The MVP Machine
How Baseball’s New Nonconformists Are Using Data to Build Better Player
About the book
Ben Lindbergh and Travis Sawchik argue that baseball's Moneyball era has ended. Fifteen years on from Michael Lewis's account of the Oakland Athletics, every front office evaluates players with data, so the smartest teams now look for an edge in developing talent rather than drafting, signing or trading for it. The authors' reporting covers how the Astros in 2017 and the Red Sox in 2018 used new technology on the way to World Series titles, how Jose Altuve and Mookie Betts grew from undersized afterthoughts into sluggers and MVPs, and how pitcher Trevor Bauer remade himself into a Cy Young contender. They also cover new analytical tools overturning traditional technique and the upheaval in coaching and scouting.
Nate Silver endorsed it for showing that a player's success depends less on natural talent than on innovation, hard work and a scientific approach, and Bill Simmons praised it as an informative look at developing talent and building winning teams in the analytics age.
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This book has 3 recommendations
Nate Silver (Founder & Editor-in-Chief/FiveThirtyEight)
For too long, stat geeks like me ignored the 'development' side of 'scouting and development.' The MVP Machine is the book that's going to change that. Travis Sawchik and Ben Lindbergh persuasively and entertainingly demonstrate that a baseball player's success is less about God-given talent and more about innovation, hard work, and the willingness to take a more scientific approach to the game. Read it, and you won't think about baseball in quite the same way again.
Bill Simmons (Founder & CEO/The Ringer)
I wish this book spent more time on the Red Sox winning four times as many titles as the Yankees this century, but The MVP Machine is a great and informative deep dive on the challenges of unlocking talent and building winning teams in the age of analytics.
Anders Ericsson (Author, Psychologist)
High-speed cameras and radar-tracking devices have revolutionized training and are now giving baseball pitchers accurate, detailed and actionable feedback during practice. This captivating book details step-by-step how merely good major league pitchers have recently been able to transform themselves into great ones and reach previously unattainable levels of mastery by purposeful and deliberate practice.
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Nate Silver, Bill Simmons, Anders Ericsson