Rockies challenge Colorado students to rank the top 100 players in pro baseball

The Colorado Rockies' baseball operations department is challenging students in Colorado to come up with a model ranking the top 100 players in professional baseball.

The case competition gives students the chance to present their findings to the Rockies' front office and others, and is definitely something for which a lot of our readers and community members would be a good fit. From the Rockies' analytics team:

" ... We are setting up a case competition for Colorado undergraduate and graduate students as a way to engage some of the extremely smart people we have in the area. We think this will challenge local students to "Think Like a GM" and answer a question that baseball executives and media members talk about a lot: 'Who are the most valuable players in professional baseball?'

It is an individual/team competition where Colorado students will produce a model that will rank the top 100 players in professional baseball. We believe this will challenge students in various disciplines including statistics, mathematics, economics and computer science. It is open to undergraduate and graduate students in Colorado. The written piece is due Oct. 12 and will be read by Baseball Operations executives, and if a team advances to the finals, they will present their models and conclusions to top Rockies executives and others.

... There is no question your community includes many bright young people who this may interest. If competitors have questions the specific email for the competition is casecompetition@rockies.com."

I happen to agree with that last assessment, so prove me right!

EDIT: Go to rockies.com/casecomp for more info.

Links

Justin Turner, Nolan Arenado argue over slide | MLB.com
Walt Weiss was a little more bent about the play than Arenado, but Turner's slide did appear a bit over the top. What do you think?

Coors Field hosts Sept. 18-19 Colorado Rockies BBQ Contest - The Denver Post
Since I can't be there to be the judge, some of you guys should go in my stead.

Projecting Rockies Call-Ups Cristhian Adames & Tom Murphy | FanGraphs Baseball
Chris Mitchell lets us know what we can expect from Adames and Murphy, both of whom performed extremely well at Triple-A Albuquerque before joining the Rockies. I'll have more on Adames soon.