Rangers Add deGrom in Free Agency Shocker

© Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports

Let’s get the specifics out of the way first, so we can all gasp and react together. Jacob deGrom is now a Texas Ranger, after he signed a five-year, $185 million deal with a conditional option for a sixth year, as Jeff Passan first reported:

Alright, now that we’ve got that written down: gasp! I have to say, I didn’t see this coming. Earlier this week, I described deGrom as the one pitcher I’d want on the mound if humanity was going to play a single baseball game against an alien society to determine the fate of the world. Simply put, he’s the best doing it right now when he’s available.

His opponents next year won’t be aliens. In fact, they’ll be the ones who feel like they’re facing an extra-terrestrial, because the way deGrom pitches doesn’t resemble any other starter. He pumps 100 mph fastballs and hits the edges of the strike zone with frankly inhuman precision. The velocity understates how good his fastball is. Even the location understates how good his fastball is. He also induces tremendous vertical break on the ball, and his delivery means that his fastball crosses the plate at a comically shallow angle. I wouldn’t trust any characteristic-based pitching model that didn’t grade deGrom’s fastball as an 80 – it’s as good as it gets. Read the rest of this entry »


Texas Lands the Highest-Upside Pitcher in Baseball

© Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

If you were hoping to see a long, drawn-out bidding war for the services of former Mets ace Jacob deGrom, you’re in for disappointment, as the Texas Rangers inked the right-hander to a five-year, $185 million contract Friday evening. The deal also includes a conditional option for a sixth year, which would bring up the total value of the deal to $222 million, and a full no-trade clause.

Are the Rangers ready to scare the Houston Astros? I frequently have differences of opinions with ZiPS, but I think the 80-82 projection the system gave the Rangers just before Thanksgiving presented a reasonable expectation of where they stood in the division. The Mariners acquired Kolten Wong and the Astros picked up José Abreu and re-signed Rafael Montero, but I don’t think it’s a stretch to think the Rangers have closed the distance from both by a couple of wins, with the potential for several more. That said, the Rangers are a flawed team with a few superstars, and they have a lot of holes that will need both more time and money to fill. Read the rest of this entry »


Job Posting: Oakland Athletics – Biomechanist, Advance Scouting Intern

Biomechanist

Reporting to: Director, Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation
Type: Non-Exempt
Location: Mesa, AZ

Job Summary

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion are in our organizational DNA. Our commitment to these values is unwavering – on and off the field. Together, we continue to build an inclusive, innovative, and dynamic culture that encourages, supports, and celebrates belonging and amplifies diverse voices. Combining a collaborative and innovative work environment with talented and diverse team members, we’ve created a workforce in which every team member has the tools to reach their full potential.

The Oakland A’s are hiring for a full-time Biomechanist to assist the Medical Services Department. This position will lead in numerous organizational priorities, including building and reporting new sports performance reports and metrics, playing an active role in biomechanical evaluations of both internal and external organizational players, and serving as a keystone for stakeholders between the Major League, Baseball Operations, Research and Development, Player Development and Sports Science staffs. This position will be primarily based out of Mesa, AZ.

Key Responsibilities

  • Organize, interpret and execute data-based analysis of in-game biomechanical data.
  • Collaborate with Director of Sports Medicine to establish objective measures and workload-based reports relating to player health and injury prevention
  • Assist with development and execution of performance science initiatives across the organization, including data collection, analysis, and reporting
  • Effectively collaborate and communicate with player development, sports medicine, strength and conditioning and front office staff
  • Test, implement, and create protocols for new and developing technologies within the baseball science world
  • Work with Performance Staff, Player Development, and Baseball Research and Development departments to improve and tailor individual player development plans
  • Provide biomechanical/sport science analysis from First-Year Player Draft prospects

Qualifications

  • A graduate-level degree in biomechanics or a related field preferred, and/or demonstrated experience collecting, interpreting, modeling, and applying biomechanics data.
  • Demonstrated work in sports science or performance field, either with team or program, relating to data collection, analysis, and implementation (preferably baseball).
  • Strong proficiency in data analysis tools is strongly preferred.
  • Excellent communication skills including written and verbal.
  • Ability to work flexible hours including nights, weekends, and holidays
  • Some travel required (California, affiliate cities, or elsewhere)

COVID 19 Consideration

All Oakland A’s employees are required to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 and must provide documentation of complete vaccination status as part of the pre-boarding process. Exceptions are available only for those who need an accommodation.

