The following article represents the first of a three-part series focusing on the cumulative and average outcomes sustained by players drafted, signed or acquired via trades by every General Manager in Major League Baseball since 1950. My initial review of General Managers will be constrained to players selected in the Amateur Draft (and subsequently signed … Read more
About the Book In “Hardball Retrospective: Evaluating Scouting and Development Outcomes for the Modern-Era Franchises”, I placed every ballplayer in the modern era (from 1901-present) on their original team. Consequently, Reggie Jackson is listed on the Athletics roster for the duration of his career while the Mets claim Tom Seaver and the Cardinals declare Steve … Read more
Upon the conclusion of the 2017 World Baseball Classic (the fourth iteration of the tournament which began in 2006), I started to wonder how the rosters would have looked in previous years. Using stricter rules for roster construction (basing all rosters on birthplace alone, 20-year periods between tournaments and additional stipulations outlined in the Methodology … Read more
Are the standard Rotisserie Baseball categories an accurate way to measure what it takes to put together a winning team in real life? Using Sean Lahman’s baseball database (specifically the totals from the “Teams” file), I imported the following information into R Studio in order to explore this question further: Year, League, Team Name, Rank … Read more
Derek’s (Re)collections My baseball card addiction began in 1984. I picked up a few packs of 1984 Fleer cards at a Little League game, and I was hooked. Each pack contained 15 cards, along with a team logo sticker. I’d just started to appreciate the game of baseball, and the cards brought me closer to … Read more
Would your favorite baseball team make the playoffs if player X had not been traded? Imagine your team’s roster from any particular year. Remove all of the players that your team acquired through trades and free agency. Would you be able to field a competitive team? All right, let us re-populate the roster with every … Read more
