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Archive for the ‘Baseball’ Category

Soaring Profits Make EBITDA the New Way MLB Teams Spell Success (Especially the Yankees)

Posted in Baseball, Business and Finance, MLB, Yankees on April 12, 2017 | 1 Comment »

Forget about WAR, FIP,  wOBA and other saber creations. EBITDA (earnings before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization) is the metric baseball fans should get to know. The Chicago Cubs won the World Series in 2016, but, using EBITDA as a barometer, the Philadelphia Phillies had the last laugh, presumably on their way to the bank. According to Forbes’ annual […]

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Inconsistency and Mediocrity Temper Enthusiasm for 2017 Yankees (MLB Predictions Included)

Posted in Baseball, Predictions, Yankees on April 8, 2017 | Leave a Comment »

A note of caution to optimistic Yankee fans: Having lots of top prospects is nice, but most rebuilds don’t work, and even those that do, often have setbacks. The Yankees’ young talent is undeniable, but even players with All Star potential often struggle early in their careers. That, of course, does not bode well for […]

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Does Hope Spring from Exhibition Season Success?

Posted in Baseball, Spring Training, Yankees on March 28, 2017 | Leave a Comment »

Do spring training records matter? The answer often depends on whom you ask, and how well their team is currently doing during the exhibition season. But, what does the data say? Top-10 Spring Training Records, 1984-2016 Note: Excludes the 1990 and 1995 exhibition seasons, which were shortened by work stoppages. Tie games excluded from winning […]

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Is There a “WBC Effect” on Spring Training Attendance?

Posted in Baseball, Spring Training on March 4, 2017 | Leave a Comment »

Spring training crowds during the first week of the 2017 exhibition season have been relatively sparse across both Florida and Arizona. With the exception of the Braves, Cubs and Red Sox, the average crowd size for every team has been down double digits compared to 2016. It must be time for the World Baseball Classic! Y/Y Comparison […]

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Jim Palmer Strikes Out at Critics; Did Hall of Famer Make an Art of Stranding Runners?

Posted in Baltimore Orioles, Baseball, Baseball History, MLB on January 30, 2017 | 1 Comment »

Is Jim Palmer the most overrated pitcher of all time? Disciples of defense independent pitching stats (DIPS) have often pointed to the right hander’s mediocre strikeout rate and extraordinary success on balls in play to support that claim, and the slight hasn’t gone unnoticed by Palmer. During a recent roundtable discussion convened by ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick, […]

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Should Baseball Union Be Happy With the Status Quo?

Posted in Baseball, Business and Finance, CBA, MLB, Yankees on December 3, 2016 | 4 Comments »

Most in the baseball media have declared management as the winner in the sport’s latest round of labor negotiations. Over the last two days, I’ve portrayed the outcome as a split decision by illustrating how the new CBA will do little to change the prevailing trends in the game. But, that begs the question: is […]

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Baseball Salaries Should Be Unrestrained by New CBA as Luxury Tax System Is Only a Paper Tiger

Posted in Baseball on December 2, 2016 | 3 Comments »

Was the CBA process hijacked from the players? Are payrolls likely to stagnate? And, is the deal so one-sided that the seeds of future discord have already been sewn? All of these assessments are based on the premise that the new CBA will discourage spending, but is that true? As illustrated yesterday, the additional penalties imposed […]

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