Equal Opportunity Employer

We are an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, age, disability, gender identity, marital or veteran status, or any other protected class.

Job Questions:

  1. Are you able to provide documentation of complete vaccination status as part of the pre boarding process?
  2. What are your salary requirements for this position?
  3. Are you able to work non-traditional hours (various nights, early mornings, weekends, and holidays)?

To Apply:
To apply, please follow this link.


Advanced Scouting Intern

Department: Baseball Operations
Reporting to: Director, Baseball Development
Type: Non-Exempt
Location: Oakland, CA

Job Summary

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion are in our organizational DNA. Our commitment to these values is unwavering – on and off the field. Together, we continue to build an inclusive, innovative, and dynamic culture that encourages, supports, and celebrates belonging and amplifies diverse voices. Combining a collaborative and innovative work environment with talented and diverse team members, we’ve created a workforce in which every team member has the tools to reach their full potential.

The Oakland A’s are hiring for a full-season Advance Scouting Intern to assist the Advance Scouting Department. This position crosses into the intersection of several fields (Baseball Operations, Player Development, Video, Research & Analytics). The ideal candidate will seamlessly integrate into the advance work process, aiding the coaching and video support staff in pre-game and game tasks for the duration of the 2023 season. This position will be primarily based out of Oakland, CA.

Key Responsibilities

  • Assist in pre-game preparation and assignments for coaching and advance staff
  • Perform ad-hoc queries for coaching and video staff, and front office as needed
  • Help chart, film, and clip early work and game video and data feeds
  • Perform other duties as assigned

Qualifications

  • Currently enrolled in an accredited college or university preferred, and/or equivalent experience
  • Demonstrated quantitative background, either by degree or work sample (SQL, R, Python, Tableau, or other programming language)
  • Excellent verbal communication and problem solve IT or other technical issues
  • Proficient in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, and Powerpoint)
  • Strong organizational skills and attention to detail
  • Playing background (baseball or softball) at the collegiate level or above a definite plus
  • Ability to work flexible hours including nights, weekends, and holidays
  • Some travel required (Arizona or elsewhere)

COVID 19 Consideration

All Oakland A’s employees are required to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 and must provide documentation of complete vaccination status as part of the pre-boarding process. Exceptions are available only for those who need an accommodation.

Equal Opportunity Employer

We are an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, age, disability, gender identity, marital or veteran status, or any other protected class.

Job Questions:

  1. Are you able to work non-traditional hours (various nights, early mornings, weekends, and holidays)?
  2. Are you able to provide documentation of complete vaccination status as part of the pre boarding process?
  3. Why would you be a good fit for this position?
  4. What are your salary requirements for this position?

To Apply:
To apply, please follow this link.

The content in this posting was created and provided solely by the Oakland Athletics.


Job Posting: Milwaukee Brewers – R&D Analyst Positions

The Milwaukee Brewers are looking to add talented people to their Baseball Research and Development department. The R&D team is involved in every aspect of the organization, including acquisition, player development and scouting and works closely with those departments to build processes and tools for decision making.

We’re looking for people who ask important questions and have the ability to start to answer them. We primarily use R and SQL, with some Python mixed in, but we’ll help you learn our tools if you’re more comfortable with a different set. Having existing knowledge of baseball and sabermetrics is helpful, but not required.

R&D team members generally work 40 to 45 hour weeks, although many choose to stay and attend home games during the season. There can be some weekend support and there are certain times of year (draft, trade deadline) where there may be additional needs. Some travel to spring training or minor league affiliates may be required for full-time positions.

