22

by Dan Szymborski

December 1, 2022