Newsblog: Draft signings

Post ‘em as you got ‘em

Newsblog: MLB Draft OMNICHATTER

First round draft order:

1. Houston Astros
2. Chicago Cubs
3. Colorado Rockies
4. Minnesota Twins
5. Cleveland Indians
6. Miami Marlins
7. Boston Red Sox
8. Kansas City Royals
9. Pittsburgh Pirates (compensation for failing to sign Mark Appel)
10. Toronto Blue Jays
11. New York Mets
12. Seattle Mariners
13. San Diego Padres
14. Pittsburgh Pirates
15. Arizona Diamondbacks
16. Philadelphia Phillies
17. Chicago White Sox
18. Los Angeles Dodgers
19. St. Louis Cardinals
20. Detroit Tigers
21. Tampa ...

SABR - BBTF Chapter: SABR 43 Research Presentations

The presentations this year have more of a historical focus than they have in the past; there aren’t quite as many analytical offerings. Although there is this one:

RP27: Baseball in the Age of Big Data: Why the Revolution Will Be Televised
Sean Lahman

and this:

RP12: A Probabilistic Approach to Measuring the Excitement of Baseball Games
Michael Freiman

and this:

RP29: Statistical Predictors of MLB Players’ Proneness to Long Hitting Streaks
Alan Reifman and Trent McCotter

Mark Armour is ...

SABR - BBTF Chapter: Rawlings Gold Glove Award adds new sabermetric component with SABR

Comment in the thread below:

As part of the multi-year collaboration beginning with the 2013 season, SABR will develop an expanded statistical resource guide that will accompany the Rawlings Gold Glove Award ballots sent to major league-level managers and coaches each year. In addition, SABR will immediately establish a new Fielding Research Committee tasked to develop a proprietary new defensive analytic called the SABR Defensive Index™, or SDI™. The SDI will serve as an ...

Sox Therapy: John Farrell and the Shift Defense

The largest change in baseball strategy over the last decade has been the radically increased use of the shift defense in the past two years.  This was pointed out in a Bill James Online article by John Dewan early in 2012.  Farrell’s Blue Jays were among the earliest adopters of the shift, reportedly due to the influence of 3rd base coach Brian Butterfield.  Butterfield has moved to Boston with Farrell, and we can expect the shift to make the trek east as well.  He may be actually taking it ...

SABR - BBTF Chapter: SABR Analytics Conference, March 7-9, 2013 Phoenix, AZ

The 2013 SABR Analytics Conference will be held Thursday, March 7 through Saturday, March 9, 2013, in downtown Phoenix, Arizona.

Thursday’s programming will be held at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University, 555 N. Central Ave., Phoenix, AZ 85004.

Friday and Saturday’s programming will be held at the Sheraton Phoenix Downtown, 340 North 3rd Street, Phoenix, AZ 85004.

Joe Posnanski and Bill James are among the featured speakers, and there ...

Hall of Merit: Most Meritorious Player: 1979 Ballot

For 1979, each voter should rank their top 13 players from both leagues combined.

Balloting is scheduled to close at 4pm EST on 06 March 2013.

Anyone can vote, even if you do not normally participate in Hall of Merit discussions. If have never participated in an MMP election, just post a preliminary ballot in the discussion thread by 04 March 2013.

For detailed rules see one of our previous ballots.

Hall of Merit: Most Meritorious Player: 1978 Ballot

For 1978, each voter should rank their top 13 players from both leagues combined.

Balloting will close at 4pm EST on 06 February 2013.

Anyone can vote, even if you do not normally participate in Hall of Merit discussions. If have never participated in an MMP election, just post a preliminary ballot in the discussion thread by 04 February 2013.

For detailed rules see one of our previous ballots.

SABR - BBTF Chapter: Hotel Reservation Link for SABR43

About time!

Hotel reservation link is also accessible through the convention site.

Newsblog: Nominations for the Greg Spira Award are now open!

The new Greg Spira Baseball Research Award (www.SpiraAward.org) will be given annually in recognition of the best published article or paper containing original baseball research by a person 30 years old or younger.

Working with the Spira family, the creators of the Greg Spira Award include Sean Forman of Baseball- Reference.com, Joe Hamrahi and Dave Pease of Baseball Prospectus, Sean Lahman of Baseball1.com, and Gary Gillette of 24-7 Baseball, L.L.C.

The winner of the Greg Spira Baseball ...