As of September 1st, Dee “Flash” Gordon is hitting .301 while also being one of the worst hitters in baseball. Ted Williams once famously said, “Baseball is the only field of endeavor where a man can succeed three times out of ten and be considered a good performer.” However, Gordon has not been a good … More Dee Gordon is Having a Historically Strange Year
To many Nationals fans, the idea of letting their franchise cornerstone leave via a trade or free agency is a shocking one. After all, he was drafted first overall by the club in 2010 at age 17, made his professional debut two seasons later and won the National League Rookie of the Year Award. In … More Why the Washington Nationals Should Not Re-Sign Bryce Harper
Image from http://blogs-images.forbes.com/jasonbelzer/files/2014/07/Speed.png This May, NFL teams will finally be granted access to league-owned player tracking data from the 2015 season. The league had previously reached an agreement with Zebra Technologies to install chips in players’ shoulder pads that use radio frequency to broadcast each player’s location and speed 25 times per second, effectively generating … More Visualizing Wide Receiver Routes with Player Tracking Data
In some of my recent research into fifth-year options in NFL contracts, I found one very important distinction in value between the top ten first round picks and picks eleven through thirty-two. For players at the same position in the two different groups of first-round picks, the salary for the top ten picks is higher … More Early First Round Fifth-Year Option Differences
As a follow up to my initial post about the marginal cost of the fifth-year option, I wanted to respond to some of the feedback I’ve been receiving on the piece. The first question came from Bryce Johnston on Twitter, regarding whether there was additional value in trading into the later part of the first … More Fifth-Year Option: Trading into the First Round
One of the major additions in the 2011 NFL CBA was the introduction of the fifth-year option as a way for teams to retain their first-round picks for one extra season at a cost-controlled level. For these high draft picks, they receive a raise on what they were making on their rookie deals, but it … More Comparing the Marginal Cost of the Fifth-Year Option for NFL First-Round Picks
“If it doesn’t matter who wins and loses, why do they keep score?” Vince Lombardi uttered this quote over 60 years ago and it still rings true today. What better way to measure a team’s capabilities on the field than the final outcome of the game? And the person most responsible for a team’s success … More Why Tom Brady is better than Joe Montana – and it’s not even close
When the NFL announced that Tom Brady’s 4-game suspension for his role in DeflateGate would be upheld, backup quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo was thrust into the spotlight, as the man who will be charged with keeping the team afloat in Brady’s absence. It’s a lot to ask of a second-year player out of Eastern Illinois University … More Jimmy Garoppolo Film Study
The NBA draft is probably the most important event of the year when it comes to building for a franchise’s future. The difference between drafting Derrick Rose vs. drafting Michael Beasley translates into tens, if not hundreds, of millions of dollars of franchise value (even despite Rose’s recent injury woes). Of course, the NBA draft … More Defense, Risk-Aversion and the NBA Draft: Which Prospects are Overrated and Which Prospects are Underrated?
Much debate has surrounded the idea of drafting a running back in the first round. Many analysts have succeeded in proving that the value of running backs pales in comparison to that of other positions. Additionally, the rookie wage scale makes teams more inclined to draft positions that tend to produce more value. Another problem … More Running Back Efficiency and the Perils of First Round Backs
