How much has the baseball moneyball philosophy taken?

Es innegable que la manera de evaluar el beisbol ha cambiado. La corriente sabermétrica (

I explain what it consists of) it has become the most important part of the decision making of several management teams.Now, all teams use it?How much have things really changed?What do the managers say about it?Are players aware of this?The point of this article is precisely to know the real scope of knowledge.

When Boston changed management in 2002, his new owner, John Henry, put in the baseball business the weapon responsible for creating all its millions of dollars in stock exchanges: the statistical analysis of a professional nature.With the aim of finally ending the "curse of the bambino", he brought the father of knowledge, Bill James, and appointed Theo Epstein General Manager.With them the Red Sox reached six postseason in seven years in the east of the American, and won two world series.

"15 years ago, maybe about five teams used knowledge," says Epstein, now president of the Cubs, "today they all do it in one way or another".

To have an idea, let's see the teams that,

, more use this resource (left), those who use it moderately (in the middle), and those of old school that practically do not take it into account (to the right).

Surely they expected Oakland to be in the group on the left, unless they haven't heard from the book or the movie

Moneyball

.The one who hits first hits the harder one, and certainly that was what Billy Beane did with the use of knowledge, taking the team to five from seven playoffs between 2000 and 2006 with one of the lower baseball budgets.

With what made the most disasters with the then underestimated percentage of Embassy.A player that Beane always wanted.

"I do not know if the knowledge of knowledge was a fever or if they continue to use it," says Youkilis, who ironically does not believe in science that is responsible for much of its bank account."My development was misrepresented.I hit.300 in minors, but somehow tickets were more important for people.The truth is that all that was frustrating, and it bothered me as a player, because you do not reach the big leagues at ticket tip, you have to hit too.The only statistics that count are the racing races and the races noted, no matter if you have this or that, that if war or those other defensive statistics, I do not believe at all in that.Baseball must be kept as simple as possible, when you complicate it with formulas and such, it is too much ".

Youkilis certainly beats enough to be appreciated at any time, unlike Ryan Sweeney, who if not because of his patience did not have work in MLB, since he does not have the characteristic power of a gardener of the corners.Not by chance Oakland and Boston are the two teams that have given him the opportunity to play almost every day.

"Well I like (knowledge) because it tells you the scope of defensive gardeners and things like that, that not everything is home runs, that other things are also worth, but I really do not know much about the subject, it is not my departmentNor, "says Sweeney, who notes that he doesn't care too much about his OBP."What I do is play, and what happens,".

Another player who knows what it is to be in highly analytical organizations is Carl Crawford, before with Tampa Bay, and now with Boston.Anyway, he assures that it is an external issue to players."Joe (Maddon, tampa manager) uses that very.The same here (in Boston) ".Crawford referred to the new tendency of the "shifts", used by the most knowledge teams that have studies of left -handed batters who pull the ball a lot, move the entire infield towards the right side of the field, with the 3b playing short,The 2b shorts, and the 2b almost at the Right Field.

Some players have not even heard of knowledge statistics."What statistics are those?" Alfonso Soriano said when I asked about it.I explained that if Billy Beane, yes

Moneyball

, that if advanced statistics, I said

KNOW METRICS

In English to see if it sounded, and he said: "No no, I have not heard of that.There are sure, but I don't pay much attention to any of those things ".

On the contrary, it happens with Oakland Brandon McCarthy pitcher, which came out in

From ESPN's magazine, which says: "After discovering statistical analysis, McCarthy changed his way of launching, saved his career, got a little silver and married this model. Dén credit to the nerds in this!".

Although McCarthy seems to be the exception, this is not why the question must be subtracted.As Epstein says, the idea is not to change the way baseball is played, but the way to evaluate it."You can't grab a player who is aggressive on the plate and change his way of hit, and you shouldn't do it either.There are many ways to do the offensive work in baseball, we are not going to ask all our batters to be identical, but it would be great to build a team with a relentless offensive, full of workers, see pitchPitchers, who do swings in favorable accounts, who are not afraid to take their tickets.Thus you do the most difficult things to the opposites, and throughout the series it is easier to wear them out and make them use the bullpen ".

