Around Baseball 2025

[Brownie19]

Pretty interesting article from David Laurila on Fangraphs

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/david-stearns-on-how-analytics-have-impacted-a-general-managers-job/

David Laurila: I’ll start with the question I asked Atkins, Cashman, Dipoto, and Mozeliak: How has the continued growth of analytics impacted the job?

David Stearns: “Over the span of my career, we’ve been inundated with more and more sources of information — information sources that are increasingly granular in nature, increasingly have to do with the processes of playing baseball, and not necessarily the results or outcomes of playing baseball. Those lead towards more and more complex algorithms and models that require greater numbers of analysts, and really smart, creative people to have in a front office. So, one of the greatest changes is just the size of the departments within baseball. The information has grown to such a enormous extent that we need more and more people to manage the information. That’s the first thing that comes to my mind. And then we need to make all that information actionable.”

Laurila: The GMs I spoke to earlier all stressed the importance of the hiring process. It’s not just bringing in enough people, but also bringing in people with a high degree of expertise.

Stearns: “Yes. That is certainly true in the analytics space. I think it’s true throughout the baseball operations department in general. Again, these groups have gotten much bigger throughout baseball operations, and so hiring is incredibly important. Ultimately, the people within the group dictate a lot of the successes or failures of a particular organization.”

Laurila: Are you making most all of the hiring decisions, or are you delegating some those responsibilities within different departments?

Stearns: “You have to delegate. If you include medical personnel, coaches, scouts, analysts… baseball operations departments right now are 200-250 people deep. One person can’t possibly do all of that hiring. You need the other leaders in the organization to spend a considerable amount of their time on the hiring process, on the management of those departments. So yes, delegating the hiring process is a big part of it.”

Laurila: Has that always been the case for you?

Stearns: “I think I’ve increasingly recognized the importance of the hiring process over the course of my career. I imagine when I first started, I didn’t really think about how the people you hire in certain positions really impact the entire organization. Now I have a keen awareness of that. So that has certainly changed, although I think it has to do more with just gaining experience in the position, rather than anything particular to analytics.”

Laurila: Has the way you view analytics changed over time?

Stearns: “So, I think analytics… when advanced information, when models, first
entered the baseball realm, in broad strokes they were largely looked at in the player acquisition spaces. They’re going to help you acquire players. We are now at the point where information sources, housed within the analytics umbrella, impact everything we do. It impacts the acquisition, it impacts development throughout the organization, it impacts medical, it impacts mental skills. There isn’t a group within our base of operations that analytics and information sources don’t impact.

“That has evolved over time — certainly over my time in baseball, for sure. I think that speaks to the growing granularity and process-oriented metrics that we’re able to have right now. Analytics, in general, can impact and serve a purpose throughout the baseball umbrella.”

Laurila: Would I be correct in assuming that you were initially as knowledgeable as most analysts, but that is no longer the case given the explosion of information?

Stearns: “Yes. When I first started in the industry, and throughout my time as assistant general manager, and as a general manager — in the beginning — I think I had a very clear understanding of how our models were made. I probably didn’t have the background to be the one creating our models, but I could certainly connect the dots on how a particular equation was being solved. That’s not the case anymore. Our modeling techniques, because of the sophistication of the data, and frankly, because competitors across the league keep pushing each other to get better and better… our modeling techniques have become much more complicated to the extent that what we’re doing now rivals what’s being done on Wall Street, or with any business that is dealing with enormous volumes of data.”

Laurila: Keeping a core group of talented people you trust is important, but at the same time, can a group get stagnant if you don’t introduce new voices into the equation?

Stearns: “Organizations can absolutely get stagnant. You constantly try to guard against that, whether it’s with new voices, with brainstorming sessions, with being very aware of what your competitors are doing, with trying to understand what’s going on in different industries. So yes, stagnation and complacency are certainly hurdles that organizations need to overcome.”

Laurila: How do you bring people into the fold that you know will add value?

Stearns: “Well, you don’t know. You just try to put together the best hiring processes you can. Recommendations are very, very important. But certainly, I haven’t been 100% in the hiring process throughout my career. I’ve been fortunate to work with some really talented people, but sometimes it doesn’t work out the way you anticipated.”

Laurila: What is an example of something you’ve been wrong about over the years? Not in terms of hiring, but a way in which you approached a certain aspect of the game?

Stearns: “Without getting too deep into specifics here, I think we are constantly learning about how different skill sets, how different attributes in the game, contribute to wins. That’s all we’re trying to do — win games — and I think we are constantly learning how different elements can contribute to winning. The balance of of those elements, in my mind, has certainly changed from when I first started in the game.”

Laurila: Former players populate front offices, some at the highest positions. How valuable are the skill sets they bring to the table?

Stearns: “For those in the position I have, or in similar leadership capacities, I think having played the game at the major league level, or at a very high level, lends an immediate credibility that maybe someone like me didn’t have at the outset. Increasingly, as our models become more complex, as our data becomes more sophisticated, translating that information and making it more actionable… I think executive leaders who have played the game at a high level probably have a pretty good understanding of how to make that information actionable. They understand how to get it in the hands of people who can actually make the impact of helping players perform better, rather than just living in a fancy-looking model up in the baseball ops office.”

[hanton]

1 hour ago, Laika said:

Ryan Yarbrough is beasting. Four good starts in a row for the Yankees. 

Probably should have kept him lol. 

 

Yes.  He'd be especially good with Kirk's framing, below is from yesterdays game, called strikes (Wells catching so similar profile to Kirk). He lives on the outer edge

 

 

[Brownie19]

On 5/25/2025 at 10:31 AM, jaysblue said:

Sean Newcomb designated for assignment by the Red Sox.