We have the following openings available:

Senior Analyst (Application Link)

What you’d do:

The Senior Analyst owns the design and implementation of various predictive and explanatory models and processes used by other areas of the front office in making baseball decisions. They collaborate closely with departments like Player Personnel, Scouting, Player Development and High Performance to deeply understand their needs and drive innovative solutions.

What we’re looking for:

If you’re someone who has experience creating models with uncertain data and can translate the results into actionable information, you’re a good candidate for this position. You’re comfortable being given a problem or desired outcome and determining a path to get there. You’re inquisitive, excited to learn how different aspects of the organization work and want to help them improve. You have an advanced degree or a few years of work experience in a technical field.

Existing experience with scouting, performance science, strength training or sports medicine will be helpful, but is not required.

Residence in Milwaukee is strongly preferred, but we may consider remote possibilities for the right candidate. If you are remote, you’ll be expected to travel roughly one week a month to Milwaukee or our training complex in Arizona.

Hiring Process:

After you submit your application, it will be reviewed by one of the leaders of the R&D team. We’ll be looking mostly at your research experience – either for work or fun – along with your educational background and previous positions.

If you are selected to move forward, you will be asked to complete a short questionnaire (around 1 to 2 hours of work) to give us an idea of your statistical and baseball knowledge.

From there, you will have a few phone screens with members of the team.

The final step will be a series of discussions with members of the front office and review an in-depth take-home project (less than 10 hours of work) with the entire R&D department. This review mimics the team’s development process and should give you a feel for what it would be like to work with the group.

Analyst (Application Link)

What you’d do:

The Analyst contributes model components to core R&D processes, creates enhancements based on input from other departments, and answers specific questions from front office decision makers. They work collaboratively with the rest of the R&D department, often building depth in a specific baseball area, such as Scouting, Player Development or High Performance.

What we’re looking for:

If you have built predictive, statistical or mathematical models with some guidance and can convey your findings to non-technical audience, you could be a good fit for this role. You’re comfortable being given a direction and working independently with frequent check-ins with the team. You’re interested in the inner workings of a baseball organization and how R&D can support them. You have a bachelor’s degree or at least a year of work experience in a technical field.

Existing experience with scouting, performance science, strength training or sports medicine will be helpful, but is not required.

Residence in Milwaukee is required for this role to start, but there is a possibility of remote work down the road.

Hiring Process:

After you submit your application, it will be reviewed by one of the leaders of the R&D team. We’ll be looking mostly at your research experience – either for work or fun – along with your educational background and previous positions.

If you are selected to move forward, you will be asked to complete a short questionnaire (around 1 to 2 hours of work) to give us an idea of your statistical and baseball knowledge.
From there, you will have a few phone screens with members of the team.

The final step will be a series of discussions with members of the front office and review an in-depth take-home project (less than 10 hours of work) with the entire R&D department. This review mimics the team’s development process and should give you a feel for what it would be like to work with the group.

The content in this posting was created and provided solely by the Milwaukee Brewers.


JAWS and the 2023 Hall of Fame Ballot: Jimmy Rollins

© Evan Habeeb-USA TODAY Sports

The following article is part of Jay Jaffe’s ongoing look at the candidates on the BBWAA 2023 Hall of Fame ballot. 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.

Few players have ever been more central to the Phillies than Jimmy Rollins. In fact, with the exception of Mike Schmidt, no player spent more time in a Phillies’ uniform than Rollins, and even counting the Hall of Fame third baseman, none collected more hits or stole more bases. The pint-sized shortstop — 5-foot-7, 175 pounds according to Baseball Reference — spent 15 of his 17 major league seasons with Philadelphia, where he was at the center of the team’s return to contention following a slide into irrelevance at the outset of the Wild Card era.

