Late to the party. Super excited about the Abreu signing.
Y’all don’t have to worry about analytics being out of the front office. Crane knows how to run a business, it’s obvious that analytics are a massive part of running a team, but he’s not going to let it be the be-all end-all (ahem, Mr. Click). It’s about finding the right balance.
Crane insisted on bringing back Yuli and Brantley. Was that the right decision from a purely analytics perspective with hindsight? I’m sure no - Yuli was awful in the regular season and Brantley sure enough got hurt at an older age. But did the moves pay off? I’d say yes. We have no insight into exactly what goes on in the clubhouse, but there’s no arguing they’re each valuable beyond what they did not bring to the table last year. In addition to being a very respected presence in the clubhouse, Yuli struck out once in ~50 postseason ABs. And Brantley’s taking the offense to task after Game 3 is well documented. At the same time, Crane’s not stupid, and he sees the shortcomings that the analytics likely said would play out.
So, again, it’s a sign of balance. We don’t have a GM and Crane plugged that first “non-analytics” hole with the Abreu signing. Chill.