DODGERS The FRONT OFFICE (NERDS) Thread

agreed
oakland had already pissed away most of their division lead by the time the deal was made
lester started 11 games for the a's with a 2.35 ERA... imo, they don't make the postseason without him
and had oakland not choked away a 5-run lead in the 8th, and 1-run leads in the 9th and 12th to KC in the wild card game... who knows?

and while cespedes played well for boston, their deficit in the al east grew from 12.5 back to 25 back after his arrival
and rumors have since been swirling that he refused to listen to anyone and that all the boston coaches hated him

to be fair...
lester, himself, didn't get the a's to the postseason
and cespedes, himself, wasn't solely responsible for the red sox plummet
but they both contributed

 

you had to go there, didn't you

 

nah son
just yankin your chain bubba

 

Every team has an analytics department. In fact, under Ned, we were one of the worst before Kasten came along.

Also, if you read more on the guy, you realize that not only is he really smart and analytical and what not, but he's great in communication and combining it all with scouting reports. He has this playful siren he presses when the conversation turns too stat heavy. He isn't just about numbers, he has gotten praised for blending both numbers and scouting reports to find players undervalued

 

Here's one good article on him: http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/sloan-analytics-farhan-zaidi-on-as-analytics/

Some other ones out there too. He's probably a lot less purely stat driven then you think

 

For those of you scared the Dodgers will be run by calculators:

The sabermetrics crowd would be stunned to learn that Zaidi is now called the “Tools Police” in the A’s draft room – not because he disdains tools, the emphasis scouts often place on physical abilities such as running, throwing and power, but because he is such a proponent of them. “Moneyball” was about looking beyond tools, but Zaidi sees their value, to the point that he has a toy siren he hits whenever he hears reports that have too many stats.

“Our scouts started to think all we wanted was numbers, so our draft emphasis was too much on performance and we weren’t getting the impact prospects other clubs were,” Zaidi said. “The siren was a little comic relief, half joking, to serve as a reminder not to get too focused on the numbers.”

 

Like others have said, many have. Moneyball and sabermetrics are not the same thing. Saber metrics is using advanced stats to build the best team possible.

Moneyball is using the same stats to make the best team possible on a budget.

We're not playing moneyball.

 

Yeah, we know.