Rollins was the starting shortstop on the Phillies’ five straight NL East champions from 2007-11, including their ’08 World Series winning squad — just the second in franchise history — and ’09 pennant winner. A slick fielder who offered speed and pop from both sides of the plate atop the lineup, he garnered the nickname “J-Roll” from legendary Phillies broadcaster Harry Kalas. J-Roll projected a confidence that bordered on cockiness, and carried himself with a swagger. “We’re the team to beat,” he said at the outset of the 2007 season, all but thumbing his nose at the reigning NL East champion Mets, who had outdistanced the Phillies by 12 games. Read the rest of this entry »


Jay Jaffe FanGraphs Chat – 12/2/22

2:02
Avatar Jay Jaffe: Good afternoon, folks, and welcome to my Friday chat. Some minor technical stuff on this end so bear with me for a  couple minutes

2:06
Avatar Jay Jaffe: Sorry about that _ the chat wasn’t showing up on the home page banner, which make it harder for site visitors to know it’s happening. Anyway, now that it’s up, let’s get going. I’m rollin(s) on my BBWAA ballot profiles (https://blogs.fangraphs.com/jaws-and-the-2023-hall-of-fame-ballot-jimm…), had Billy Wags yesterday (https://blogs.fangraphs.com/jaws-and-the-2023-hall-of-fame-ballot-bill…). Hoped to get the Carlos Beltrán one out this week but there’s so much ground to cover and more care needs to be taken to get it to where I want it.

2:06
Avatar Jay Jaffe: I did a Twitter thread on the Contemporary Baseball Era Committee ballot, whose results I’ll cover on Sunday

Here’s my @fangraphs intro post regarding the process, and the disappointment regarding some candidates absent from among the 8 on the Contemporary Baseball Era Committee ballot blogs.fangraphs.com/new-format-fam… 1/x
27 Nov 2022
2:07
Avatar Jay Jaffe: and dug into the potential for cronyism now that the Committee voters have been announced https://blogs.fangraphs.com/in-naming-the-era-committee-members-the-ha…

2:07
Avatar Jay Jaffe: Anyway, on with the show

2:08
Kyle B: even if Judge re-signs with the Yanks, do you think they’ll still pursue Turner, Bogaerts or another star?

Read the rest of this entry »


Matthew Boyd Reunites With the Tigers

© Steven Bisig-USA TODAY Sports

Matthew Boyd has been on quite the baseball journey over the last few years. After spending the bulk of his career with the Tigers as a promising member of their rotation, an unfortunate elbow injury in 2021 resulted in Detroit non-tendering him after the season. He signed a one-year deal with the Giants and spent the first half of this year rehabbing from his flexor tendon surgery. He was traded to the Mariners at the trade deadline and returned to the big leagues to pitch 13.1 innings for his hometown team in September as they worked towards breaking their infamous playoff drought.

With his childhood dream fulfilled and a clean bill of health, Boyd will now return to the Tigers on a one-year, $10 million deal with the potential for an additional $1 million in performance bonuses.

With his recent injury history, the one-year contract doesn’t come without its share of risk. And even if Boyd’s elbow is completely healthy, he wasn’t exactly the most consistent performer in Detroit. In 2019, he posted a career-best 3.2 WAR behind a 30.2% strikeout rate and an above-average walk rate. Unfortunately, both his ERA and FIP sat above 4.00 that year because he also led the league in home runs allowed. The long ball had been a consistent problem for him throughout his career, but the improvements he made to his strikeout-to-walk ratio seemed like they could offset the number of balls flying over the fence. Read the rest of this entry »


J.J. Picollo Addresses the Royals’ New Direction

J.J. Picollo
Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports

The Kansas City Royals have made forward-thinking changes in recent months, most notably in the managerial chair and at the highest level of their front office. The latter preceded the former, with J.J. Picollo taking over from Dayton Moore as the team’s top decision-maker in late September. Six weeks later, Picollo hired Matt Quatraro, who had been the bench coach for the Tampa Bay Rays, to replace Mike Matheny as manager.

Another impactful decision was announced this week. In want of a more-analytically-minded pitching coach, Picollo brought on board Brian Sweeney to fill the role that had been held by Cal Eldred. Previously the bullpen coach for the Cleveland Guardians, a team with a well-earned reputation as a pitcher development machine, Sweeney is seemingly a perfect fit for a Kansas City club looking to move away from a reputation of its own. Long seen as an old school organization, the Royals are, by all appearances, becoming more progressive.

