Orioles open up job spot for Luke-OH

[Frobby]

16 minutes ago, wildcard said:

Mr Analyst, tell me more.   I would have expected more scouts.  Do you know something different?

I think it’s pretty well documented that the Astros are using fewer scouts and relying on sophisticated video and other equipment a lot more.   

Like most teams, the Astros have eliminated in-person advance scouting, using Statcast and video instead. More recently and radically, though, the Astros have virtually eliminated any form of in-person scouting of professional players, even in the minors. One scout the Astros recently let go mentions a directory of pro scouts that’s circulated around the industry. On the Astros’ page for 2018, he says, “It just says Astros, and it has a picture of [Special Assistant] Kevin [Goldstein] at the top. One photo.” In his new job with another team, the scout says, “I wore my [World Series] ring a lot to the big-league park. Each night, people would say, ‘Can I see that? I haven’t seen an Astros scout all year.’”

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.theringer.com/platform/amp/mlb/2019/6/3/18644512/mvp-machine-how-houston-astros-became-great-score 

[Aristotelian]

It was nice of Elias to give these guys another year in the organization.

[wildcard]

17 minutes ago, Frobby said:

I think it’s pretty well documented that the Astros are using fewer scouts and relying on sophisticated video and other equipment a lot more.   

 

 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.theringer.com/platform/amp/mlb/2019/6/3/18644512/mvp-machine-how-houston-astros-became-great-score 

Thanks.  Didn't know that.

[Going Underground]

27 minutes ago, Frobby said:

I think it’s pretty well documented that the Astros are using fewer scouts and relying on sophisticated video and other equipment a lot more.   

 

 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.theringer.com/platform/amp/mlb/2019/6/3/18644512/mvp-machine-how-houston-astros-became-great-score 

So i guess video tells them what  starting pitcher to get from other teams? They seem to pick up the right starters.

[Going Underground]

Roch says around a dozen people let go today.I knew we were headed towards a recession.

[Frobby]

7 minutes ago, Going Underground said:

Roch says around a dozen people let go today.I knew we were headed towards a recession.

It’s kind of sad how the human element is getting taken out of the game.   Of course, it’s true of most industries these days.    Factory workers replaced by robots, etc.   At least the players are still human.   

[Luke-OH]

Just now, Going Underground said:

So i guess video tells them what  starting pitcher to get from other teams? They seem to pick up the right starters.

Yeah, so basically they target guys with power arms that have an ability to spin the ball that aren't getting the most out of their talent. High speed cameras and rapsodo units can capture whether a pitcher is imparting spin on the ball in an advantageous way. Both Gerrit Cole and Justin Verlander improved in part due to the change of the release of their 4 seam fastball. Both gained backspin and ride on the pitch, which is probably the second most important factor for a fastball to miss bats (other than velocity).

Also, Cole changed his pitch usage, drastically decreasing sinker use, paired with an increase in curveball usage and the improved 4S fastball. 

[Luke-OH]

Just now, Frobby said:

It’s kind of sad how the human element is getting taken out of the game.   Of course, it’s true of most industries these days.    Factory workers replaced by robots, etc.   At least the players are still human.   

It's going to come back to some extent, I think the limiting factor right now is that everyone is doing a model in an attempt to take as much subjectivity out of the process and teams haven't figured out a way to standardize scouting grades from person to person well enough for those grade to be useful in a model. 

I think in a few years, teams will have gravitated towards a very similar draft model (the same way free agent valuation is now very similar between teams) and there will be a need to seek out an advantage. That may be the reintroduction of the human element. Perhaps using scouts to sniff out substantive changes in profile that would not yet be reflected in the data inputs to the draft model. 

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

Looks like around a dozen in total were jettisoned today. 

 

[Tony-OH]

56 minutes ago, Frobby said:

I think it’s pretty well documented that the Astros are using fewer scouts and relying on sophisticated video and other equipment a lot more.   

 

 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.theringer.com/platform/amp/mlb/2019/6/3/18644512/mvp-machine-how-houston-astros-became-great-score 

Fascinating article. Well worth the long read!

[Tony-OH]

I would imagine there will be deep change to the minor league staffs this off season as well. Whe Elias got the job, most coaches and managers were already under contract. I imagine we will see one of the largest changes in one season this off season.

[spiritof66]

45 minutes ago, Frobby said:

I think it’s pretty well documented that the Astros are using fewer scouts and relying on sophisticated video and other equipment a lot more.   

 

Are the Astros an outlier in that respect, or have other teams followed their lead? I had the vague impression that teams were devoting resources to both kinds of review, so that the addition of more sophisticated analysis represented an additional cost rather than what might be a cost saving by eliminating scouts.

This is a part of the Elias Plan that I know virtually nothing about. Is it part of the plan for the Orioles to follow the Astros' model? If so, do they have the equipment and personnel in place to do that, so that some or all of the scouts being let go won't be replaced? Are they working toward that?

[Going Underground]

23 minutes ago, Frobby said:

It’s kind of sad how the human element is getting taken out of the game.   Of course, it’s true of most industries these days.    Factory workers replaced by robots, etc.   At least the players are still human.   

Sorry to go off topic.But watch Ametican Factory on Netflix. Very interesting when a Chinese company takes over an American factory..

[interloper]

I like to see these big organizational moves. It means there's something different going on and Elias isn't just all talk. 

And remember, the human cost of scouts is made up for in the additional hires in analytics, at least to some degree. Personally, I want my Orioles to be leaner in this way. It's all about being wrong less.

[interloper]