AVM Systems

[Eye Black]

The Statistical Analysis forum appears among the less perused corners of BF.net these days, but for those interested in the early introductions of sabermetrics to the industry elite, this Grantland article about AVM Systems is a MUST read (click the headline below)...

 

Before Beane

The origin story of AVM Systems, the little-known company that jump-started sabermetrics and made Moneyball possible

 

by Ben Lindbergh / Grantland

[TooLiveBrew]

Late to the game here, but really good read. Thanks for finding & linking that, Eye Black.

[AKCheesehead]

Very tardy in on this as well, but I concur with TLB, that was indeed a very compelling and worthwhile read. Interesting how mum the word is on anything that would identify any team management involvement, teams pitched to, etc. I can't help but wonder how it was taken if indeed pitch-sessioned with Sal Bando and his team. Or at the later end of it, Dean Taylor et al. Then I start to thinking about how badly we as a franchise may (or may not, I'll allow) have missed the boat.

 

One nugget towards the end that I found fascinating:

"According to one source with some exposure to AVM’s system, the company had two clients as of four to five years ago: one American League club and one National League club, each of which was paying AVM six or seven figures for league-exclusive access to its insights, including a win-value stat that the teams believed was far superior to the public alternatives."

 

I'd have to believe that years down the road, as time has come to pass, much of the mystery behind the teams' buy-in will become known, and it will make for some very engaging hindsight analysis.

[Eye Black]

Thought this article provided some nice insight into some of the present day third party data providers that are influencing baseball front offices.

 

The suprising places MLB teams get their information from in the post Moneyball era

By R.J. Anderson

 

I highly recommend reading the entire article as it moves in a lot of different directions and acknowledges quite a few third party data influencers, but here is one snippet I found particularly interesting:

 

“Right now, we have teams out there, who, when they evaluate a player, they’re taking their 2017 schedule, they are prototyping the opposing pitcher array -- perhaps, if they’re really sophisticated, even assuming what the seventh, eighth, and ninth innings look like against those teams -- and they’re simulating a batter’s performance, a prospective acquisition, his performance against that pitching opposition, in those ballparks. Because they’re not looking at his stats, they’re looking at his exit velocity and his launch angle.

 

“If you hit the ball 86 mph to let’s call it straight-away right field at Yankee Stadium at a 32-degree launch angle, depending on the wind, that probably drops into the first couple of rows. If you hit that same velocity and launch angle at AT&T Park, Hunter Pence is taking two steps in to field it. So, all of those things are being incorporated into the analytics of the most sophisticated teams.“