Orange County Register: Number-crunching: Four 20-somethings help Angels make sense of all that data

[AngelsLakersFan]

One of the best posts I've read on AW, truly a great post, ALF.

Thanks!

[AngelsLakersFan]

Agreed, great post ALF. Id add that mental is a big piece too. Lots of guys like weaver, who dont have as good as stuff anymore but have a warrior mentality. Then theres guys like fill in the blank, ton of talent but between the ears theyve lost their edge

 

Very true. And think about it. Weaver was always called a "future #2 or #3 starter" yet he went on to be one of the best pitchers in MLB. That fire he brings on the field, as well as how he's handled himself off of it are probably very indicative of why.

[Redondo]

I think in game coaching has a larger effect in other sports though whereas with baseball I think the off the field coaching is more critical.  

 

 

Agree. Good point

[AngelsLakersFan]

The last 1/3 of ALF's description of a typical MLB player is very important in MLB.

And thus if a team is mainly into sabremetrics, and not paying enough attention to that last 1/3, it might partly explain the near constant post-season failures in the new millennium of the A'th (one ALDS series win out of 7 post-season series plus the WC game collapse).

 

I do wonder a lot about the A's. Obviously statistically their postseason performance is not outside of the realm of chance (small sample sizes), but it's hard to argue that they have experienced an inordinate amount of 'bad luck' come post season.

 

What I really think the problem with the A's is has a lot more to do with the same reasons why they seem to always beat their pre-season expectations. The teams find undervalued talent, and they find depth. The post season is about elite talent. Depth means little. It's not about WAR/$, it's about top tier talent. Look at Madison Bumgarner, he threw one out of every three innings for the Giants in the post season while the Angels were going with 'veteran' CJ Wilson. 

 

There is also something to be said about the 'team element' and while I can't say I understand it I still factor it in to my pre-season predictions. By all accounts Beane made the A's better with his trades, yet the team played far worse. The Angels added Pujols, Trout, Wilson in the same year but it took them three seasons to actually win more games than you'd expect. I find this true going further back as well. I don't recall very many teams finding success after making really big changes. Oakland has to make changes, but I have to wonder if that doesn't affect the team in some way I can't understand.