He actually didn't pitch that bad this season with them: 41 innings, 9.00 K/9, 3.73 BB/9, 3.95 ERA, 3.42 FIP, 0.6 WAR in 12 games (5 starts). Would take a flier on him for rotation depth and as a long man. 

 

Traded to the A's for cash

[jaysblue]

6 hours ago, Brownie19 said:

Traded to the A's for cash

[jaysblue]

10 hours ago, Laika said:

Ryan Yarbrough is beasting. Four good starts in a row for the Yankees. 

Probably should have kept him lol. 

 

Atkins should be tarred and feathered for letting Yarbrough go! 

[BTS]

Ronny Simon has 4 errors tonight for Miami

[connorp2]

On 5/27/2025 at 5:16 PM, Terminator said:

I've been called a lot of things over the years but never in my life have I been insulted to this degree before. 

 

You also labeled Sammy Basallo as the next Soto. Own it, Maybe he’ll still be good

[Laika]

Sandy Alcantara has been brutal this year. No semblance of command. I guess he's not going to get traded after all. 

[mphenhef]

On 5/27/2025 at 11:28 PM, jaysblue said:

Atkins should be tarred and feathered for letting Yarbrough go! 

Hey now.  He had to let him go so the Jays would not lose Dick Lovelady and Jacob Barnes.

[Brownie19]

1 hour ago, mphenhef said:

Hey now.  He had to let him go so the Jays would not lose Dick Lovelady and Jacob Barnes.

I don't think that was the reason at all.

[Brownie19]

2 hours ago, Laika said:

Sandy Alcantara has been brutal this year. No semblance of command. I guess he's not going to get traded after all. 

I think I temporarily forgot the Marlins even existed.  I see Canadian lad Liam Hicks is lighting it up as a Rule 5 pick.  That's nice to see (too bad we couldn't have landed him).  Stowers is having a great year.  That's about it.  What a brutal org.

[BatFlip]

On 5/27/2025 at 8:28 PM, jaysblue said:

Atkins should be tarred and feathered for letting Yarbrough go! 

A number of us who wanted to keep him for starting pitcher depth were literally tarred and feathered after Yarbrough had one bad appearance.  I'm still traumatized - now I know how you feel.

 

[Spanky__99]

3 hours ago, mphenhef said:

Hey now.  He had to let him go so the Jays would not lose Dick Lovelady and Jacob Barnes.

At least Lauer's been decent. lol

[Laika]

AJSS felt a pop in his elbow uh oh 

[Orgfiller]

Fun fact: for as nutty as Aaron Judge has been, the already nutty Ohtani actually has a higher xwOBA, mostly on the basis of Judge having an absurd .464 BABIP. Juan Soto is 5th in baseball in xwOBA but only has a 113 wRC+, he's having an extremely frustrating amount of batted ball luck, depending on if you care about Juan Soto performing well.

[hanton]

WS re-match

Judge homer

Ohtani answers with one of his own

[hanton]

this is a fun series to watch

[Spanky__99]

On 5/29/2025 at 6:25 PM, Laika said:

AJSS felt a pop in his elbow uh oh 

He indeed tore it, another hit to the Braves... yikes!

 

Quote

Smith-Shawver was diagnosed with a torn UCL in his right elbow Friday, Grant McAuley of the Marietta Daily Journal reports.

Analysis

Smith-Shawver landed on the 15-day injured list Thursday due to a right elbow strain, but he was transferred to the 60-day IL on Friday, indicating that the injury was a severe one. Further tests have confirmed that is indeed the case, and while the team will undergo further tests and consultations to determine the next course of action, an internal brace procedure or Tommy John surgery are the two likely options. Smith-Shawver will finish the season with a 3-2 record (nine starts) with a 3.86 ERA, 1.42 WHIP and 42:21 K:BB across 44.1 innings.

 

[jaysblue]

On 5/29/2025 at 6:25 PM, Laika said:

AJSS felt a pop in his elbow uh oh 

That sucks.

Was looking like the NL ROY top candidate thus far over the first two months. 

Odds for him to win the NL ROY at the beginning of the season were 101 to 1. Put $5 on him and damn that would have paid for a couple nights out haha. 

[Spanky__99]

Skubal and Wacha... shovin, the latter with a no-no in the 6th.

[Spanky__99]

Dodgers batting around on Warren in the 1st. 😎

[hanton]

28 minutes ago, Spanky__99 said:

Dodgers batting around on Warren in the 1st. 😎

3 AB's for ohtani after 2 innings

[hanton]

Kim hasn't been playing much (on the bench most games) but when he does he has not looked out of place at all.  429' shot off a lefty

[Spanky__99]

Cal Raleigh ties Ohtani for the HR lead at 22

Judge hits his 20 and 21st dinger. This should be fun.

[Spanky__99]

Brandon Pfaadt, lmao.

[BTS]

1 hour ago, Spanky__99 said:

Cal Raleigh ties Ohtani for the HR lead at 22

Judge hits his 20 and 21st dinger. This should be fun.

Big Dumper can't stop won't stop 

[Spanky__99]

1 minute ago, BTS said:

Big Dumper can't stop won't stop 

We're just over a third through the season and this dude has 22, I'm enjoying it.

[BTS]

1 minute ago, Spanky__99 said:

We're just over a third through the season and this dude has 22, I'm enjoying it.

I just want to see the 10-WAR catcher season. It helps that he's like a top-5 most likeable player in the game 

[hanton]

Robo umps live in his head lol

 

[Masterbather]

Ryan Yarbrough.

What a nice rotational depth piece to have. Who knew?