The Cubs use advanced statistics especially at the time of the Draft: "If you want to have selective batters, the first step is draft to selective batters," says Epstein."If you emphasize this in your scanning process, you are more likely to find them.If they are not selective at the university, they probably will not be selective in the largest.The way to hit is more innate than learned.The batters are generally manufactured in a certain way, and you can make variations within the margins, you can take them when they are young, the coaches are very important, but you will not be able to change them too much ".

The managers, meanwhile, are at an intermediate level: they know more about knowledge than players, but they don't give as much importance as management.

"Much of that is to evaluate players.You see what you have done and project what you could do in the future, "says Red Sox Bobby Valentine's manager, who says he likes to think that he is a manager who uses knowledge."I think it is important to use all the information you have at your disposal.The numbers give you information, they are not everything, but they contribute ".

What Valentine said is that it is not that the management bombard the managers with too complicated statistics.He knows what War, ObP, Pitch f/x (trajectory, location and speed of the pitching), but apart from such things, that anyone can get on pages such as APARGRAPHS, Baseball Prospectus, or some of them even even even inESPN, Boston doesn't use any other."If we have them, I haven't seen them yet," says Valentine."I more than use Rolles and Flies, Babip, and those we have spoken that facilitate me".

Manny Acta, Cleveland's manager, also set up a while on the Progress bus: "You have to be very stubborn to arrive in one of the managers to your office, show you the reports, and you do not want to use them.You have to adapt ".For example, he says he learned not to touch the ball: "But how am I going to keep playing after they explain to me that I am more likely to score races with man in first without out than with a second man and an out?That here everyone knows.In Dominican and the Caribbean is something else, there people said 'It is not that the act is not aggressive because it does not steal base, it does not bat and run, it does not touch the ball', but how am I going to touch the ball and steal base witha lineup where everyone had more than.400 of ObP?Ah no but the other manager commands to steal and steal, and that is out and out and out, there but there they applaud and say 'well but it's fine is being aggressive' ".

Of course, act also does not believe everything he hears, and denies that that is why management has intervened in its decisions: "For example, defensive statistics do not convince me.That if Asdrúbal Cabrera is not good with the glove, I see him play every day and he may not have the reach of others, but all those who go around do them do them.In addition, defensive statistics are not very reliable, how is that one year someone is the best but the following year is the worst?In addition to all the shifts that are doing now that cannot be calculated so accurate (...) And that the managers come to the clubhouse and do the lineup and tell you who has to play that is a lie, or at least that II have never seen it in any team ".

It is also true that some managers use this new type of analysis rather than others.The manager of the Marlins Ozzie Guillén, for example, does not seem one of the most followers, stating that he likes to have a custom -made team, with fast players, to be ableThey will have been able to appreciate for the acts of the minutes.

Instead, his substitute in the White Sox, Robin Ventura, is a bit more inclined towards new trends: "We use all the information we have, and much is to knowmetry.I like to see the most recent information, not 10 years ago.I see if they are hitting on the floor or by the air, I use that relationship of rollings and flies to see which pitchers bring in what situation.That is not new nothing, but it is true that some managements use it more than others ".

Forget about the players, who most do not even know what knowledge is, nor do they need to know.Even in the managers you do not need a pure mathematician, but someone who says acts is not stubborn and understands the main concepts.But from a managerial point of view, knowledge is undoubtedly more and more important.Thus they have the budget of San Diego or the Yankees, who prefer to give those reais, to anyone who takes advantage of the new statistics he has at your disposal?Or someone who discarded them because he had never heard them before?

The reason to participate on this topic with any opinion, critic or doubt in the comments.I will be pending.