Can Money Ball be an inspiration for weaker teams in 2012 MLB regular season? – Part 1
Since the beginning of the universe, men have evolved through various stages of history, their quest for perfection is perennial and their passion for locating underlying reasons behind a particular phenomenon is endless. Analysing every aspect of life through
scientific parameters is a culmination of their interest.
What was shown in the movie Money Ball was not any different to what amounts to a pinnacle of human interest in accommodating every aspect of life while carrying out a specific task.
Nature works on scientific principles and if we can determine those we can very well run it on our own. Fundamentals were broken, shackled teams have been made to work under were loosened and our take on things with limited understanding was miserably visible
when Oakland Athletics recorded 20 wins in a row by what we call scientific and systematic understanding of facts.
What the movie brought home to many teams is a fact that there are multitudes of factors, most of the times beyond our comprehension that drive an action. Going extravagant in players’ purchases and allocating entire funds on this is one of the factors and
while it may be important, myopic attitude will leave teams overlooking many others that are equally effective.
As a proverb goes in the realm of investment: “do not put all eggs in one basket” same can be applied in baseball. If you have few pitchers who can sustain you through the season, there is no need crowding roster with more of them in an attempt to strengthen
rotation. Off-course having a strong rotation is compulsory, but what if resources are limited and every area needs attention.
Say if a pitcher A with a 3.17 career ERA sits on the roster and there is another one namely B with ERA around 3.90 with the record of having allowed least number of walks in whole career. Now apparently, one will go after former as his ERA is by far more
impressive and will value the latter a lot less. By the time these players were purchased, naturally player A will have fetched higher price and thus is a bigger financial burden on the team.
From this standpoint, the movie Money Ball has a lot to inspire everyone and especially the teams like New York Mets and Atlanta Braves can benefit their prospects by learning the model prescribed in the movie. Continuing with the assumption mentioned above,
a team facing problems of excessive walks their pitchers allow and in turn bring those hitters on the plate most formidable for them, keeping player A on the roster points to a weak link. He may have a better ERA, but the fact he allows more walks in a game
than player B, he can be cut in favour a less expensive option of retaining player B.
Similarly, there are thousands of issues one can cater to and can draw desired results as a consequence.
As far as applications for the 2012 Major League Baseball regular season are concerned, Mets seem to be aiming at those while battling their way out of financial crisis they are suffering with right now. As soon as reports of the release of Mike Pelfrey
surfaced, although it did not happen actually, reason of Mets’ pondering over his release was mammoth money they will have to owe him at the end of the season. Since they felt by thrusting $1 million now, they can get rid of future liability of $5.68 million,
they planned for money diversification.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own and in no way represent Bettor.com's official editorial policy.
Continued in Part 2
Tags: