Jed Hoyer: The Anti-Sabean

The money shot:

If the new baseball fan is supposed to disregard small sample sizes in the way they evaluate baseball occurrences, then why (if player options had no bearing) are so many jobs won and lost during spring training- even by sabermetrically-inclined-run clubs? Or does it come down to something more psychological? And that is…If Spring Training is looked upon as an open competition between individuals, should the player who best performs during a designated frame of time be rewarded with the job regardless of the duration of time and small sample size of data?

JDH – I agree with you. I always say that the fewer decisions/competitions you have going into spring training, the better off you are. Spring training is a terrible place to evaluate players – it is a small sample and players have different motives. When there is an open job, I feel like past performance must be a significant factor in the decision-making. It is easy to make mistakes with spring evaluations and, therefore, you should try to minimize them.

about 2 years ago KCE 12 comments 0 recs |

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Let’s hire him away from the Padres.

I feel prickishly demanding!

I couldn't be prouder of my recent adoptee - Tim Lincecum's dealer. He provides the secret fuel behind both Cy Youngs. Also, he taught Timmy the change-up.

by giantsfansince1981 on May 28, 2010 12:00 PM PDT reply actions

Oh, oh, danger sign!

Hoyer also said, “Viewing players as assets or stat-generating robots would make a GM’s job easier, but the reality is that no set of stats will ever tell us 100% of a player’s impact—both positive and negative—on a team. Some players offer real leadership value and others can splinter a clubhouse.” This ought to make him anti-McCC-Think as much as it makes him anti-Sabean. (Here insert smirk about “gamers.”)

by campanari on May 28, 2010 1:22 PM PDT reply actions

Some players offer real leadership value and others can splinter a clubhouse.

I don’t think anyone denies that. The problem is in predicting it and valuing it appropriately. It is impossible to predict how the introduction of one player will affect the other 24 guys in the clubhouse. Anyone who says you can is lying out their fucking ass.

Once you get past the fact that it’s impossible to predict complex human interactions across 2 dozen people, then you get into quantifying how much it’s worth. Is a great leader worth 2 wins, 10 wins, what? How about a clubhouse cancer? That’s another fairly impossible problem to solve.

What we do know though, is that Player X, based on his history, aging patters, etc. is a expected to be worth about X wins. Which is why the saber crowd tends to ignore the leadership/cancer angle. If you had two similar players production wise who would cost the same, everyone would take the good old boy and not waste time on the dick, nerd crowd included. It’s never not that simple though.

Juan "Doesn't Cheat The Game" Perez, please keep hitting.

by marcello on May 28, 2010 1:57 PM PDT up reply actions

Le sigh

Editing mid sentence is never not not good. Last sentence should read, “It’s never that simple though.”

Juan "Doesn't Cheat The Game" Perez, please keep hitting.

by marcello on May 28, 2010 1:58 PM PDT up reply actions

You’re beginning to sound like my Ex.

Obviously any links in the above post are probably NSFW

I wish I would stop cheating. fuck. this is jctgamer's fault -- jponry

by jctGamer on May 28, 2010 1:59 PM PDT up reply actions

It isn’t never not that simple.

Utter frustration and futility.
Adopted 'nephew' to the ever avuncular and always awesome Jon Miller

by Johnny Disaster on May 28, 2010 1:59 PM PDT up reply actions

90% of my stupid typos happen because I was editing midsentence.

"I just struck out looking three times, but in any other ballpark those would have been home runs." - Aubrey Huff

by howtheyscored on May 29, 2010 12:30 AM PDT up reply actions

Some players offer real leadership value and others can splinter a clubhouse." This ought to make him anti-McCC-Think

Or better at being PC

Matt Graham is an anagram for .... why don't you ask the scrabble expert!

by say hey nation on May 28, 2010 1:50 PM PDT reply actions

Sabean says

I’m a PC, and the San Francisco Giants offense was my idea.

Obviously any links in the above post are probably NSFW

I wish I would stop cheating. fuck. this is jctgamer's fault -- jponry

by jctGamer on May 28, 2010 1:58 PM PDT up reply actions 1 recs

This makes me happy

Well, blinding angry, but you know what I mean.

Juan "Doesn't Cheat The Game" Perez, please keep hitting.

by marcello on May 28, 2010 2:02 PM PDT up reply actions

Before you hail him as some kind of genius because of the way the Padres have played, don’t forget that the entire team was put together by ex-GM Kevin Towers. This guy’s basically done nothing since taking over.

Buster Posey: "still not ready." - idiot of a GM

by rxmeister on May 28, 2010 2:00 PM PDT via mobile reply actions