Picollo, who now holds the title Executive Vice President and General Manager, talked about the team’s new direction during last month’s GM Meetings.

———

David Laurila: You’ve addressed this previously, but it’s nonetheless the best way for us to start: Given that you worked alongside Dayton Moore for many years, what will differ philosophically with you in charge?

J.J. Picollo: “Culturally and fundamentally, there will be a lot of similarities, because it’s just baseball and how you run an organization. That said, we want to be a little more open-minded to different ways of improving our roster, and utilizing our roster. Player acquisition… a lot has been made about being transactional, but I think that can be overstated. When you’re transactional, you’re just trying to make your team better. If it makes our team better, then we’ll be transactional.

“More than anything, hiring Matt Quatraro, with the way he thinks… he’ll be creative. I think that will be developmentally healthy, especially for our younger players.”

Laurila: How does he think? Actually, let me phrase the question this way: What did he say during the interview process that sold you on hiring him?

Picollo: “A lot, but more than anything, he was able to communicate what his thoughts were. You could just see, in some of the exercises we went through… for instance, how he would put lineups together. Obviously, a lot of that is based on matchups and how you want to use matchups. Also, the idea of using our bench was very clear; it’s something he’s not going to be afraid to do. Another was putting pitchers in situations where they can succeed yet develop at the same time. He was able to explain his processes really well.” Read the rest of this entry »


Tampa Bay Signs This Eflin Guy

© Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

To paraphrase ILoveMakonnen, the Rays are winning, winning, winning again, so they’re spending, spending, spending. Tampa Bay threw its hat into the free agent ring Thursday night by inking right-hander Zach Eflin to a three-year, $40 million contract. That one of baseball’s most tightfisted teams would devote eight figures a year to a free agent comes as at least a mild surprise, and every time the Rays get their checkbook out some amusing historical facts bubble up to the surface.

Sure enough, the estimable Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reached into his bag and extracted a real doozy: Eflin’s $40 million deal is the largest free agent signing in franchise history by total value. Turns out the previous record-holder was, and you might want to sit down, Wilson Alvarez, who signed for $35 million over five years in the first year of the franchise’s existence.

A $40 million contract isn’t that much by the standards of modern baseball; for that matter, it’s second-pairing defenseman money for the Tampa Bay Lightning. But the signing might surprise onlookers who last saw Eflin as the third-best reliever in a Phillies bullpen that wasn’t as bad as its reputation but still wasn’t exactly the 1990 Reds. So let’s see what $40 million worth of Zach Eflin gets you these days. Read the rest of this entry »


Alek Manoah’s Steamer Projection Is a Feature, Not a Bug

© Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports

For the most part, projection systems fall in line with public perceptions of players. Yordan Alvarez is going to be very good next season, but Raimel Tapia won’t be. Shohei Ohtani is the eighth wonder of the world, and so on. But once in a while, they produce a head-scratcher that becomes the subject of debate. This leads to a lot of takes, some of them good but many of them bad. The worst are variations of “Projection X thinks poorly of Player Y, whom I like, and therefore it must be illegitimate.” They’re sometimes funny to read, though they’re mostly annoying because they stem from a fundamental misunderstanding of what projection systems are trying to achieve.

Let’s cut to the chase. The reason I’m writing about this is because Steamer projects Alek Manoah, who placed third in Cy Young voting and served as the Blue Jays’ ace, to put up a 4.09 ERA next season. That seems outlandish, even with the knowledge that projection systems are conservative by design. Manoah isn’t just a one-season wonder. His excellence extends back to his rookie campaign in 2021, and his sophomore effort seemed like a natural progression. The narrative is there: A great starter blossoms into a phenomenal one. Asserting that Manoah will go from an ERA in the low 2.00s to one in the low 4.00s is more or less a rebuke of it.

Of course, Steamer doesn’t think Manoah will land precisely on a 4.09 ERA – more on that later – but considering it’s the expected middle outcome, the shock is understandable. And while I’m not here to endorse it, I do want to point out that it’s not an indication the system is broken, or holds a grudge against your favorite player. You have your reasons, and so does Steamer. Read the rest of this entry »