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Job Posting: New York Mets Baseball Systems Director

February 12, 2021

Position: Baseball Systems Director

Summary:
The New York Mets are seeking a Director, Baseball Systems to lead a team of developers tasked with designing, building, and improving software applications to support all aspects of baseball operations. The Systems Director will work closely with the Director of Baseball Analytics and members of other departments to display the most accurate and up-to-date information in user-friendly ways that are secure and accessible from a variety of platforms. The Systems Director will also coordinate with the data engineering team to implement best practices and communicate the data needs of the department. Prior experience in or knowledge of baseball is not required.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities:

Recruit, hire, and manage a diverse team of front-end developers
Design and oversee the development of all internal software applications within Baseball Operations
Implement and enforce best practices for code management and review, balancing the need for thorough testing with the need for timely deployment
Work with front office staff, coaches, and scouts to determine the software needs of the entire department, and incorporate and respond to continuous feedback from those same individuals
Work with the data engineering team to effectively communicate the data needs of the Baseball Systems team, and ensure consistent practices across those two groups
In consultation with the Acting General Manager, the Director of Baseball Analytics, and others, manage workloads and priority orders of all developers and the department as a whole
Ensure consistency of UI tools, including content and look-and-feel, across a variety of platforms
Remain up-to-date on both software and hardware that could apply to the Baseball Systems department, and explain to the Acting General Manager the pros and cons of any potential purchases
Coordinate the technology-based data collection process, which includes overseeing employees tasked with operating data-collection technology with the major league team and affiliates

Qualifications:

BS degree or equivalent experience in a computer science or related field
A minimum of 4 years of experience in product management, front-end development, or both
Previous work experience interfacing with data engineers
Previous work experience interfacing with non-technical clients
Experience with UI/UX design
Proficiency in HTML, JavaScript, CSS, and other common front-end languages and software packages is strongly preferred
Previous management experience is preferred
Ability to work cooperatively with others, and to take control of large-scale projects with little or no daily oversight

To Apply:
Please follow this link to apply.

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

Job Posting: Detroit Tigers Baseball Analytics Associate

by Meg Rowley

February 12, 2021

Position: Baseball Analytics Associate

Location: Detroit, Michigan

Job Description

Key Responsibilities:

Assist with importing, cleaning, and preparing of baseball datasets.
Assist with the design, development, testing and support of proprietary data collection and decision-support systems.
Design ad hoc SQL queries.
Assist with statistical modeling of baseball data.
Execute exploratory research and analysis as directed.
Review public research on a regular basis.
Provide support for important events such as the Rule 4 Draft, the trade deadline, contract negotiations and salary arbitration.
Support Baseball Operations, Scouting and Player Development with ad hoc requests.
Other duties as assigned by members of the Baseball Operations Department.

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Should Good Hitters Lead Off? FanGraphs Investigates

by Ben Clemens

February 12, 2021

This story starts, as all good stories do, with me recounting the time one of my coworkers and I discussed something. Okay, fine, very few good stories start that way — almost none, in fact — but bear with me. This (non-baseball) coworker, someone who I consider very bright and very interested in baseball, told me he didn’t really believe in wRC+, even after I’d shown him some articles describing it.

Why, I wondered, didn’t he believe in it? It’s so elegant! The math is right there! How can you not like something that wraps up performance at the plate in a single number? No need to compare apples to oranges — you can juice everything to a pulp and simply count calories. His answer was simple: it doesn’t consider batting order.

“You’re telling me,” he said, “that you’d rather have Mitch Moreland as a leadoff hitter than Xander Bogaerts?” It was 2017, and we were working in the Northeast, which explains why both players were Red Sox and why this question was even close. “His wRC+ is higher, but he’d be worse at leadoff. He doesn’t get on base enough.”

To be honest, it’s a compelling argument. I didn’t really have the intellectual tools or the time to counter it. I went with the old tried and true method: I vaguely mentioned something about context-neutrality in the long run, said I had some bonds to arbitrage or whatnot, and went back to work, ending the conversation without conceding defeat.

Fast forward to today, and I still don’t have a wonderful answer to my former co-worker’s point. I do have a computer program that simulates games, though, so I decided to come up with a quick and dirty check. What if we plugged real hitters with similar one-number batting statistics but who get there in wildly different ways into the lineup? Would we learn anything? Would I be able to write 1,500 words about it and entertain the masses? I guess we’ll find out! Read the rest of this entry »

Detroit Adds Some Lineup Insurance in Renato Núñez

by Jake Mailhot

February 11, 2021

The 2020 season wasn’t entirely full of the doom and gloom that has been the norm in Detroit over the last half decade. Offensively, the Tigers improved over a dismal 2019 performance, and much of that was driven by Jeimer Candelario’s breakout. After emerging as a top prospect with the Cubs and joining the Tigers in a 2017 trade deadline deal, he had a tough time establishing himself in the majors, but he seemingly put everything together last year, posting career-best marks in ISO, wRC+, and strikeout rate.

But even though Candelario looked like he was making good on the promise he showed as a prospect, there were some concerns. As Tony Wolfe wrote when he looked into his breakout back in September:

“Behind the slash line, there is a mix of positives and negatives. His strikeout rate is down, but so is his walk rate. His isolated power is way up, but his BABIP is a flashing yellow caution light. There have certainly been more foolproof 44-game breakouts than Candelario has had, so it’s fair to wonder what his line looks like once we’re further removed from his recent homer surge and his BABIP returns to earth’s atmosphere.”

There are enough positive developments in Candelario’s plate approach and his quality of contact that these concerns might be forgotten this summer. But just in case things turn sour, the Tigers invested in a discount insurance policy by signing ex-Orioles infielder Renato Núñez to a minor league deal with an invitation to spring training.

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You’ll Never Guess Where Yadier Molina Signed

by Jay Jaffe

February 11, 2021

In a move that had become a foregone conclusion, on Monday Yadier Molina and the Cardinals finalized a one-year deal that returns the iconic catcher to the only team he’s ever known. The agreement caps an eventful 11-day stretch that included the return of longtime Cardinals righty Adam Wainwright, who was also a free agent, as well as the blockbuster trade that landed Nolan Arenado. While Molina’s new deal doesn’t ensure that he’ll end his career in St. Louis, it’s clear that the 38-year-old backstop is eying the finish line.

Drafted out of a Puerto Rico high school by the Cardinals in the fourth round in 2000, Molina had never tested free agency before thanks to a trio of multiyear extensions, the latest of which was a three-year, $60 million deal signed in April 2017. His new contract thus represents a significant pay cut, as he’ll get $9 million for the 2021 season, with no additional incentives or options. Then again, with 1,989 games caught so far — a total that’s sixth on the all-time list — he’s not the player he once was.

Molina hit a thin .262/.303/.359 with four homers in 156 PA in 2020, and walked a career low 3.8% of the time. His on-base percentage was his lowest mark since 2006, and both his slugging percentage and his 82 wRC+ were his lowest since 2015. His 84.7 mph average exit velocity was his lowest of the Statcast era; that figure placed him the fourth percentile overall, as did his 25.4% hard-hit rate. You’ll be shocked to learn — unless you’ve been following more than a decade’s worth of jokes on my Twitter account about the glacial movement of Molina and his older brothers José and Bengie — that his sprint speed finally reached the first percentile after years of… slow decline. Read the rest of this entry »

Dan Szymborski FanGraphs Chat – 2/11/21

by Dan Szymborski

February 11, 2021