We’re just a few hours away from the Giants formally introducing their new President of Baseball Operations, Farhan Zaidi. The press conference will give us some hints about the team’s new direction, but wrapped around those nuggets will very likely be an overwhelming emphasis on Zaidi’s analytical background.
Ever since Moneyball, people have lost their mind over the idea that math could help teams better evaluate baseball players. Before Moneyball, math had never been used in any form to demonstrate or project the value and quality of a baseball player. Analytics has become a swear word and projections a boogeyman for older beat writers and the more vocal industry observers because their fears and crankiness have an audience with a vast percentage of baseball fans.