Analytics, corporate greed and your Colorado Rockies

A Tool to Improve Baseball Performance Has Become a Weapon Against the Players | The Nation

Or, “How analytics is maybe ruining baseball but probably it’s actually corporate greed and analytics just makes it easier.”

Here’s the tl;dr:

“[Team owners and general managers] now utilize analytics to undervalue players while pocketing the money that previously went to the men on the field.”

Obviously, there’s a lot to unpack here. On one hand, players like Manny Machado, Bryce Harper and even Nolan Arenado (who is worth every penny) get paid obscene amounts of money to play a game every day. And while the median major league salary is only $1.5 million, and 40% of major leaguers make under $600,000 (league minimum is $545,000), that’s still a lot of money.

This is all true. But most players never make it to the the majors. They top out somewhere in the minors, making $10,000 per year and driving for Uber or working at barbecue joints in the offseason.

And then there’s the fact that league revenue was $10.3 billion in 2018, a figure that doesn’t include income from team-owned properties near the ballparks (such as the complex surrounding SunTrust Park in Atlanta).

I think most of us agree that knowledge is good. The more data teams have, the easier it is for them to compare players and choose the best ones based on their budgets. But while data is objectively good, analysis is objectively subjective. Rockies fans know this. We have to hear about the “Coors effect” every single day.

The bottom line is that we should use data for good rather than using out-of-context statistics to take money from the players and give it to the owners. We should just use players’ own personalities for that.

Kubly returns to River Bandits as general manager | Quad-City Times

Joe Kubly is leaving his role as president and GM of the Grand Junction Rockies to return to the Quad-City River Bandits of the Midwest League.

The Rockies’ short-season single-A affiliate has been one of the organization’s bright spots this year: It made the postseason for the second straight year and was home to Pioneer League MVP Colin Simpson, a 5’9” catcher/left fielder/first baseman who was just drafted out of Oklahoma State.

Mick Ritter will take over as president of the Grand Junction Rockies.

No word on whether the club will reconsider changing its name to the Grand Junction Chubs, or possibly the Grand Junction Offensive Slang Term For An Erection.

Could Rox pursue veteran pitching help? | MLB.com

Next up: a roundup of roundups and trade rumors!

First, Thomas Harding answers the question, “Should the Rockies pursue veteran pitching help?” He argues that they should. He’s not alone in this sentiment. While Harding doesn’t offer any specific names of his own, he addresses fan suggestions, including Cole Hamels, Mike Minor and Dallas Keuchel.

I politely disagree with these suggestions.

Here’s my pitch: Noah Syndergaard for Ian Desmond, Daniel Murphy, Bryan Shaw, Wade Davis and Jake McGee.

That seems fair, right?

MLB Team Roundup: Colorado Rockies | Yahoo Sports

Rockies offense: Good.

Rockies pitching: Bad.

Rockies injuries: Happened.

Predicting 1 Impact Trade for Each MLB Team 2 Months from the Winter Meetings | Bleacher Report

Blah blah blah ... trade Charlie Blackmon ... blah blah.

The effects of moving Daniel Murphy’s contract | RoxPile

This is an important question.